Billy Elliot is a funny, heart-warming and feel-good celebration of young boy’s dream in a gripping tale of triumph over adversity. The original story captured the hearts and minds of the world when the movie was released in October 2000. The original creative team; director Stephen Daldry and writer Lee Hall, were joined by Elton John, the most celebrated UK singer song-writer of the last 30 years to create Billy Elliot The Musical.
The Australian Premiere took place on Thursday December 13th at Sydney’s Capitol Theatre. Australian audiences and critics are raving about Billy Elliot.
Renowned lighting designer Rick Fisher has been working in British theatre for over twenty years and he is currently Chairman of Association of Lighting Designers. Rick spent several weeks in Sydney preparing the lighting for the Australian version of the stage show along with Associate Lighting Designer Richard Pacholski.
For this production the decision was taken to use sixteen of the new Martin MAC TW1 tungsten fixtures as well as eight MAC700 wash and fourteen MAC600. Chameleon Touring Systems supplied the gear.
“The TW1s on Billy Elliot at Sydney’s Capitol Theatre were a new addition to the rig replacing a variety of other conventional and moving fixtures,” explained Rick Fisher. “I was very pleased with their flexibility and, most importantly, the quality of the light and subtle colour mixing that blended in with the other units in the rig. I was also impressed by their silent operation which is essential in a book musical like Billy Elliot. I look forward to expanding their presence in the upcoming Broadway production at the Imperial Theater in autumn 2008.”
Rick notes that he is a big fan of a tungsten light source for basic light on people and to have a wash unit that offers flexibility when rigging space over stage is becoming increasingly precious is fabulous.
”With near silent running, the MAC TW1 is a wonderful new addition to the lighting designer’s box of tricks,” he said.
Richard Pacholski backs up Rick’s comment adding; “The TW1 narrows on Billy Elliot were great proving themselves to be a rock solid unit with absolutely no problems during a long and grinding load-in. They worked straight out of the box. We used them in ‘silent’ mode giving us complete control over fan noise. For a show that requires minimum moving light noise they were a perfect choice. Performance wise they are a formidable unit. They have great punch and smooth colour mixing plus the choice of mechanical and electronic dimming made for flexible programming.
The Martin TW1 has been worth the wait.”
www.showtech.com.au
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