New York, NY- Frederick P. Rose Hall, the Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, is one of the world’s leading performing arts centers.
Ensuring the lighting for every event is memorable and appropriate is longtime Lighting Director Zakaria Al-Alami. While he relies on a standard rep plot that is always in place for each venue (including systems of moving lights from 4Wall New York), special occasions create opportunities for expanded lighting packages.
One such occasion was the third annual ‘Ring in the Swing’ New Year’s Eve event, held in ‘The Appel Room’. The 450+ seat amphitheater style room overlooking Columbus Circle and Central Park was set to be filled with two swing bands playing music throughout the end of the year and into the new one.
Taking his design cues from the event décor and staging, which skewed towards a winter theme, Al-Alami also went about preparing the space for the party atmosphere that must accompany New Year’s Eve.
The room’s rep hang, including Martin MAC Viper Profiles, served to create the foundation in the room.
“Our partnership with 4Wall over the last ten years has allowed us to keep moving light packages in-house that are regularly refreshed to keep up with the latest offerings from popular manufacturers,” said Al-Alami, “all the while doing so in a way that’s affordable and functional for us and our clients.”
To enhance the party vibe, additional fixtures from 4Wall were needed.
“For flexibility and visual variety I knew I wanted the Clay Paky B-Eye. With a few of these added to the backlight truss that already held some of the Vipers, and then more added to the catwalks overhead, I was able to add aerial variety throughout the entire space.”
Still needing a fixture to add additional visual interest at a lower plane closer to the band, Al-Alami turned to the newly arrived Clay Paky Mythos. The Appel Room would be the first venue the brand new fixtures from 4Wall were used in.
“I hadn’t landed on what the fixture in that space should be, but when I heard from 4Wall that the Mythos had arrived, they made for an obvious choice. They were placed on top of truss towers lined between the band and the window, and were more than enough to fill that plane.”
In the end the team had created an environment around the band and dance floor that kept the party energy going all night, while constantly feeding off of either band’s musical selections. Having the necessary equipment from 4Wall was once again a key component of a successful large-scale event held at Frederick P. Rose Hall.
“4Wall’s commitment to service, to keeping up with manufacturer’s latest offerings, and most importantly, to leading the pack, makes a designer’s work so much easier,” Al-Alami said. “The range of scale of productions we see at Jazz is vast. From the smallest of recitals to the largest of TV up-fronts, one hazer or 100 –plus movers, 4Wall is there to deliver.”
For more information on Jazz at Lincoln Center, visit www.Jazz.org
For more information on 4Wall Entertainment Lighting, visit www.4wall.com