The Christmas event that has become an institution – the Wiggles Tour – added a twist to its last production by playing in the round. As in previous years, Phaseshift Productions supplied the lighting and crew but playing in the round with a central ‘carousal’ meant that the planning process took much longer.
”It was a good six to nine months in the planning stage with all the different departments,” explained Lawrie Videky, managing director of Phaseshift. “The logistics were huge with things like cable management and a whole new structure being made.”
The tour saw Phaseshift’s new pre-rig truss (containing 120 Pars) put to use lighting the left and right sides of the catwalk as well as the main centre of the arena.
”Basically it was like a ‘mini-tattoo’!” said Lawrie. “Then there was a centre octagon shaped truss that was hinged together and broken in the centre to accommodate a flying track.”
Lighting designer Alex Saad lit the majority of the show with twenty-eight Martin MAC700 washes and twenty-eight MAC700 profiles. A total of eight MAC2000 were used for the quick change entrance way where they painted colourful wallpaper. An inflatable ‘toddler-friendly’ crowd buffer encircled the stage and was lit internally by twenty-four Martin StageBars, ideal for the job with their cool LEDs and multicolour options. Twenty Kupo 4-lites were also in the rig.
”With lighting The Wiggles it’s all about colour and movement to enhance the performance,” stated Lawrie. “Credit must be given to the crew who put in a big effort and long days on the tour.”
Credit is also due to production manager Robe Miles and set builder Alex Rosemount.
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