NEW YORK — Billy Elliot – The Musical, staged in both the U.K. and Australia, is stepping up to Broadway with more than 100 moving lights including 50 ETC Source Four Revolution fixtures. LD Rick Fisher has been using the automated fixtures for the show since it opened in London. “I like to be able to light the performers with a good quality tungsten light, and the Revolution fits perfectly,” Fisher said. “With space in the rig always at a premium, it’s good to have the versatility of moving lights, and so wherever we had a good rigging position, I placed both a Revolution and an arc lamp-sourced moving fixture. That way I gave myself the choice of which to use to light the scene. Revolution allows me to light the show as if there were a conventional rig of many hundreds more units.”
Billy Elliot chronicles the story of a boy growing up during a time of industrial unrest in County Durham, Northeast England, who would rather be a ballet dancer than a boxer. Since it opened in London in 2005, the show has won or been nominated for over 20 different awards. Fisher won Best Lighting Design for the Sydney production at this year’s Helpmann awards, Australia’s equivalent to the Tony Awards.
For the New York production, Fisher specified Vari*Lite and Martin Mac moving lights and Strand Pirouette and ETC Source Four conventionals in addition to the Source Four Revolutions, which were purchased specifically for the project by rental house PRG.
Describing the different productions, Fisher said “The look and feel of each is very similar, with a dirty, slightly grimy feel to the show. I particularly like the Wybron color scroller that comes with the Revolution, which allows me to choose the exact gel color I want.”
For more information, please visit www.etcconnect.com.
