SCOTLAND – Performing arts students at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland used High End Systems SolaFrame 750s to light the stage of Street Scene, their final performance of the year. The musical opera, performed at the New Athenaeum Theatre May 19-25 in Glasgow, takes the audience back to New York City in the late 1940s during the middle of a heatwave.
Freelance Lighting Designer Charlie Morgan Jones describes the production as “one of the best” he’s ever worked on, citing his dream team of his regular collaborator, Director Alexandrea Spencer-Jones and new-to-work-with set designer Adrian Linford. His team was also comprised of students.
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Jones says, “Adrian created an LD’s dream of a set, which meant I could truly ‘go to town’ on the lighting. The piece takes place over the two hottest days and one night in NYC and tells the everyday lives (and deaths) of the residents of one street. It really is a segment of everyday life. My job was to highlight each story, without distracting from the bigger picture. At the end, we see that life just goes on and the sun will set again and rise again the next day. This gave me great cause to have 10kW of light up stage left to act as my ‘sun’.”
To help create those scorching sun rays, Scottish lighting company Black Light recommended the SolaFrame 750 – “and what a recommendation!” Jones enthuses. “I loved how punchy they were – and the way they looked in the air – (along with) their ability to be incredibly sharp, as well as big and washy. The shutter arrangement is excellent and meant we could be really specific about where we lit.”
The five 750s were positioned with one far up stage left, two mid-stage center/left and two downstage center/right. “They became our big effect wash lights as well as roaming specials,” he explains.
Citing how much he loved the fixture, Jones has already specified them on several shows for next year and is excited to use them again.
ETC products in the rig included 20 ETC Lustr Profiles and 41 Source Fours. “The Lustrs did a lot of low cross light, as well as a breakup gobo on the house. We also used them to light up the skyline, giving us every different kind of time of day.”
He adds, “I love creating an atmosphere. I found the best way to fuel my artistic interests was lighting directly to music – whether that was opera, musical theatre or on an a cappella concert touring the globe. I’ve been lucky enough to light with some of the greatest directors and designers in the West End, at National Opera Houses, in dark underground tunnels in Waterloo and with naughty puppets on Avenue Q.”
