Romania’s Bucharest Opera recently staged The Phantom of the Opera, Broadway’s longest-running musical, with a wide array of Claypaky fixtures illuminating the beloved play’s romantic and thrilling scenes. The production at the Bucharest National Opera House ran from March 31 to May 14 with the first performances selling out hours after tickets went on sale. The show’s staff worked with teams from Broadway and London’s West End to ensure a high artistic level was achieved.
Lighting Designer Bogumił Palewicz selected the Claypaky fixtures, which were supplied by Bucharest’s Marbo Trade, Claypaky’s distributor in Romania. The package consisted of 33 Scenius Profiles, 20 HY B-EYE K15 and three HY B-EYE K25 moving head washes, four Arolla Profile HPs and four Sharpy X Frame compact hybrid fixtures.
“Claypaky represents good quality and innovative solutions,” says Palewicz. “The fixtures were available on the Romanian market, and Marbo Trade supported the project during the entire preparatory period.” He explains that, “the artistic idea for [this production] was based on building many different spaces with the help of a rich scenography [featuring] different light climates. The mood of the lighting also followed the drama and music” of the show.
The ambitious plan for the production required many modern solutions on a traditional opera stage, he reports. “Presenting 17 different scenes with short scene changes to the audience required maximum concentration and professionalism from everyone. Each change was supposed to surprise the viewers with a new atmosphere and space.”
Palewicz deployed the Scenius fixtures as side lights and back lights. “They offer a very bright beam of light combined with additional features that guaranteed the creation of many wonderful light images,” he says. The Arolla Profile HPs acted as front lights for the show. “They provided a very strong light source which, combined with the framing system, perfectly exposed the actors and costumes,” Palewicz reports.
The HY B-EYE K25 and HY B-EYE K15s, with “their perfect zoon and great colors,” were tasked with creating the outlines of the scenography acting together with painted horizons. The Sharpy X Frames were used as side lighting in the portal window. “Thanks to the various possibilities of this fixture, we used it to create dynamic changes as well as for the presentation of scenographic elements,” Palewicz explains. “All of the fixtures performed well, especially since they were exploited very intensively over the two weeks of light focusing, rehearsal and the premiere dates. Bogdan Gradisteanu of Marbo Trade was always helpful, the company’s cooperation was professional and [any] problems were solved quickly,” he adds.
Further information from Claypaky: www.claypaky.com
