So Popera Productions is a small family-owned non-profit community theatre company based in Wollongong, NSW. They have self-produced over 18 full-scale musicals, with the family at the core of the work from creative, music and technical direction to building full theatrical scenery and props – all as a hobby while maintaining demanding full-time day jobs.
Joined by an excellent extended team of friends who volunteer in scenic construction, technical design, stage and production management, So Popera provides a wealth of opportunities for local artists, musicians, technicians and school-age production students completing their core work placement hours.
So Popera has a proud tradition of maintaining high production standards, continually bringing a taste of Broadway to Wollongong. The company operates entirely on ticket revenue, only receiving small sponsorship contributions from local businesses and has scored recognition awards in scenic design, lighting design, musical direction, technical achievement, best director, best choreographer, best ensemble and best production.
Their latest production is Jesus Christ Superstar lit by Christophe Snape.
“The show itself is awesome and the voices are amazing, especially for a completely amateur cast,” commented Christopher. “We had no tech rehearsals, three dress rehearsals and opening night … the whole thing bumped in on the 22nd and they opened on the 26th. It was a crazy few days that’s for sure but how everyone pulled together was so amazing to see. It’s all hands on deck. We even had wireless ‘WiFi’ DMXable RGB elements in the show which they created and made themselves with the amazing creative genius of a guy called Mark Fanning.”
Christopher used Capture to preprogram the show on a Hog 4 full console. CuePilot is used, following Timecode, for extremely accurate and precise fly cues, audio prompting and visual elements. The motors are MoveCat, with speeds of 40m/minute, supplied by The PA People.
“I preprogrammed the show as it was the only way I could have achieved it with over 1400 cues,” said Christopher.
Christopher ensured that he had his favourite lighting fixture, the Martin MAC101, in his rig with 49 of them used for general cover and also beam effects as he grouped some of them in 3s to allow him to create a more menacing feeling when needed. Other Martin gear in the rig was 26 x MAC Quantums, 10 x Rush MH7 and three Atomic Strobes.
Four Ayrton Ghiblis were used out front to add texture to the set and cast whilst eight Claypaky Mini Bs provided eye candy light.
“I love how you can have the single pixel for those more intimate looks,” added Christopher. “What I loved probably most was using the molefays and the Parnells. I had 46 x Parnells making up the cross, individually circuited to get a pulse through them when needed. Going back to the warm incandescent look was just beautiful and the feel I was after would have been completely lost using LEDs.”
As well as Molefays, Pars and other such fixtures, there were three followspots, two DF50 hazers and the 2500 RGB pixels in those stairs.
Chameleon Touring Systems supplied the DF50s, consoles and networking with the remainder of the gear supplied by Eclipse.
“That truss alone was 300kg with those multipars … I could only run it at about 30% and at any given time otherwise it would have melted Jesus!” remarked Christopher.
Photos: Anna Warr Photography
