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"Oh What a
Night" - for Entec
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Entec Lighting is supplying
full production and crew to
the popular Virgo Productions
UK theatre tour of "Oh What
A Night".
Created in 1997 - and still
starring Kid Creole and the
outrageously camp Nigel Roach
as Stretch - the show was initially
conceived for a short season
at Blackpool Opera House. Since
then, it's thrilled audiences
across the UK, Europe and Australia,
featuring 36 pumping, all-action
hits from the dizzy disco-crazy
heights of the 1970's. The show's
director is choreographer Kim
Gavin, guru of modern pop choreography
and the creator of stunning
live shows for the likes of
Take That, Westlife, Steps and
the Pop Idol tour among many
others.
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Fusing the disciplines of rock 'n'
roll and theatre has always been a
central production platform for "Oh
What a Night", with it's hectic touring
schedule and itinerary encompassing
a myriad of different types and sizes
of venue. This leg of the tour also
included several back-to-backs, necessitating
an even more streamlined technical
fit-up and operation.
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Current production manager
Danny Spratt has been onboard
since 2001. Spratt chose Entec
to supply lighting for the project
because he wanted "A reliable
lighting company with a great
can-do attitude, excellent gear,
crew and support, plus a sensible
attitude to budgeting".
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The original lighting
design was completed by Simon
Tutchener, who has also overseen
all the re-lights with each
new leg of the tour. Entec supplied
Greg Szabo as the current lighting
director/operator, working alongside
technician Adam Copland.
Lighting is a
vital visual and narrative element
of the show which carries a
minimal set, leaving lighting
to convey much of the locational
information and the storyline.
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Tutchener's design recreates
the authentic 'retro' feel of
a 1970s disco in terms of lighting,
which was very much pre moving
lights. However the show today
also needed elements of 21st
century technology, so moving
lights are on the kit list,
but rarely seen or used in the
conventional way. The big flashy
dance numbers are lit with fast
moving conventional chases and
sequences.
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Entec's rig consists of 12
Vari*Lite 2000s, four washes
and 8 spots making up moving
light elements. Then, as you'd
expect, there's plenty of PAR
cans - 10 bars of 6, plus four
bars of ACLs and some additional
loose cans dotted around the
stage and trussing bridge. Twenty-five
Source Four profiles are used
for key lighting, the majority
of them with 19 degree lenses,
and then there's eight 2K fresnels,
two smoke machines and - naturally
- a mirror ball - without which
any self-respecting 1970s disco
wouldn't have a shred of credibility!
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Szabo is running the show from
an Avolites Diamond 3 console
- one of his favourite lighting
desks, and originally specified
by Tutchener.. The audio supplier
is Wigwam, with Steve McManus
mixing FOH and Nipper on monitors,
and the tour wraps up the week
before Christmas.
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