Iguanas, crocodiles, birds, snakes and frogs provided live surprises while the Chris Werner Design team created the technically advanced attraction of NightGarden Miami. Guests follow a path just shy of a mile long on 10 acres of garden grounds to be charmed with 21 visual vignettes that feature a lighting, video or interactive experience.
This second year is more vibrant, with nearly three times the lighting and more than 1,200 fixtures. “The entire experience is centrally-controlled via an expansive, self-healing fiber network,” Chris Werner explains. “Audio, video and lighting is distributed via a temporary system similar to that of many theme parks.”
Their compressed four-week installation window included power distribution, data distribution, physical construction, load-in, focus, programming, and testing. While Mike Berger and Werner bounced in and out, Alex Stevens and Diamond stayed to lead the creative charge, and Bill Kyte and Alex Fasciolo led the teams accomplishing “the hard work.”
Motion-sensing technology, holograms, special effects, audio-reactive video, button-pushing kiosks and phone apps make the magic come alive. A crowd favorite is Archimedes, the Talking Tree — an interactive installation where guests chat with a 100-plus year old tree. “Archie” uses real-time facial tracking and content generation with projection mapping.
“Working in the garden is a bit of an unreal experience,” Werner says. Besides avoiding the real creatures in their native habitats, he adds that “it’s a rare bonding experience to dodge sprinklers in a golf cart in the middle of the night while attempting to focus moving lights over a lake.” The event runs to Jan. 11, 2020.
Cruising Ahead
Sooner Routhier is striking out solo through her new rebranded company, Sooner Rae Creative. “It was time to work on my own for a bit,” she says. “[I’m] super stoked about how everything is turning out!” In her new endeavor, she’s jumping into the world of Coldplay as lighting designer, collaborating with production designer Misty Buckley. “We’re still in the middle of promo for their current album,” she says. While the band’s front man Chris Martin has announced that they won’t tour until they find a way to be more “environmentally sustainable” on the road and with a “dream to be largely solar powered,” Sooner says, “We haven’t started talks about the tour yet, [but] it will definitely influence the design.” Looking ahead to January, she said she would tackle the production design for Justin Moore’s tour, with Aaron Luke as lighting programmer/associate designer.
In December, meanwhile, Sooner and Matt Guminski were collaborating in Nashville on a new-build cruise ship project for Celebrity Cruise Lines. (But that was about all Sooner could divulge about that.) Guminski, meanwhile, recently wrapped up The Cult’s 30th Anniversary “Sonic Temple Tour” in the U.K. and the Northeast U.S. He’s also involved with American indie pop band MisterWives’ “No Place Like Home” tour. The LD says, “It was a short underplay run supporting the EP Mini Bloom in anticipation of the new LP launch early next year, and U.S. tour to follow.”
Quick Cues
After designing Rob Thomas’ tour, LD Benoit Richard returned to the film set. The first one he can’t talk about (so who you gonna call? hint hint), but the next one he checked in from the Netflix set of Yes Day, produced by and starring Jennifer Garner. “I’m happy to finish 2019 working on a very cute movie,” he says. As the set lighting programmer, he’s also providing theatrical lighting design services for a big music festival scene in the third act. Both movies are slated for release in 2020.
Lighting director Pat Hayes finished with Rob Thomas’ tour in December. After a few January shows in Atlantic City, NJ with Thomas for his wife’s charity, Hayes boards The Rock Boat Cruise to light American blues rockers Welshly Arms.
Gurn Kaniski spent the holidays calling the show with LD Bryan Hartley on the East Lighting Crew of Trans-Siberian Orchestra. In February Gurn continues on with Whitesnake in Australia, Indonesia, Philippines and Japan. Then he jumps back to Jeff Beck in May through the end of the year.
LD Libby Gray toured in November to December with Lawrence Gowan, better known as a lead singer in Styx, on a solo tour of large theaters in Canada. “Rather than using house rep hangs, I do a custom design for each show with house inventory, and while in Quebec call spots in French,” she says. “Gowan had already enjoyed a successful career of Canadian albums and awards prior to joining the band, enabling these well-sold, multi-week tour legs every spring and fall in Canada.”
LD Seth Robinson of Sightline Design Group designed the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas show in Anaheim, CA. The two-night event featured Cage The Elephant, Mumford & Sons, Twenty One Pilots, Beck, The 1975 and more.
LD Alex Reardon says, “2020 is going to be huge for all of us at Silent House.” Stay tuned to see what the new year brings.
Keep your visionary 2020 plans in focus for Debi Moen. Reach her at dmoen@plsn.com.
