Playing Now: City of Angels

Second up in this year’s Royal Academy of Music summer season of musicals: City of Angels.

The production is directed by Bruce Guthrie, choreographed by Lee Proud, designed by David Harris with costume design by Simon Wells, video design by Gillian Tan and sound design by Mike Walker.

Always a complex show, this production was further complicated by being double cast. Nonetheless with the support of the RAM team, particularly production manager Michael ‘Skip’ Francis, and excellent stage management and technical teams the show opened to great acclaim.

City of Angels at RAM: [link]

Photo: Richard Hubert Smith

Playing Now: Tree of Codes

Tree of Codes, the acclaimed dance show on which Rob collaborated with director-choreographer Wayne McGregor, visual designer Olafur Eliasson and composer Jamie xx, returns to Paris this week for a season at the Bastille Opera.

Since the show debuted at the Manchester Festival in 2015, it has been seen around the world - in New York, Paris (at the Garnier Opera), Aarhus, Melbourne, Sydney and Hong Kong.

The show plays as part of the Bastille’s rep between June 26th and July 14th, with tickets selling fast.

[link]

Photo: Joel Chester Fildes

Playing Now: The Wild Party

Rob has been back at the Royal Academy of Music, continuing a working relationship with the Academy’s summer musicals stretching back 20 years to A…. My Name Is Alice in 1999.

This year the first of the two shows is The Wild Party, directed by Hannah Chissick and choreographed by Chis Whittaker, with whom Rob worked on the musical Cry Baby earlier in the year. The production is designed by David Harris, with costume design by Simon Wells and sound design by Mike Walker. The show’s production electrician was Dan Bowler, with Mark Matthews as lighting programmer.

The Wild Party is playing now, and will be followed by a RAM favourite, City of Angels…

Photo: Richard Hubert Smith

On Show In Prague: Giudizio Universale

Rob is delighted and proud to announce that he and his design collaborators on the spectacular show Giudizio Universale, have been selected as part of the British display at the Prague Quadrennial design exhibition.

Featured as part of the website that is an element of the Society of British Theatre Designer’s Staging Places display in Prague, the site showcases the work of Rob, co-lighting designer Bruno Poet, projection designer Luke Halls and scenic designers Stufish.

Giudizio Universale, which tells the story of Michelangelo’s work at the Sistine Chapel through live performance, lighting, sound and all-encompassing video projection, continues to play to great acclaim at the Auditorium Conciliazione in Rome.

Staging Places: [link]
Prague Quadrennial: [link]
Giudizio Universale: [link]

Playing Now: Amour

Amour, Charing Cross Theatre. Photographer: Scott Rylander

Amour, lit by Rob, opened at the Charing Cross Theatre in London last night.

A ‘musical fantasy’ with music by the multi award-winning Michel Legrand and English lyrics by Jeremy Sams from the original by Didier Van Cauwelaert, the show is adapted from the 1943 short story Le Passe-Muraille by Marcel Aymé. The show enjoyed a short run in New York in 2002; this is its first professional production in the UK.

Produced by Danielle Tarento, the production is directed by Hannah Chissick, choreographed by Matt Cole with design by Adrian Gee. The show continues follows on from Rob’s collaborations with Hannah on Sweet Smell of Success and Cry Baby over the last year; they will work together again next month on The Wild Party at the Royal Academy of Music.

Amour: [link]
Gallery: [link]

Writing For Glyndebourne

Sometimes the most fun jobs are the most unexpected. Case in point: Rob was surprised and delighted to receive a phone call from Glyndebourne early in the year, asking if he’d be interested in writing a piece for the 2019 season programme.

With the ‘new’ Glyndebourne Opera Hosue building turning 25, the Glyndebourne technical team are looking to how to upgrade their building to better handle the style and scales of shows it is now producing, and to provide safer and more efficient working conditions. A key part of this plan is to replace the traditional counterweight flying system with a new automated flying system. Since this would involve fund-raising from Glyndebourne’s supporters, they were looking for an article that could clearly explain the current system and why there was a need for a new system.

Karen Anderson, Glyndebourne’s Head of Content Production, had seen the piece about the refurbishment of the Sydney Opera House in the March 2018 issue of LSi magazine, and felt it provided the perfect model for the Glyndebourne piece.

For Rob researching the piece allowed for a fascinating lunch with Glyndebourne’s Technical Director, Eric Gautron, to discuss the project. It also allowed him to combine his love of new technology with his fascination with the old, including conversations with lighting designers including Paul Pyant and Mark Jonathan who worked at the ‘old’ Glyndebourne early in their careers, and a a good rummage through Glyndebourne’s archive to find pictures to illustrate the article.

The final article appeared in the gorgeous season brochure.

Glyndebourne Opera: [link]

Playing Now: Man Of La Mancha

Man of La Mancha - London Coliseum. Photographer: Manuel Harlan

Rob has been working with Rick Fisher once again, this time on the new production of the musical Man of La Mancha at the London Coliseum.

Produced by Michael Grade and Michael Linnit with English National Opera, the show follows on from the success of their earlier collaborations on Sweeney Todd, Sunset Boulevard and Chess. Rarely seen in the UK since its 1969 West End debut, this new production is directed by Lonny Price, choreographed by Rebecca Howell, designed by James Noone, with costume design by Fontini Dimou, sound design by Mick Potter and lighting by Rick Fisher. Kelsey Grammar plays the lead role, alongside opera star Danielle deNiese, Nicholas Lyndhurst and Peter Polycarpou.

La Mancha continues the collaboration between Rick and Rob that includes productions of Billy Elliot in the US, Holland, Japan and touring the UK, Mata Hari in Japan and Consent in London, with Rob acting as the associate lighting designer and lighting programmer.

Careful planning was required to work around James Noone’s complex set, and to combine elements of ENO’s lighting rig with additional elements, particularly a complex wrap-around cyclorama lit by a combination of Robert Juliat Dalis and ChromaQ ColorForce LED fixtures. The rig also made use of Vari-Lite VL3500 Spot, Martin TW1 and PRG Icon Stage lighting fixtures, as well as Clay Paky’s Axcor Beam300 ‘LED Sharpy’ used to dramatic effect in the show’s Knight of the Mirrors sequence. Lighting equipment for the show was supplied by White Light, PRG and TSL.

Rob worked alongside ENO lighting supervisor Ian Jackson-French and senior lighting technician Adrian Plaut and the ENO lighting team plus production electrician John Delaney and production manager Patrick Molony to deliver the show on a tight schedule.

Man of La Mancha runs until June 8th at the London Coliseum.

Man of La Mancha [link]

Playing Now: Shrek

Rob has just completed lighting Shrek at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford, for GSA.

As GSA’s Mig Burgess has delighted in pointing out online, the production uses five (or more) shades of green - a colour not normally seen much out of panto season, but which becomes quite useful when the leading character has a green face!

The show’s lighting has been supported by Ambersphere, allowing students to experience the Robert Juliat Dalis cyc lights, and the Ayrton Ghibli and Clay Paky K20 and Axcor Beam 300 LED moving lights.

GSA and Ambersphere are holding an open day about this equipment and the latest advances in colour rending with LED sources - plus the chance to see the rig in action over extracts from the show - this Wednesday, March 25th, from 2-5pm; Rob will be there to talk about LEDs, lighting when the leading performer is green and anything else that comes up!

Shrek at the Yvonne Arnaud: [link]
GSA / Ambersphere Lighting Open Day: [link]