Ice Age Live, a fantastic new stage adaptation based on the characters of the four hugely successful Ice Age animated movies, features Robe’s powerful ROBIN LEDWash 1200 moving lights which were specified by Lighting Designer Luc Peumans.
Peumans’ creative lighting and visual design practice Painting With Light is based in Genk, Belgium. The show has just premiered in London and embarks on a five year international tour, produced by Netherlands based Stage Entertainment Touring Productions.
Peumans was commissioned to create the lighting design having worked on previous Stage Entertainment projects including Holiday on Ice. He worked closely with others on the visual team including set designer David Shields and video and motion graphics creator, Jean Luc Gason.
Last year, during a lighting upgrade for Holiday on Ice’s ‘Speed’ show, he specified Robe’s LEDWash 600s for the first time, with 62 of these replacing the discharge sources on the rig – chosen for reliability, longevity and lower on-going running costs.
Impressed with their performance, this time he chose 60 of the more powerful LEDWash 1200s for Ice Age Live, together with 20 LEDWash 600s.
The LEDWash 1200s are distributed in the roof trusses above the ice and
used for bathing the ice in a dynamic variety of colours in complex and subtle combinations, literally ‘painting’ the ice with light!
The overhead fixtures are also used to follow the flying performers and to pinpoint ‘specials’ positions for all the main characters – so as truly multi-tasking tools.
Six LEDWash 1200s are stationed backstage and used to back-light the main inflatable rock-face set element which is also used as a performer platform. There are also fixtures behind the upstage video wall which opens and closes for entrances / exits.
The LEDWash 600s are positioned around the perimeter of the ice and supply low level lighting across the ice, which is a very tidy way of illuminating performers, especially for the large musical numbers when the ice is full of cast in the fabulous array of costumes designed by Michael Curry.
Overall, they offer a dynamic palette of colour and plenty of super-smooth washing of the ice and the costumes, which absorb light very well.
Peumans is delighted with the performance of the LEDWash 1200s, he particularly likes the fact that utilising the 8 – 63 degree zoom - the beam will also go extremely tight, enabling its use for spot like functions as well as the excellent wash.
He also comments on how reliable they have been both on this so far and on the Holiday on Ice production.
Ice Age Live lighting was programmed by Painting With Light’s Paco Mispelters using a grandMA2 full size. The show is now being run on a grandMA2 light by the Stage Entertainment touring crew.
All lighting equipment is supplied by Lier, Antwerp based rental company Phlippo Showlight, who have invested heavily in Robe over the last 12 months. Their stock of Robe has been delivered by Benelux distributor, Controllux.