Audacious, bold, daring, and perhaps even a little crazy — the producers of the stage version of The Lord of the Rings must have been all that, plus some, to undertake the daunting task of bringing J.R.R. Tolkien's famous literary trilogy, The Lord Of The Rings, to the stage. At a reported cost of almost $30 million, The Lord Of The Rings (LOTR) premiered in March at Toronto's Princess of Wales Theatre, with the Canadian government hoping that hobbit fans from around the globe would flock to see Bilbo and Frodo, and their assorted friends and enemies, including the slimy Gollum, in the new high-tech version of Middle Earth.
The creative team is primarily British, starting with director Matthew Warchus, plus set and costume designer Rob Howell, sound designer Simon Baker, lighting designer Paul Pyant, and the folks from The Gray Circle, a London (UK) based moving-image design firm, who provided the projected images. The only North American on the design team, New York City-based Gregory Meeh, provided the special effects. Their challenge was to provide a fresh look at material beloved by millions who have read the books or seen the recent movies, while condensing three volumes into a mere three-and-a-half hour production, which is more like an epic pageant with music (and a cast of 70 actors, singers, and musicians) than a typical Broadway-style musical.
Hobbits cavorting in the lobby and chasing fireflies in the theatre, plus an organic set with tree roots stretching out from the stage along the proscenium and into the theatre, envelop the audience in Middle Earth. The back-story of how Bilbo Baggins finds himself with a magical ring is told through a series of shadow play images at the top of Act One. The curtain then goes up on Bag End, Frodo Baggins' home in The Shire, where the hobbits live happily. Frodo is now heir to Uncle Bilbo's mysterious ring but thinks nothing of it until Gandalf the wizard shows up to tell him that the ring is quite dangerous, and he must take it to Rivendell. As all Tolkien fans know, that is the beginning of a long and arduous journey undertaken by the Fellowship of the Ring.
“This show is a combination of musical theatre and a complicated play, as well as spectacle on a scale not seen outside of Las Vegas,” says producer Kevin Wallace, who cites influences such as Nicholas Nickleby and Cirque du Soleil. Wallace also put LOTR in a historical context, noting that Tolkien wrote the books post WWI, in the 1930s, as the British Empire was decreasing in power, wishing to create a prehistory for the British isles as well as celebrate the role of the individual in society (enter Frodo Baggins) and describe the world of elves and wizards, before the world was given to mankind.
An Organic Approach
When approached over three years ago to design the sets and costumes for LOTR (originally planned for a premiere in London's West End), Rob Howell admits his first response was panic. “We all thought is was a crazy idea and wondered how to fit this epic material into the musical theatre format,” he says. “We all felt a little discomfort in the beginning.” But once the designers realized that you can't make LOTR into a traditional book musical, like Hello Dolly!, for example, they realized it was okay to be different.
“We understood it would not be the usually clean, sharp polished lines and production values, but rather a more organic and natural world,” Howell explains. “The textures and colors are not normally part of musical theatre. We are asking the audience the engage in a different way and use its imagination. We're telling them there's not much here, so let's summon it up together. The physical production is a springboard.” The design concept is based on circles, from a round LED screen to tree rings, hobbit holes, and a central turntable.
LOTR also has what Howell calls, “colossal energy and technology.” But great efforts were made to hide the “how” and let the audience see just the “what.” This was important to Howell, who wanted the audience to respond to the theatricality of the moment, rather than be awed by the technology. The evil Black Riders, imposing men on horseback, are a good example of this: “We had the resources to create fully remote-control, technically complicated horses, but we didn't want to do that,” says Howell. “We wanted the audience to see what we were doing and have them included in the solution. They can see that the Black Riders are actors on stilts with large skeletal horses.”
The decision to begin with shadow play (one light fixture casting shadows onto a muslin scrim) was to inform the audience that the production could be about small-scale storytelling. “They know it will go to all the engineering and technology,” says Howell. “But it can also be about two people on an empty stage. But beginning this way, the audience is not shocked later. And we can create the proper arc for the production.”
One of the most stunning design statements is the set for Lothlorien, a refuge for the Fellowship of the Ring along their arduous journey. “This is the place where the high elves live,” Howell explains. “It is a sanctuary of undiluted peace, of amazing wonder and beauty. I asked myself what kind of space would feel like a sanctuary and a protective environment.” The result is half a bubble made of organic textures (trees, bark, and leaves) with five arms, each with seven smaller branches. This motorized, semi-circular set piece revolves to create a kinetic bower or what Howell describes as “fully three dimensional. You can see it from all aspects as it turns.”
To costume the various cultures within the story, Howell used a distinct silhouette to define each group. “I want the audience to be able to tell within 10 seconds of someone walking onstage who they are, in terms of age and status,” he says. His silhouette for the elves is subtle: draped fabric falling from their right sleeve. “Every elf has this detail, from the wood elves to the high elves,” says Howell. “The drapes are a symbol about elfishness; a subconscious way of saying that's how they are.”
In contrast, the evil orcs (who are sent by the evil Wizard Sauron to steal back the ring) are defined by the fact that they are all bent over on short crutches to give them a menacing animal appearance, with the crutches also serving as weapons. “The crutches define their movement and give them a believable strangeness, like an experiment that went wrong. Their mouths are held open by dental braces, and their skin looks stitched together,” says Howell.
Then, there are the hobbits themselves. “One wanted to use every trick in the book to shorten them, so there are no vertical details, just rounded shoulders, tummies, and bottoms to enhance the shortness of the actors, even if it is just an optical illusion.” To further this illusion, the tree roots that surround the hobbits' home are scaled larger than life, so that when the hobbits are alone in the space, they seem smaller than a human being would be.” Gandalf, on the other hand, is helped to look taller by a long, vertical robe.
Perhaps the most interesting costume is that of Gollum, a hobbit that seems to have self-destructed due to the evil powers of the ring. “The costume was based on the physicality of the actor. The original sketches for the character were just another signpost,” Howell adds. The actual costume, made of cheesecloth dipped in a silicone material and applied to the actor's body, allows him total flexibility as he rolls and slithers around the stage. “It's as if his skin is unraveling, like an old rag doll or someone covered in bandages,” says Howell.
In designing the show, Howell knew there were certain risks: “Did I dare to be so bold as to say, ‘This is what we think the world looked like before it was given to mankind?’ If there are 2,000 people in the audience, there are 2,000 different versions. I am aware of the designer's responsibility and how I had to be sensitive. This is a cherished story.”
A High-Tech Turntable
The centerpiece of Howell's scenic design is a large revolving stage with 17 different hydraulic lifts. Manufactured by Delstar Engineering Ltd in the UK, the turntable itself moves via electric motors. Built to fit together like a large jigsaw puzzle, the lift was stripped down to fit into containers and shipped to Toronto by sea, then bolted together on site. “First, it was assembled in a rehearsal studio for several weeks,” notes Andy Hardy, an engineer at Delstar. “Then, it was moved to the theatre in pieces and put together again.”
To house this 35-ton turntable that measures 14m (46') in diameter, the Princess of Wales stage was rebuilt, with a removable section taken away along with its concrete support. A new steel supporting structure was installed. Automation control is by Silicon Theatre Scenery BV from The Netherlands. “The whole central structure, with a 12m (39.37') diameter, rotates together, and there is an outer revolve of 2m (6.5') in diameter that has no elevators,” says Hardy. Small, various shaped LEDs are embedded in the deck so the actors know where they are in the dark.
The central elevator brings actors from the trap room 3.2m (10.5') below the stage to a height of 3m (9.84') above the stage at its full height. Eight lifts around the central elevator can go as high as 2.6m (8.5'). The overall effect of all the turning of the revolve, while the various lifts are raising and lowering in infinite patterns, is spectacular and most effective when Gandalf reappears triumphant in the center of the stage, on the central lift, all in white and ready for battle.
The movement of the turntable is extremely silent, thanks to the hydraulic system. Pumps in a parking garage beneath the theatre feed the system 800 liters (211.33 gallons) of hydraulic fluid per minute. “Delstar has built a lot of revolves,” says Hardy, “but never one with so many elevators.”
Rings Of Video
Art director Yuri Tanaka of The Gray Circle created the imagery for LOTR, with input from Howell and Warchus on tone, texture, and quality of the images. “What's important is not that we have the LED wall with its endless potential that can be an excuse for real scenery,” notes Howell. “Rather than a series of figurative images, the imagery and projections are more for mood and atmosphere. They have to share the stage with the actors in a three-dimensional environment that is textured with energy and dynamics. It was clear we did not want to use pictorial references, but rather use the LED wall as a luminous light source adding texture and color.”
The projections begin at the top of the show, on a round LED display comprised of 109 Unitek V9 LED modules, creating a screen 12.5m × 9.25m (41' × 30.35'), hanging 1" above the stage floor. It is the most upstage scenic element, with just a crossover between it and the upstage wall of the theatre.
This circular screen, which echoes the shape of the large turntable, is served by two Barco SLM G5 DLP projectors (5,000 ANSI lumens). Both project the same image, overlapped for additional brightness and contrast, as well as having the advantage of a backup projector. These projectors are located front of house on the lower balcony. Two Panasonic 7700 DLP projectors (7,000 ANSI lumens), placed in the upper balcony, cover the stage, the cast, and the wings. “These projectors were chosen for their quiet operation due to close proximity to the audience,” explains Malcolm Mellows, project manager for XL Video in London (UK), who provided the video gear and video system design and whose installation crew included Gerrard Corey and Chris Isaacson.
The stage floor is highlighted by a Barco SLM G5, hung over the stage and pointing down vertically, to provide texture and, at times, to extend the organic nature of the images on the upstage LED display. The FOH Panasonic projectors can be used for this as well.
Playback is via three High End Systems Catalyst™ Pro 3.3 media servers with a dedicated operator, Dan Malloy. Ian Galloway and Simon Pugsley served as the Catalyst programmers. “Resolutions are native to the projectors (XGA 1024×768),” notes Mellows. “The LED display receives an SDI (serial digital signal), and all keystone correction, blending, dimming, projection shutter control, switching on/off, and system housekeeping stems from the Catalysts.” XL Video supplied a HES Hog® 500 console for cueing and control.
“We spent two years prior to getting into the theatre doing tests for light levels, color saturation, and to see how the LED balances against the projections,” Mellows says. The LED wall is used at 40% intensity, and to help soften the images, a Gerriets International RP screen is hung 2" in front of the LED wall to act as a projection surface. “You are actually looking at the RP screen, rather than directly at the LED,” explains Mellows. “In this context, we don't need the brightness, but we need to blend into the environment of the set.”
A Dark Journey
“We were in development for a long time,” says LD Paul Pyant. “Rob Howell made models for every scene as well as computer models and animated sequences in [Maxon] Cinema 4D that allowed us to make changes digitally.” The load-in for the lighting gear began in October 2005, with the lighting team starting to focus on December 12, 2005. “There was a six-week hang due to the size of the rig. It is not a huge stage, and every inch is filled,” adds associate LD David Howe. “The rig was designed for flexibility as, at the time, the script had not been finalized.” In the end, there are over 1,200 cues. “The lighting is cinematic at times, with as many as 50 people in a battle scene or as intimate as two people in a conversation,” says Pyant. “The lighting follows a journey from light to darkness to a new dawning.”
The overhead lighting rig is 99% automated. The workhorse is the Vari-Lite VL3000™, of which there are 82 in the rig, which includes over 160 automated luminaires from 30 Clay Paky Halo wash lights to 30 ETC Revolution® spots. The rig also includes 22 Martin Atomic Strobe units, three Robert Juliat Cyrano 1015 followspots, two Reich and Vogel beamlights with scrollers, three Arri 2.5kW HMI Fresnels, four Strand Tocatta effects projectors, three Strand 500W Bambinos, three Wildfire UV guns, six L&E ministrips, over 250 ETC Source Fours® of various sizes, 35 ETC Source Four PARs, and two TMB Source Four HMI PowerPARs, along with digital light curtains, and aircraft landing lights. There are also 82 Wybron CXI scrollers and 16 Wybron 4" Coloram scrollers. The moving lights are positioned virtually everywhere, including 12 side ladders that fly in and out, and require five distro racks.
The only conventional fixtures hung overhead are the Arri HMIs, with a few Source Fours on the very side pipes. The remaining conventional fixtures are all hung front of house, primarily on balcony rail, side booms, and on the side ladders.
Control includes one 8,000-channel Strand 550i console used as the primary board for the production lighting and an identical one for tracking backup. A Strand 520i console is used for special effects control, and a second Strand 520i serves as a moving lights remote to the 550i. There are 14 universes of DMX plus a wireless DMX setup including three City Theatrical DMX receivers and one transmitter.
Production electrician John Still uses Cast Lighting's WYSIWYG to do a rig check before performances, with the stage divided into nine sections. After the show opened, the lighting team took digital photos and video of every scene, employing Fast Focus Pro, software developed by the Royal Shakespeare Company, for video importing. The goal was to have a record of every cue and every moving light position, as well as create a digital bible for the show.
Pyant used different color palettes to help define various stage environments, including lighting the tree roots in saturated green to make them look like a leafy canopy of trees in midsummer. For a more autumnal look, the palette shifts to a mixture of amber, gold, and red (from Lee 777 Rust to Lee 09 Pale Amber Gold), taking advantage of the smooth color shifts possible with the Wybron CXI units.
For some of the highly technical sequences of the show — notably the big battle scene — the lighting designers, in consultation with stage manager John Gray, decided to run the sequences with SMPTE timecode. “Simon Baker and team supplied us with timecode, as these two sequences both had an underlying sound effect/music track, which the orchestra played on top of,” says Howe. Jonathan Rouse served as moving light programmer.
“Initially, during the early technical rehearsals, I cued the lighting and special effects operators through the sequence, and then, as each cue became finalized, we ‘learnt’ the SMPTE timecode point via the Strand Console and attached a lighting cue or flash or sequence onto each point,” Howe explains. “On average, the two pieces (approximately six minutes in length each) have 100+ cues and events within them, which would be a huge job for any stage manager to call and almost impossible to call at the 1/24th of a second splits we required. A.A. Rahman's score has a frequently changing rhythmical pattern, and therefore, precision is essential in the placement of the cues, especially when characters are performing a complicated sword battle in changing patterns of light, which produce safety concerns. By using SMPTE we can ensure everything runs perfectly each performance.”
Fog For Frodo
As Frodo and friends travel from the comfort of their homes in The Shire to dark and dangerous lands, the scenic environment changes. In creating the special effects for the show, Meeh used atmospheric fog and wind to set a specific location, indicate changes of location, enhance the mood onstage, change focus, and accentuate transitions.
In addition, black confetti representing ash from the depths of the earth is delivered via large fans to engulf the audience during the scene when the Balrog, a giant monster awakened in the underground mines of Moria, “eats” Gandalf. “Eight pounds of confetti are used in each performance,” notes Meeh. Two confetti blasters are located, one on each side, of the trap room. Airmagic in Toronto supplied the atmospheric equipment in the show.
Four 1HP fans from Performance Solutions are located in the trap room beneath the stage — a room that was specially pressurized, as Meeh explains. “The full stage turntable and lift structure had no provisions for delivering fog effects through the floor,” he says. “As chilled fog tends to fall, and we could not install ducting, we have to create significant airflow up through the turntable in order to get it onto the stage.” Liquid CO2 is kept in a bulk tank on the loading dock and runs to the trap room via insulated cryogenic tubing. “This saves labor, and it is more cost efficient to purchase in bulk,” Meeh adds.
Control for the fog is via the Strand 520i console, with the Strand 550i console triggering the effects through a macro interface. As with the lighting, some of the more complicated sections are linked to the musical cues with SMPTE timecode triggering both Strand console.
Meeh was the last member of the creative staff to come on board, starting in late September and spending significant time in Toronto until mid-October, then full time through the opening in March. “For me, what is so spectacular is the fog control, because it's so hard to achieve,” says Meeh, who notes that the producer, Wallace, was extremely supportive of the special effects. “He recognized their importance from the beginning, and even though I came in late, the effects were not just an afterthought. I had a great time working with Paul Pyant and Rob Howell, and Matthew Warchus had a definite vision,” Meeh says. “That kind of strong guidance gives you a good starting point.”
Sounds From Middle Earth
“The first show in this theatre was Miss Saigon,” says sound designer Simon Baker of Autograph Sound in London. “The sound for that show was by Andrew Bruce, who was also involved in the sound design for the building.” Bruce, of course, is the head of Autograph Sound, so Baker found himself in a familiar environment. The show, on the other hand, posed certain challenges.
“The set is very open and allows the sound to come through,” says Baker. “But Lord of the Rings is such an epic show that it took everything I know about theatre sound. The full cinematic moments are hard in terms of gain structure, and you want the quiet moments to be as good as the loud ones.” Baker spent six months in the theatre working on the sound design, the last six weeks of which included working with the cast onstage.
Baker was also faced with the challenge of blending various musical influences, from the music by A.R. Rahman, a leading composer from India, to the songs in Finnish by Värttinä, a popular folk music group from Finland, with some very unusual instruments in the pit, including folk fiddles, a jouhikko (a Finnish bowed lyre), and a nyckelharpa (a Swedish stringed instrument). “There are no traditional musical theatre numbers,” notes Baker, “so the language of the sound is new and had to be understood.”
Baker's rig includes 42 Meyer Sound Mica and M1D curvilinear array loudspeakers (many of which are hidden in the scenery) and two DiGiCo D5T consoles, one used for vocals and the second one for the orchestra. Recorded effects are played back via Apple's Logic Audio software sampler and routed via a 32×32 Out Board Electronics TiMax system. The audio equipment was provided by Sound Associates in New York City and installed by the Canadian sound team headed by Bob Shindle, with Al Merson providing production support. The system build and implementation was handled by Baker's US associate, Sten Severson. “Sound Associates provided back-up for everything, including the consoles, which have built-in redundancy and back up engines,” adds Baker. “The success of the back-up system means it can all happen seamlessly.”
One of the big challenges for the sound department was the large number of wireless devices (over 100), including 64 Sennheiser UHF bodypack transmitters (50 SK-5012 and 14 SK-50) worn by the cast. The wireless signals are picked up by eight UHF mainframes with eight receiver modules each. An additional four channels are used for wireless monitoring, four more for the “voice of God” system, and one for a radio link system. Two Sennheiser SMCD software systems allow remote monitoring of RF signal strength, audio level, active diversity channel, and transmitter battery status.
In addition, five Sennheiser MKH 40 RF condenser microphones and five Neumann U 87 multipattern are used in the orchestra pit, plus seven Sennheiser E604 and MD504 microphones used on the drums and percussion instruments. Two Sennheiser MKH 60 RF condenser shotgun microphones pick up ambient sound onstage. There are also 32 channels of Telex BTR 800 wireless communication for the crew and stage management and a Sound Associates TSM-100 touchscreen monitor with three TSM-100R remote stations, allowing the RF engineer to listen to any RF channel individually or by programmable preset groups.
“We went to Toronto and did a frequency sweep for Sennheiser,” notes Richard Fitzgerald of Sound Associates, whose $2.5 million audio and communications system for LOTR includes 20 digital closed circuit TV cameras. “They need lots of shots so the operators of the turntable can see what is happening in the dark,” he says. “The system is one-and-a-half to two times bigger than the usual Broadway musical. There's a lot of everything, the size of the cast, the size of the theatre. It's also a big theatre, and everybody has to be able to hear.”
Same Time Next Year
The design team is now hard at work as momentum is gathering for the London version of LOTR, scheduled to open in June 2007. Once again under the guidance of producer Kevin Wallace, hobbits, elves, orcs, and black riders will rule the stage. “I believe in the power of the theatre, the power of collaboration, and a lack of fear,” says Wallace. “I am always chasing the elusive, perfect performance.”
LORD OF THE RINGS EQUIPMENT
Lighting
Princess of Wales Theatre, Toronto, Canada
| 71 | Vari-Lite 3000 QSpot 1.2kW |
| 11 | Vari-Lite 3500 QSpot 1.2kW |
| 30 | Clay Paky Halo Washlight 1kW |
| 30 | ETC Revolution Spots with Gobo Unit 1kW |
| 1 | ETC Source Four 5° 10W, 750W |
| 38 | ETC Source Four 10° 750W |
| 78 | ETC Source Four 19° 750W |
| 78 | ETC Source Four 26° 750W |
| 47 | ETC Source Four 36° 750W |
| 16 | ETC Source Four 50° 750W |
| 2 | ETC Source Four 25-50 Zoom, 750W |
| 12 | ETC Source Four PAR EA VNSP 750W |
| 7 | ETC Source Four PAR EA MFL 750W |
| 28 | ETC Source Four PAR EA WFL 750W |
| 2 | TMB PowerPAR™ 575W HMI |
| 64 | PAR64 ACL 250W |
| 6 | L&E Ministrip 6' 3-circuit EYF 750W |
| 3 | Strand 500W Bambino Fresnel 500W |
| 3 | Arri 2.5kW HMI Fresnel 2,500W with 15" Scroller and Robert Juliat Dowser |
| 4 | Tocatta Effects Projector 2,000W with 10cm lens with VSFX Drive and Cloud Disc |
| 2 | Reich & Vogel 1kW Beamlights with Color Scroller and Robert Juliat Dowser |
| 3 | Robert Juliat Cyrano 1015 followspot |
| 11 | DLC 8 lamp 250W with medium lamp 2.4kW |
| 82 | Wybron CXI Scroller |
| 16 | Wybron 4" Ram Scroller |
| 3 | City Theatrical DMX Receiver |
| 1 | City Theatrical DMX Transmitter |
| 14 | 1kW Symmetric Worklight 1kW |
| 3 | Wildfire UV Gun |
Control
| 1 | Strand 550i 8,000 Channels, for Production Lighting |
| 1 | Strand 550i as Tracking Backup |
| 1 | Strand 520i for Special Effects |
| 1 | Strand 520i as Moving Light Remote to Main 550i |
Dimmers
ETC Sensor Dimmer Rack and Hard Power for ML
Video
| 109 | Unitek V9 LED Display Module |
| 3 | Barco SLM G5 DLP Projector |
| 2 | Panasonic 7700 DLP Projector |
| 3 | High End Systems Catalyst v3.3 |
| 1 | High End Systems Hog 500 |
| 1 | Gerriets International RP screen |
Atmospheric equipment
| 6 | Le Maitre LSG Unit with Power Fogger 9D for low-lying fog |
| 3 | MDG Atmospheric Hazer with Bowens Fan |
| 6 | Look Solutions Viper Fog |
| 2 | Look Solutions Orka Fog |
| 2 | 24" Mole Richardson Fan |
| 8 | Reel EFX REII Fan |
| 2 | Performance Solutions Custom 20HP Fans |
| 2 | Performance Solutions Custom 5HP Fans |
| 4 | Performance Solutions Custom 1HP Fans |
| 2 | Custom Confetti Feed and Delivery setups |
Audio
Mixing Desk
| 2 | DiGiCo D5T Surface |
| 1 | DiGiCo D5Tc Theatre Control Surface |
| 2 | DiGiCo D5Tre Remote Engine |
| 21 | DiGiCo Mic/Line DiGiRack Card |
ADR/Click Track Sub Mix Desk
| 1 | Yamaha desk |
Sound FX I/O System
| 1 | Outboard Electronics TiMax |
Processing
| 2 | TC Electronic S6000 Reverb Mainframe |
| 2 | TC Electronic CPU and ICON |
| 1 | TC Electronic EQ Station |
| 4 | TC Electronic M3000 Reverb |
| 1 | TC Electronics FireWorX |
| 2 | Eventide Eclipse 3 Harmonizer |
| 1 | TC Helicon Voiceworks |
| 3 | Valvetronics GainRyder 3 |
| 1 | TC Electronic Finalizer 96K |
FX/Playback
| 2 | Mackie HD/96 |
| 2 | Marantz PMD340 Rackmount CD Player |
| 1 | Alesis Masterlink ML 9600 |
| 1 | Rosendahl NanoClock |
| 2 | Emagic AMT8 Midi Distribution |
| 2 | Apple Logic 7.1 Systems |
| 2 | MOTU 24 I/O audio interfaces |
| 2 | Autograph 24-way audio changeover switch |
| 2 | Glyph Firewire GT103 1U |
| 4 | Glyph Firewire GT Key |
Main Loudspeaker Systems
| 27 | Meyer Milo 120 Loudspeaker |
| 18 | Meyer M1D Loudspeaker |
| 8 | Meyer M3D-Sub |
| 34 | d&b E3 Loudspeaker |
| 4 | Meyer UPM-2P Loudspeaker |
| 4 | Bose Accoustimass Loudspeaker |
| 2 | LDS400 Loudspeaker |
FX Loudspeaker Systems
| 4 | Meyer MSL-2A Loudspeaker |
| 4 | Martin WSX Loudspeaker |
| 54 | Martin Effect 5 Loudspeaker |
| 2 | Meyer UPA-1P Loudspeaker |
Wireless Loudspeaker Systems
| 2 | Systems comprised of: |
| 1 | Sennheiser EK100 Portable Receiver |
| 1 | Sennheiser SKM100 Portable Transmitter |
| 1 | 12V high-power ICE Amplifier |
| 1 | YUASA 12V Rechargeable battery for EK100 & ICE Amp |
| 2 | DC 2 Power Adaptor for EK100 & SKM100 |
| 4 | JBL Control 1 Loudspeaker |
Foldback Loudspeaker Systems & IEM
| 10 | Meyer UPJ-1P Loudspeaker |
| 12 | Meyer UPM-1P |
| 6 | Galaxy Hotspots |
| 10 | Anchor AN100 Monitors |
| 3 | Sennheiser SR3054-U IEM TX |
| 1 | Sennheiser AC300-U antenna combiner |
| 8 | Sennheiser EK 3053-U |
| 12 | Sensorcom Micro Buds IEM ear plugs |
System EQ
| 4 | XTA Electronics DP428 |
| 2 | XTA Electronics DP226 |
| 12 | XTA Electronics DP224 |
| 7 | Meyer CP10 Parametric EQ |
| 1 | Midi Solutions FS1 for mute |
Amplifiers
| 7 | d&b P1200 c/w E3 Card |
| 1 | Lab Gruppen fP2600 |
| 9 | Lab Gruppen fP2400Q |
| 2 | Lab Gruppen fP3400 |
| 2 | Crown Macro-Tech MA1202 |
Wireless Microphones
| 60 | Sennheiser SK5012 TX |
| 70 | Sennheiser SK5012 TX Aerial |
| 60 | Sennheiser EM1046 Rx UHF Module |
| 8 | Sennheiser EM1046 Mainframe |
| 8 | Sennheiser EM1046FA Fan Assembly |
| 8 | Sennheiser EM1046Ri Input Module |
| 8 | Sennheiser EM1046SA PSU |
| 8 | Sennheiser EM1046AF Output Module |
| 8 | Sennheiser EM1046 A0-Z Balance Card |
| 8 | Sennheiser EM1046CI Chassis Interface Card |
| 1 | Sennheiser EM1046LI Line Interface |
| 1 | Sennheiser EM1046DI Display Interface |
| 1 | Autograph Audio Remote Monitor c/w 2 outstations |
| 80 | DPA 4061 |
Microphones
| 9 | DPA Instrument Kit IMK4061 |
| 8 | DPA/B&K Type 4011 |
| 3 | DPA/B&K Type 4015 |
| 2 | DPA/B&K Type 4021 |
| 4 | DPA/B&K Type 4041 |
| 13 | AKG 414 |
| 6 | Sennheiser MKH40 |
| 8 | Sennheiser e604 |
| 2 | AKG D12 |
| 4 | Neumann U87 |
| 4 | Shure Beta 57 |
| 2 | Shure Beta 58 |
Miscellaneous Orchestra Pit Equipment/Vocal Booth Equipment
| 4 | Sonnifex RB-HD6 Headphone Amp |
| 36 | Sony MDR7506 Headphones |
| 1 | Aviom AN16/I-M Mic Input Module |
| 3 | Aviom A-16D Pro |
| 20 | Aviom A-16II Personal Mixer |
| 2 | Formula Sound Q18 Mixers |
| 1 | Formula Sound 3U Distribution Panel |
| 8 | Galaxy Hotspots |
| 1 | Lab Gruppen fP2400Q |
| 2 | Genelec 1029A Monitors |
LORD OF THE RINGS (SELECT CREDITS)
Design Team
Producers: Kevin Wallace, Saul Zaentz
Director: Matthew Warchus
Set/costume designer: Rob Howell
Lighting designer: Paul Pyant
Sound designer: Simon Baker, for Autograph
Moving image direction: The Gray Circle
Special effects designer: Gregory Meeh
Production manager, Canada: Scott Whitham
Production managers, UK: Stepehn Rebeck,
Stewart Crosbie
Production stage manager: The. John Gray
Stage manager: Chris Porter
Moving light programmer: Jonthan Rouse
Automation engineer: Ralph Goyarts
Set design assistant: Andrzej Goulding
Asst. lighting designer: Heidi McDonald
Asst. costume supervisor, UK: Edward Gibbon
Asst. special effects designer: Michael Walton
Production carpenter, UK: Micky Murray
Production engineer, UK: Andy Hardy
Wig/make-up consultant: Chris Redman
Production Heads
Production carpenter: Mike Puhacz
Production automation carpenter: Kevin Dixon
Production electrician: John Still
Production properties supervisor: Grace Nakatsu
Production sound engineer: Al Merson
Head production sound mixer: Bob Shindle
Production wardrobe supervisor: Pamela Weston
Production hair, wig, & make-up supervisor: Helen Gregor
Carpentry crew heads
Head carpenter: Tom Locke
Lead fly system operator: Danny Walker
Asst. head carpenters: Brad Fraser, Steve McLean
Asst. automation head: John Beirne
Electrics Crew
Head electrician: Ron Montgomery, Jr
Lighting board operator: Michael Still
Asst. electrician: Robert Burns
Video operator: Danny Malloy
Deck electricians: Brian Benet, Douglas Hook,
Andrew Tennant
spotlight operators: Jason Linton (Lead), Mark Kelman, William Meadows, Sean Poole, Andrew Vukovic
Lighitng/Sound swing: Gregg Feor
Sound Crew
Asst. head of sound: Wayne Coyle
Deck sound: Viv Cowley
Band sound: Craig Kadoke
Production Suppliers
Engineering: Delstar Engineering Ltd, UK
Automation: Silicon Theatre Scenery BV, The Netherlands
Properties: Paragon Theme & Prop Fabrication Ltd.
Environment fabrication: FBX
Rigging: Vertigo Rigging
Lighting equipment: Q1 Show Technologies
Sound equipment: Sound Associates Inc.
Special effects: Airmagic
LED display & projection equipment hires: XL Video
Drapes and masking: Gerriets GB Ltd
Balrog construction: Kite Related Design
Additional scenery: Great Lakes Scenic Studios, Hamilton Scenic Specialties
Theatre engineering consultants: Quinn Dressel Associates
Additional lighting equipment: Christie Lights
Theatre Modifications: Guild Electric, Crossey Engineering Ltd.
Costumes: Seamless Costumes