It’s not your ordinary book tour. Former First Lady Michelle Obama has been selling out arenas since she embarked on her travels across North America to promote her new best-seller. The first leg of “Becoming: An Intimate Conversation with Michelle Obama,” started in autumn 2018. The second leg swung into action in February with a redesign from Patrick Dierson and his Vegas-based design firm, The Activity.
Dierson says, “I was asked to come in for a redesign of the overall production design for this second leg. The redesign incorporated an entirely new look of soft goods along with an Astera tube ‘forest’ populated around the stage. We kept some of the existing elements that the Obama creative team really liked, such as their glow motorized tubes.”
A celebrity moderator joins Obama onstage in each city, which goes overseas for a few months and includes intimate theaters amidst the arenas and stadiums.
Besides Becoming, The Activity recently wrapped up production designs for iHeart’s ALTer Ego 2019 at The Forum in Los Angeles, multiple projects for the CES expo in Las Vegas, rapper Meek Mill’s “The Motivation” U.S. tour, industrials and Ultra Music Festivals in Melbourne, Sydney, Johannesburg and Cape Town.
Springing into Christmas
While spring is bursting out all over, Chris Werner’s thoughts turn to snow machines and making magic during the holidays. He’s sharing hints about effective light shows and immersive design at the TransWorld Christmas trade show March 22 in St. Louis, helping attendees transform existing spaces into memorable and profitable experiences.
Meanwhile, Werner designed lighting and media for three shows running on Nashville’s General Jackson Showboat during February and March. Werner worked with the production team at Matt Davenport Productions on the project.
Quick Cues
LD Lauren Sego just finished up a winter tour with California reggae band Rebelution. Their “Good Vibes Summer Tour” kicks off in June in the U.S. Meanwhile, she is about to head out with Amanda Palmer.
Chris Lose is on the road as the lighting director for Nicki Minaj, touring in Europe February-March, returning to the U.S. in May. Craig Caserta programmed the show for LD Josh Hutchings.
Robert Sanders has programmed and is lighting director for Tesla. He says he’s made a few tweaks to this year’s run. “Some of the changes, although very simple, were to run every fixture in advanced mode, to take control of all pixels and help create dynamic looking effects, and bring life to the set a bit more — since the set is just the amps that ride in carts and three motorized LED walls. I’ve also added some strobe fixtures under their iconic stair pieces that surround the drum kit. During a few songs, they light up the undersides of the stairs, and you get a nice glow. The effects they add really bring life to the steps.” Next year will feature a new design.
Lighting director Max Lenox has taken on the duties of Rainbow Kitten Surprise for LD Kai Colucci, who is currently out with American electropop artist Billie Eilish in Europe.
LD Scott Pearson hit the high seas with Kansas prior to their second leg of the “Point of Know Return Anniversary Tour.” Sending “greetings from sunny Mexico,” Pearson says a big difference was having no rig with him. “It’s basically a throw and go festival situation. I get 90 minutes to program. We did two shows, one outside and one in a theater. They provide a liaison for the lighting rig, as the ship crew doesn’t know much other than to hit a go button.” The band play back on land starting March 1.
Reardon and Tears For Fears
LD Alex Reardon just celebrated his one-year anniversary as creative director and designer with Silent House, having joined designers Baz Halpin, Cory FitzGerald and Tamlyn Wright last January. He “forgot to mention it,” as he’s been preoccupied, recently returning from designing Tears For Fears’ latest “and wonderfully sold out” arena tour. He shares a favorite press review from their recent U.K. show, even though he acknowledges it doesn’t specifically mention lighting: “Tears For Fears shook the cold, bitter blast that had got into the bones of the city by the Mersey and given it reason to look the New Year in the eye and let out a primal scream, the rage of anger in harmonious tone, as the battleground for the heart and mind of the nation is fought over in this coming year.”
And that’s what it’s all about, right?
Don’t rely on any primal screaming to tell the world about your plans, just calmly email Debi at dmoen@plsn.com.
