Following a five-star, smash hit season at the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe and the sell-out, award-winning season at the 2015 Adelaide Fringe, Velvet has been playing at the Sydney Opera House. The show is an electrifying trip to a world of glamour and abandon, a high energy fusion of disco, dance, burlesque and circus.
Directed by Craig Ilott, Velvet has transformed the Studio into a Boogie Wonderland with the help of lighting designer Matt Marshall.
The idea was always to have a set made of lights and hence the wall of forty-six ShowPro PixPads, usually run at around 60%, a product that is ideal for this production.
“The director original wanted to go with Jarags as he loves tungsten and was a little apprehensive of LED,” explained Matt. “I didn’t want to be stuck with one look the whole show and really wanted colour. Anyway, our first shows were in a tent in Adelaide and there just wasn’t the power available for Jarags so that was a bit of a win for the PixPads! He was worried about the dimmer curve so we’ve enclosed them in Perspex. I just love the PixPads and they are so appropriate for this show.”
Res X supplemented the inhouse rig with some of the gear. All moving heads were Martin MACs with four MAC Viper Profiles located on the floor of the stage.
“They have been great and it’s the first time I’ve had that kind of output,” said Matt. “Even though the PixPads are run at 60% their output is pretty intense so the MAC Vipers have been a worthy companion. They provide beautiful aerial moments, cut through everything and it’s nice to have the ability to go really wide. The Vipers have made such a difference to the season and provide some decent punch for the mirrorballs.”
Also in the rig were fourteen MAC 250 Wash, eleven MAC250 Entours and four MAC700 Profiles, reliable fixtures that Matt knows back to front. A couple of MAC Auras are used for side light on the stage.
“I love the MAC Auras as they have such a good dimming curve and can dim theatrically,” added Matt. “We also have a couple fo Atmic strobes, a Look Solutions Unique 2 hazer and a RJ Manon 1200 MRS followspot.”
The show was programmed this season by Pete Rubie on a MA2 console.
