Miley Cyrus’ Bangerz tour, in support of her fourth album of the same name, is riding the momentum of the artist’s swing back from acting to music. The tour is not only showcasing Cyrus’ ability to belt out a tune, it’s completing the wrecking-ball-like annihilation of her previous child-idol Hannah Montana persona. (The artist’s twerking spectacle at the MTV VMAs in August, 2013, where Cyrus sang the Bangerz single, “We Can’t Stop,” generated 306,100 tweets per minute.) The album, featuring pop songs with country and Hip Hop influences, was released Oct. 4, and after the completion of a 39-date North American tour (Feb. 14-April 25), the tour has a 22-date run through Europe (May 2-June 15).
Diane Martel, Creative Director & Video Content Director
Diane Martel has been directing music videos for some 20 years, with a deep grip on youth culture and authentic culture in all areas of music. She worked with Miley on her “We Can’t Stop” video, which led to her working on Miley’s current tour. Her comments came to PLSN after presstime for the April issue, where the Designer Insights feature includes the comments further below from Es Devlin and Rob Sinclair. They were added to this online version after the issue was printed.
“My uncle was Joe Papp, the legendary theater producer, so I grew up on a steady diet of A-list theater. I also had a performance art group when I was in my 20s. I wrote music, choreographed, designed all of it. So these two facts explain why it was a smooth transition for me from film to stage. Directing the tour was not difficult, because I hired the right people to work with. Es (Devlin), the production designer, is brilliant, and she brought Rob (Sinclair) the lighting designer in, and he is lovely and a joy to collaborate with. The video content was more difficult. Es introduced me to a few people who introduced me to more people. I did a lot of research as well, and I hired a strong team of artists and directors. I directed a few pieces, co-directed some and creative-directed the rest. I would say this tour has pushed me to great heights. Miley has such trust in me, and she’s like a patron of the arts most definitely. She made all of the interesting and unique things possible by trusting me and the people I brought to her.
“Es is so elegant, and she has such a facile vibrant creative mind. We got on early on and our process was so enjoyable. She has taught me so much in such a brief period. The funniest thing about the set and the show is that, early on, she made these cutouts of different iconic objects we wanted in the show. I became so obsessed with the cardboard cutouts that they ended up informing our design choices in a major way. The inflatables were born from cutout photos. If we had just the giant cutout photos I would have been happy but there was no way to travel this type of set piece. She guided me through my creative journey in a very supportive and enthusiastic way, above and beyond what I have experienced before in a collaboration. Rob (Sinclair), the lighting designer is a joy to work with, he set all of his looks, Es and I got involved, gave our notes for a few days, and voilà. Some of the cues in the show are quite sophisticated for a pop show, as is some of the content, but it all works well, with Miley and the dancers [giving] very specific, dynamic tongue in cheek performances.
“On the video end, I worked out a lot of it on my own, made a giant treatment with all of my ideas, and Miley commented on them — yes, no, etc. Later, in pre-production, I was lucky to meet Ben Jones and Geoffrey Lillemon, who were important as both artists who made their own pieces and part of the aesthetic council. We took this so seriously, as we should. We were making work to show teenagers, to engage them more deeply than most pop shows do. What I am very happy about is that tastemakers love the show as well as 15-year-old girls who (to my dismay) watch the show while video taping it on their iPhones. Some watch the show through their iPhones! The ideas and the energy in the show translate across the board to all members of the audience, and that is something to be proud of.
“Omar Abderrahman (the production manager) is fantastic, as is “Styrker” Christensen (stage manager and prop director). The team from Moment Factory came in at the end, and they taught me a lot — thanks to Saki, Adam and the team. And more than anyone involved, I have to thank my dear Miley, who is a talent way beyond her years. She is a brilliant artist and we will see her grow and grow as the years go on.”
Es Devlin, Production Designer
“It all started with a meeting with Diane Martel and Miley in New York, during which I pitched the idea of the entire show taking place on a giant stage version of Miley’s tongue — a long, swirling stage that wove its way through the audience. Everyone liked the idea except the accountants… so we refined this into the current idea for the entrance as a slide down Miley’s Tongue. The whole show taking place on the tongue might have been fun — but often logistical constraints lead to more refined ideas and economy of visual language. The formation of squares that the designed evolved into has proved to be a great canvas for a whole range of images. We also came up with the notion of the exit in this meeting. Miley proposed leaving her show as if she were leaving The Truman Show, as if she were leaving a phase of her life. The brief which Miley laid out to Diane and myself during that first meeting in New York was to help her conceive a show that felt like a party that everyone would want to be a part of, and above all, a show that she wouldn’t get bored of after the 55th performance.
“The next series of meetings took place at my studio in London. Diane stayed for a week, during which we created the stage and major props in cardboard-cutout, physical 3D model form. Diane would send Miley photos during the meetings so she was able to steer us as the design progressed. The giant monkey and Husky dog, hot dog and gold car props were conceived during this part of the process, and the essence of the video content began to emerge.
“Once the major design ideas were in place, my studio team put together a CAD drawing and render package. We refined it back and forth with Miley’s production team, headed by Omar (Abderrahman), “Stryker” (Scott Christensen) and Eric Pearce, massaging it to work within budget and logistics while retaining the core concepts.
“To me, the show is something like a cross between a giant animated pop art still life painting and a party verging on the precipice of chaos. It features a series of objects, which began as things which Miley chose because of their personal significance to her. They are landmarks in this particular chapter of her story. The point is that, in themselves, they seem arbitrary and quotidien: a paper cup, a Husky dog, a perfume bottle, an ashtray. In the show, they are treated as pop art iconic objects and take on epic proportions.
“Diane is a relentless visionary — one of those artists who will push ideas to the limits and won’t take no for an answer, so it was a real pleasure to collaborate with her. It was refreshing also to work with a director who is more used to film than live shows. Diane brought a new perspective onto areas that other directors might take for granted. Rob Sinclair and I have developed a visual grammar over the course of two Pet Shop Boys tours, and this really played into the world we created with Miley. He is always a fantastic team player and has a great eye.”
Rob Sinclair, Lighting Designer
“I was brought in at the start by Es Devlin, the production designer. We spent a week in her studio in London with Diane Martel talking about everything. It was fascinating to be there at the very beginning. We then presented to Miley and management at the end of the week (having thrown away a compete idea at the eleventh hour) and then the real work began. It was hard designing a show across the Atlantic, with Es and I in the U.K. and Diane and Miley in L.A. We had to be very careful to check and re-check everything and to make sure no details were missed. As always, lots of things came together only after we’d all met up for rehearsals.
“Lighting Director Sean Burke did a fabulous job of programming and putting up with both my constant changes and rather laughable attention to tiny details, always with a smile on his face. We sat and programmed for hours every night for a month. Things changed, changed back and changed again. It’s always great to have the time to really drill into the songs and find everything within them that’s important and needs to be visualized. I think that everything we did feels completely right and appropriate and that we got a lot out of the system.
“I knew I needed bright fixtures to compete with the massive and ever-present video wall. [Clay Paky] Sharpys, [Vari*Lite] VL3500 FX, [Martin MAC] Vipers and the [SGM] X5 strobes came up early on and were definitely the right tools. The LED floor was in Es’ mind from the very beginning, and she and I came up with the illuminated truss border light boxes as a flown extension of it. They work really well and really give the roof a definite sense of being a part of the design rather than a load of gear that happens to be hung above the stage. One of my first thoughts about this show was to create some sort of false ceiling that disguised all the rigging and the truss, and the light boxes did that beautifully.
“Diane had a great vision for each of the songs, and we worked really hard to tie everything together — video, costumes and lights. This was the first live show that Diane has directed, so we had to find a common language to communicate how each song should be lit. This evolved into a strange combination of singing and dancing to try and articulate what I was trying to create, or [what] she wanted to feel and see. It must have been strange to watch, but it worked really well.
“The real joy for this tour was that there were no weak links in the team. I loved working with our production manager, Omar [Abderrahman], lighting director Sean [Burke], stage manager and prop director “Stryker” (Scott Christensen), who was awesome, and all the crew — no idea was too silly, and they kept their sense of humor throughout. It’s always a pleasure to work with Upstaging’s equipment and crew; their attention to detail is very much appreciated. Marc Webber from ER Productions, as well as being a fabulous person and a great friend, is the best laser programmer I’ve ever met. His ability to find detail in music and write almost chillingly perfect effects never ceases to amaze me.”
For more tour photos of Miley Cyrus’ Bangerz tour by Steve Jennings, go to www.plsn.me/Cyrus2014tour.
