Strictly Ballroom The Musical is the inspiring story of a championship ballroom dancer who defies all the rules to follow his heart. This is a romantic comedy telling the story of an Australian ballroom dancer, Scott Hastings. Scott comes from a family with a history of ballroom dancing and has been training since childhood. He has become very proficient but he encounters considerable resistance when he tries to dance his own steps in preference to the more traditional ballroom moves. Scott’s steps are not strictly ballroom. His dancing partner Liz leaves him, and he eventually finds a new dancing partner. This uplifting and courageous tale originated as a stage play that Baz Luhrmann created as a student at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) in Sydney back in 1984. The story, the characters, the plot and the music couldn’t happen anywhere else in the world except in Australia in 1985!
For Willoughby Theatre Company’s production, director Tom Sweeney has used the most iconic symbols from the musical to set the period for this production, the Hills Hoist and the Coke Sign from Newtown in Sydney that was situated on the roof of the dance studio referenced in this musical. With projection by Mike Brew enhancing each location, Sean Clarke had the enormous task of adding the colour and movement to this production.
Sean’s design incorporated the use of the standard rig of The Concourse with some added lighting fixtures from Chameleon Touring Systems. In his design Sean wanted to remain true to the dancers by lighting from the side, using 3m droppers off the main lighting bars just inside the proscenium, giving the dancers that 
extra dimension. The use of Altman Phoenix LED profiles gave the flexibility required to meet the full colour spectrum of the costumes designed by Joy Sweeney. Primary and pastel colours are flowing in each scene, to create each colour would take many halogen lamps to achieve. The Altman profiles have certainly aided the design process as new colours were added or adjusted. The dropper has a Martin MAC Viper on each which allows for the texture of gobos, additional colours and specific focus points. The Concourse has an automated fly system, the lighting bars drop into the space to bring them 2.5m off the floor as the character Scott Hastings (Matt Hourigan) does a solo piece in Act One. This also encloses the space around Matt for his solo creating a dancer defined lighting angle. The right amount of haze in the air adds to the colourful atmosphere of the production.
“There are a number of competition dances that need to be lit with colour and movement, the MAC Vipers are an impressive unit and are quite responsive to each movement effect,” said Sean. “The Viper Profile is not only brighter, it is also a faster and more compact solution. With its 1000-watt HID source, the Viper consumes less power, making it over 50% more efficient than its 1200-watt rivals. The use of LED fixtures that are both in-house and supplied by Chameleon gives me the extra flexibility for colour choices, with the kaleidoscope of colour in the ballroom gowns, this new technology ensures the best colour match can be made to enhance the stage.”
The dance sequence featuring Matt Hourigan is a lighting high light for Sean as well as the more intimate scenes between Fran (Bernice Keen) and Abeula (Janina Hamerlok), where the warmth of the Spanish colours fill the air creating those special moments you find in every musical. Act Two opens with JJ Silver (Luke Davis), the magnitude of sequence in his costume adds a special kick to the lighting in this number that is well received by the audience. MAC 700 washes add the colour to this scene, with drapery supplied by Geoff Newy at The Look. The show finishes with the hit song 
Love Is In The Air with the auditorium saturated in colour and movement from a mirror ball. The most iconic ballroom symbol.
Strictly Ballroom has a large production team, it is the collaboration of all of these departments that ensures the creativity and the design brief is met and that the audiences enjoy this musical. With thanks to Eclipse for additional sound equipment, Chameleon Touring Systems for lighting, LED screens and staging supplied by Crystal Productions and drapes by The Look Sydney. A personal thanks to Matt Lutz, Brett Wheeler, Tom French, Mitchel Kroll and Andrew Davis.
Willoughby Theatre Company’s Strictly Ballroom closes June 3rd. They have announced SHREK the Musical as their production for October 2018.
Production Credits:
Sean Clarke – Lighting Designer
Tom Sweeney – Director
Mark Pigot – Musical Director
Leeanne Bampton – Ballroom Choreographer
Natalie Neary – Chorus Choreographer
Andrew Davis – Technical Director
Craig Pinkerton – Production Manager
Joy Sweeney – Costume Designer
Mike Brew – Projection Designer
Vicki Minter – Make-up & Wig Designer
Chris Neale – Audio Designer
Andrew Crawford – Audio Engineer
Wendy Walker – Properties Manager
Janina Hamerlok – Dance Manager
Fiona Harsanyi and Murray Dwyer – Radio Mic Technicians
Matt Lutz – Automated Fly Operator
Abraham Ramsden, Mackenzie Cullimore, Aerianne Mojica, Justin Hilario,– Followspot Operators
Tom French – Lighting Operator
Mel Lennox – Stage Manager
Tom Rogers – Assistant Stage Manager
Gear List:
1 x ETC EOS Lighting Console
42 x Selecon SPX Profiles
36 x 1.2k Selecon Rama Profiles
4 x Multi Pars
8 x Selecon PL-3 LED Wash Fixtures
14 x Rockcity LED Strips – supplied by Chameleon Touring Systems
11 x MAC Vipers – supplied by Chameleon Touring Systems
16 x Altman Phoenix Profiles – supplied by Chameleon Touring Systems
4 x Claypaky Sharpy Washes – supplied by Chameleon Touring Systems
4 x MAC 700 Washes – supplied by Chameleon Touring Systems
2 x Unique Hazers – supplied by Chameleon Touring Systems
2 x AquaFog 3300 – supplied by Chameleon Touring Systems
1 x 80cm Mirror Ball – supplied by Chameleon Touring Systems
