LONDON, UK – LarMac LIVE (LML) produced the star-studded show at the heart of the recent “Our Greatest Team Rises” gala fundraising event at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
More details from LarMac LIVE (http://www.larmaclive.com):
LONDON, UK – LarMac LIVE (LML) – creative and technical production specialists – produced the star-studded show at the heart of the recent “Our Greatest Team Rises” Team GB and ParalympicsGB gala fundraising event at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
The entertainment line up included Gary Barlow, Will Young, Melanie C, Alfie Boe, Charlie Siem, The Feeling, Kimberly Walsh, BGT winners Spelbound and many others, uniting Team GB and ParalympicsGB for both the Olympics and Paralympics in the run up to the summer Games.
The equally high-profile guest list for the black tie event was topped by TeamGB Ambassadors like Sir Steve Redgrave, Dame Kelly Holmes, Denise Lewis OBE and Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. They joined more than 3,000 people for dinner created by Michelin starred chef, Simon Hulstone, who on the night was mentored by Heston Blumental.
LarMac LIVE were contracted by Team GB/ParalympicsGB and worked in unison with Fireball, who co-ordinated all the night’s fundraising and FOH operations.
LarMac’s Jo MacKay (Creative Producer) and Ian Greenway (Producer) were recommended to produce the show both technically and creatively based on their recent work and extensive knowledge and experience of the venue – in which they have produced several other cutting-edge one off and special events.
MacKay took care of the show’s creative aspects which included originating a production design to set the visuality, look and feel of the stage, and scheduling the artist performance running order. She also conceptualized various content that was supplied by sponsor partnerships.
Greenway oversaw the general technical production, and LML brought in Maggie Mouzakitis to specifically coordinate all the technical sub-contractors, including sound, lighting, video, backline, staging, drapes / dressing and rigging and their crews and technicians.
LarMac Live Ltd worked creatively with the Allstars Collective to facilitate musical performances for a key event sponsor as well as other guests artists, and for the first live performance of the official Our Greatest Team song ‘One Vision’ with Alfie Boe, Kimberly Walsh and the Youth Music Voices.
With excitement and anticipation ramping up ahead of the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games count-down, it was absolutely crucial for all elements of this event to be spot on. Says MacKay, “We were hugely honored to be asked to work alongside Team GB/ParalympicsGB & Fireball on this show, and add our expertise and skills to the mix.”
MacKay’s stage design divided the performance space into three interchangeable sections, delineated by moving screens and drapes. The idea was to make the area as dynamic as possible so it matched the stage action, a goal achieved using a Kinesys automation system to give the show a series of rises in keeping with the ‘Our Greatest Team Rises’ theme.
The most downstage section was masked off at the back by a large blue drape with a high resolution screen in front, eight feet off the floor. This is where hosts Davina McCall and John Bishop introduced presenters, guest speakers, performers and VT links that played out on the screen above.
The second stage look saw the area immediately behind the forestage open as the front screen was raised. This was used as a performance area, still in front of the blue drape, with break up gobos and projection creating movement and depth on the blue velvet backdrop.
Look three revealed the entire stage and choir stalls – including house band the All Stars, positioned upstage – and three large screens in the center, flanked by four additional columns of screen each side. All the live bands playing and using their own backlines also used this format.
Parts of the RAH’s Willis organ were also revealed in the third stage look behind the semi-transparent upstage screen.
MacKay used the red, white and blue ‘Our Greatest Team’ color theme for the event, and briefed production LD Andy Hurst on the evening’s requirements.
“The idea was that the show should build to a crescendo in keeping with the ‘rising’ theme of the event,” she explains. “It had to have a natural flow and be practical to stage in terms of the number of artists and the nature and style of their performance, all of which took careful advance planning.”
LML brought Chris Saunders of OgleHog on-board to manage the screen content and all live video aspects of the event. This included cameras and IMAG mixing and direction, together with formatting of all the VT playback material supplied by the BOA and running the projection system for the silent auction, which was displayed on two side screens left and right of the stage.
The screens and the moving blue drape were all flown on a Kinesys automation system supplied by lighting contractors HSL, who, together with Martin Professional provided the Martin LC-2140, EC-10 and EC-20 screen.
LML also brought in many of their other regular suppliers including Music Bank (Backline) and Kevin Monks from Blackout as Head Rigger. Blackout also supplied the drapes and soft goods for the show and the dressing rooms.
LML’s own team also included Production Assistants Siobhan Shaw and Matt Smith.
The Floor Manager team comprised Ed Sharpe, Siobhan O’Donnell and Ceire Deery, who facilitated the host movements, live presenter links and the Royal Party arrival in to the room.
Stage manager was Mike Grove, working alongside a Stage Miracles show crew, while Mark Cameron floor managed Olympic Ambassador and presenter Bear Grylls’ dramatic abseil down from the RAH roof to dinner.
Spike Allibone called the complicated show with the help of Anya Allibone on script. Autoscript supplied the auto cue and Quantum SFX the pyro for specific show segments. Team ‘Brock’ led by Carol Brock ensured her team had all artists to the stage on time.
Ian Greenway says, “We enjoyed working on this show enormously. A one-off on this scale and profile is always challenging, but it also evoked some incredible teamwork between all involved to produce a highly memorable and successful evening.”
