When working a corporate event, lighting designers usually have to go with the flow, at least as far as color schemes are concerned. If the company logo relies on a palette that doesn’t translate so well in light, the LD has to figure out how to make the best of the unfortunate hand that was dealt.
TJ Harrison, on the other hand, was grateful when he was called upon to light a dinner event at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT for JSC Management Group, a major restaurant franchisee. The company’s preferred palette with its deep reds, blues and other hues, gave him excellent color choices.
He took full advantage of the opportunity too. Using the 36 Chauvet Professional Rogue R1 BeamWash in his Squeek Lights supplied rig, he created an intimate mood throughout the event space, no small accomplishment give its cavernous 18,500 sq. ft. size. Relying on subtle color changes, he reflected different moods throughout the event, starting off with dark, richly saturated tones to convey a sense of intrigue and expectation at the start of the evening, and then moved on to brighter tones.
However, more than good fortune was involved in Harrison’s engaging design. Taking a proactive approach, he also didn’t hesitate to change plans if it meant enhancing the event’s atmosphere. So, after studying the event layout, he reconfigured the stage, scrapping the initial plan for a rectangular one and replacing it with a design that reached out into the audience.
“Originally, the design called for a basic rectangular stage, but the vision for the event grew, so we took the concept of the decking, rotated it 45-degrees, and pushed the stage out into the seating area with tables on either side of the center,” said Harrison. “This was more in keeping with our overall goal to create a more immersive atmosphere by having a layout, where speakers were close to attendees both in terms of space and position.”
Adding greater depth to the design was a separate, diamond shape stage for the band. “We went with the concept of having two stages connected as one,” said Harrison. “The main stage and band stage were on the same plane, but were separated, with the diamond-shape band one being just off to the left.”
Overall Harrison had 53 stage decks that were 22 feet in height. He flew his fixtures on 160 feet of truss with a trim height of 22 feet that was arranged in an inverted U. This enabled him to achieve complete color coverage of the event space. White drapes that ran the entire width of the room, provided an ample canvas for him to enhance to overall atmosphere with colorful cyc lighting.
“My goal walking into this project was to not have any of the house lights on for this event; I wanted the room lit with color,” said Harrison. “The Rogue BeamWashes were my main color creator. They made it easy for me to change the level of colorization throughout the evening. They truly pack a punch. I zoomed them all the way our for a wash during dinner and meeting portions, but then I zoomed them all the way down to a nice tight narrow beam for our song special and Kabuki drop/car reveal celebrations.”
Harrison may consider himself lucky that he had such a good corporate color scheme to start with, along with a powerful RGBW fixture that could deliver it in such compelling fashion, but he also experienced some misfortune. A winter storm dumped up to three feet of snow on Connecticut the night before load-in. Even with this weather and Covid-19 restrictions, the event was a success for Harrison. The team from Ocello systems had a hand in making that happen, along with help from Victor Zeiser of Squeek Lights. However, the key reason for the success was Harrison’s many months of preparation and preprogramming.
