ON THE ROAD: Michael Forever Opposite: Part of the stage was made to represent Jackson’s famous fedora hat. Below: Stars such as Yolanda Adams, Ne-Yo, Diversity and JLS celebrated the life of Michael Jackson.
BOUNDARY-PUSHING DESIGNS Using a flat stage was not an option for Watts and Spear, who wanted to steer clear of the conventional rock ‘n’ roll style show; opting for a design that was as open as possible. For Watts - who started in theatre and learnt to design everything from ballet to opera before becoming involved in tours, concerts and festivals - the biggest challenge was incorporating all the required technical elements into a one-off production. “The short pre-production window caused
a few headaches, as did the weight loading in the roof and the confirmation of 3D filming. We pushed the technical and time limits in every direction, but I was pleased with the end result,” commented Watts. Cardiff Theatrical Services (CTS), a subsidiary
of the Welsh National Opera, was put forward by Star Events to provide the stage set. “Not many companies can make a set of that size and fit it all together perfectly. We used as much stock equipment as possible and chose suppliers we had absolute confidence in, but it was still a battle getting the show packaged and on the road,” said Watts. With three weeks to draw, manufacture,
paint, and assemble the complete floor of the stage set, 25 people were working 10 hours a day, seven days a week in the workshop to get the project finished on time. But having worked with clients such as the Royal Opera House and
Glyndebourne Festival, CTS was comfortable building sets of a substantial size. “We had to find a solution that was quick to assemble on site, would give the LD the scope to put in the LED floor panels, and that was relatively simple to construct and paint in our workshops,” said Leejay Burnell, CTS Workshop Manager. The set was made up of around 100 18mm
ply boxes, with holes cut out for the LED panels, which was then fitted on-site and topped with a 10mm thick makrolon sheet. CTS also supplied manually operated trap doors to act as entrances onto the stage. Two paint calls took place around rehearsals
and a team of 17 from the Celtic Stage Crew handled six trailers worth of scenery from the stadium floor to the stage. Two carpenters were also onsite with a CTS project manager to oversee the 14-hour assembly. CTS had to plan the assembly on stage very
carefully - the stage floor was so large that the palm of the hand could only fit into the company’s assembly area. Explained Burnell: “We had to put the fingers into our paint shop and the thumb remained in the carpentry shop. Our painters had to make sure the grey finish was 100% even too - the thumb alone had over 10 coats of paint before it left the workshop.”
BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER Skeleton lighting, audio and monitors were set up during two weeks of rehearsals at LH2
- a purpose built large-scale production space in London that Watts has previously used for N-Dubz rehearsals. Watts commented: “I knew it was the perfect space; having the ability to hang enough fixtures and PA for everyone to get a feel for the concert before getting to site.” Rigging then began just over a week before
the show. However, the rigging team from Star Events - headed by Steve Armstrong - had an unforeseen problem when the stadium’s fully-retractable roof would not shut. Said Spear: “It was something to do with the freak hot weather, which had affected the oil in the rollers. We had a team of frustrated riggers staring at the sky.” But once all of the preparations had been
made and the build began, the team began reaping the rewards of all their hard work. “The first highlight for me was at the end of the second day when the hat was flown and I sat where FOH would be and looked at my renders on my phone. The second was seeing the Jackson’s numbers from FOH and realising we had actually done it,” explained Watts.
A SPECIFIC PA CONFIGURATION For sound to reach every corner of the stadium, a PA system was supplied entirely by Concert Sound Clair. Six hangs were flown (three per side) consisting of a main, downstage and upstage side hang. A total of 18 Clair full range i-5 speakers with two i-5b low end extension
TPi NOVEMBER 2011 • 33
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