New York, NY- Paul McCartney recently teamed with Peter Martins and the New York City Ballet to create Ocean's Kingdom, the first ballet scored by the Beatles legend. 4Wall New York was called upon by Lighting Designer Mark Stanley to provide lighting for the entire Ocean's Kingdom run.
“4Wall is always a tremendous resource,” said Stanley, “The support in pre-production research to on-site delivery of great equipment helped take this project to the next level.”
Ocean's Kingdom features projection never before seen at the NYCB. Stanley felt it was essential the lighting design and projection design worked together to create a complete environment- not just projected scenery or a moving backdrop.
Stanley's basic plot included Vari*Lite VL1000 and VL3500 fixtures. Before making additional choices, Stanley visited 4Wall to test both water effects and haze. After a few rounds of tests, the Martin MAC III Profile and Look Solutions Unique 2 Hazer were added to his gear list.
An additional challenge arose from the need for a “jail cell” effect. To accomplish this, Stanley chose a recent addition to 4Wall inventory- the Clay Paky Sharpy.
“The Sharpies were used for the intensity and column-like quality of the beam,” said Stanley.
Of course the biggest name attached to the ballet played a large part as well. Sir Paul wrote the libretto and had very specific images he wanted the design team to create.
“We talked a lot with him about story, mood, and character,” Stanley said, “All of the things that help a design team create the right environment.”
Ocean's Kingdom resumed its run at the New York City Ballet in January 2012.
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