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Type of Project
A French musical theatre production for Théâtre de la Tour Eiffel, built around the music, energy and cultural identity of the 1960s.
Project Name
Les Années 60. A major visual renewal for the 2025–2026 season, including a substantial redesign of the lighting and video environments.
Boris Jacob was responsible for the lighting design and lighting-video programming, working closely with the production teams.
Design Criteria
The primary objective was to give Les Années 60 a renewed and contemporary visual identity while preserving the spirit, energy and emotional connection of the original production.
The show takes the audience on a journey through different musical styles and atmospheres associated with the 1960s. The lighting therefore needed to accompany this journey, giving each musical universe its own identity while maintaining a coherent visual language throughout the production.
A key part of the brief was to create a strong relationship between lighting, video, music and performers. The renewed video content was not intended to function simply as a backdrop, but as an integral part of the stage environment.
The lighting consequently had to find a precise balance with the LED video environment. It needed to provide depth, contrast, movement and atmosphere while ensuring that the performers remained at the center of the visual composition.
The creative approach was to interpret the 1960s rather than simply reproduce them. The design draws on the period's energy, elegance, optimism and musical diversity, while using a contemporary lighting language.
Finally, the design had to respect the relatively compact scale and physical constraints of the theatre environment. The objective was to create a visually rich and immersive experience through thoughtful design and programming rather than simply increasing the scale of the technical installation.
Project Description
The new lighting design creates a continuous visual journey through different musical worlds. Each sequence has its own atmosphere, color palette, movement and rhythm, while the overall design maintains a strong visual connection from one chapter to the next.
The relationship between lighting and video became one of the defining elements of the new design. The LED environment provides a powerful visual presence, while the lighting creates the physical depth, contrast and focus required to keep the performers at the heart of the stage picture.
Lighting and video were therefore treated as complementary elements rather than independent systems. Depending on the moment, the lighting can support the visual content, contrast with it, or take over as the dominant element of the stage picture.
Programming was an integral part of this creative process. The show was completely reprogrammed to translate the new design into a precise and musical live experience. Cues, transitions, movement and effects were developed in close relationship with the music and stage action.
The result is a contemporary interpretation of the 1960s that combines nostalgia and modernity, using light and video to create a dynamic theatrical environment while keeping the performers and music at the center of the experience.
Challenges and Solutions
- One of the main challenges was to substantially renew an existing production without losing the identity and emotional connection already established with its audience. The solution was to redesign the visual language rather than simply replace equipment. The lighting was reconsidered sequence by sequence, creating new relationships between color, movement, intensity, music and stage action while respecting the original theatrical structure.
- A second major challenge was the renewed LED video environment. The LED screen is extremely bright and visually dominant, creating a very different visual balance from a traditional scenic background. The solution was not simply to increase the amount or intensity of lighting. Instead, the design relied on contrast, direction, color, framing and timing to create separation between the performers and the LED environment. This allowed the lighting to remain expressive without competing unnecessarily with the video. In some moments, the lighting reinforces the video; in others, it deliberately creates contrast and takes visual priority.
- The compact theatre environment was another important consideration. The lighting system had to provide enough flexibility and visual impact to support a wide range of musical atmospheres while remaining physically integrated into the existing scenic space. This influenced both the fixture selection and the programming approach. Compact, versatile fixtures allowed the design to create stage washes, precise scenic accents and controlled performer lighting without requiring an oversized rig.
- The relationship between lighting and video also required a different approach to programming. The original production had been programmed on a grandMA2. As part of the redesign, the show was completely rebuilt on a grandMA3 compact XT, allowing the lighting programming to be reconsidered alongside the new visual environment rather than simply adapting the previous show file.
The innovation of the project is therefore primarily creative: using lighting, video and programming as interconnected elements to transform an existing theatre production while working within its established physical and production constraints.
The result is a significantly renewed visual experience achieved through design choices, programming and careful integration rather than simply through an increase in technical scale.
Equipment
The equipment selection was driven by the physical constraints of the stage, the need for flexibility, and the visual relationship between lighting, performers and video.
For the profile fixtures, I chose Elation Fuze Profile fixtures. Their compact and lightweight design allowed them to be integrated into the existing scenic environment without overwhelming the available space.
Despite their compact size, they provided the luminous output and quality of light required for the production. Their color reproduction and color consistency were important in creating the different atmospheres throughout the show, while the precise framing shutter system allowed me to shape the light accurately and isolate specific areas of the stage or scenic elements. The original gobo kit works well with this show.
For the wash fixtures, I chose Elation Rayzor360 units. Their compact size, simplicity and versatility made them particularly well suited to the production.
Their wide zoom range allowed me to use them in very different ways: from washes covering the entire stage to tighter beams used to pick out specific areas or elements of the scenery. Their color capabilities also provided a rich and expressive palette, which was essential to the different musical sequences.
Some Elation KL Profile FC fixtures were also used. These fixtures provided additional control where precise performer visibility was required, while keeping the front-lighting system compact and unobtrusive.
For the video content, I selected an ArKaos MediaMaster Pro media server running in Theater Mode. This provided the flexibility required to manage the renewed video content and integrate it reliably into the overall visual structure of the production.
The control system was also completely reconsidered. The original show had been programmed on grandMA2 ultra light. For the new design, I chose to rebuild and reprogram the show on a grandMA3 compact XT.
This decision allowed the programming to be approached from the ground up and gave me a more flexible environment in which to develop the new lighting language and its relationship with the renewed video content.
Overall, the equipment choices were not based simply on technical specifications. Each fixture and system was selected according to how it could contribute to the creative objective: compactness, reliability, quality of light, flexibility and precise control were all essential to achieving a strong visual impact within the physical constraints of the production.
Crew members
Production: Theatre de la Tour Eiffel
Theater manager: Rémy Caccia and Christelle CholletD
Director: Lucy Harrison and Rémy Caccia
Lighting designer: Boris Jacob
Video designer: Rémy Caccia
Sound designer: Nicolas Lemperier
Costume designer: Claire Djemah
Set designer: Marc Morange
Choreographer: Olivier Bénard
Vocal coach: Magali Bonfils
Sound engineer: Thomas Plé, Téo Caccia, Barnabé Letellier
Lighting operator: Boris Jacob, Estelle Jalinie
Stage technician: Pauline Bernard, Samuel Roulleau, Barnabé Letellier
Dresser: Juliette Jamet, Jasmine Comte, Arielle Chambon
Cast: Lou Nagy, Martin Heuzard, Pierre-Arthur Lemoine, Alexia Piovano, Marine Rouvrais, Victor Villafranca, Quentin Aubert, Armonie Coiffard, Magali Bonfils, Thomas Boissy, Pierre Alain Leleu, Theophile Baquet, Olivier Benard, Maxime Savary, Thibaut Marion, Oceane Berland, Virginie Perrier, Juliette Cohen
Musical director: Gabriel Sarrou Vergnac
Musicians: Franck Bessard, Frederic Prados, Gabi Vigroux, remy Charlet, Maxime Pichon, Edouard Dornier, Stephane Rambaud, Rodrigo Viana, Pascal Miconnet
Lighting Manufacturers: Elation, MDG, MA Lighting, ArKaos
PHOTO CREDIT: Luca Giuri