Following the success of the recent Ratcliff concert thanks to the use of their newly acquired CHAUVET Professional lighting fixtures added to their lighting rig, Griffith Regional Theatre recently held their newest community production, ‘Wicked.’ The production was about the untold story of the witches of Oz and was held over two weeks from the 21st of June to the 1st of July. Lighting designer John Matkovic once again used a variety of CHAUVET fixtures supplied by Showtools for the production to generate various moods for the show as well as create a professional theatrical quality to the theatre and for the audience.
‘The overall design process of the production was based on the three arches of the set and how they got smaller as the set extended up stage, lighting had to be set lower and tighter across the center sections of the lighting bars, side towers and the heavy side light made up for most of the lighting scenes,’ John stated.
The equipment used for the ‘Wicked’ production included: Rogue R2 Spots, R2 Washes and R2 Beams, Rogue R1 Spots, Rogue R1 FX-B’s, Ovation C-640FC and COLORdash Par-Quad 18’s. The Rogue R2 LED Moving Head Spots were used to provide maximum dimension for the show, while the R1 Spots were used for its varying overhead gobo effects as well as its colour sharpness and aerial effects. In addition, the Rogue R2 Washes fixtures created bright and intense theatrical looks placed over head and on top of side booms that helped set the mood for the ‘Wicked’ theme. The R2 Beams were used for their great intensity and colour saturation as John stated, ‘The lighting was a character in itself, just the lighting and its focus, the great intensity of the Chauvet LED beams and color saturation really helped establish the right mood for the musical.’
Other fixtures implemented include the Rogue R1 FX-B LED Moving Head System which were strategically placed on the ground to create beams through the arches which were placed as a set backdrop for the action on stage. Thanks to infinite rotation of both pan and tilt for each fixture’s five individually controllable 15W RGBW LEDs, John was able to create a seemingly endless array of crisp beams, rocket quick movements and colour blanket effects when needed depending on the type of scene needed. The COLORdash Par-Quad 18 LED Static Wash Lights and the Ovation C-640 Static Wash Light were also used for general colour wash.
The Wicked Production was successfully held with eleven shows, eight of which were sold out which made ‘Wicked’ the most successful community production Griffith Regional Theatre has created. Thanks to the use of the CHAUVET Professional lighting rig, Griffith Regional Theatre has once again amazed audiences with Margaret Sands exclaiming on the Griffith Regional Theatre Facebook page, ‘Superb lighting and effects, equal to any! The highest of accolades to both Griffith Regional Theatre, and especially ‘John’ on the lighting desk, for bringing such professional theatrical quality, in every way to this region.’ The impact of the CHAUVET Professional lighting was also adequately summarised by a review quoted by John which stated, ‘Defying gravity was finally done right.’
