HSL Productions is supplying all lighting equipment for the current Bill Kenwright UK tour of Jesus Christ Superstar.
The rig includes a wide variety of Martin Professional MAC moving lights: 11 MAC 2000 profiles, eight MAC 2000 Washes, 12 MAC 500 profiles, six MAC 250s, and four MAC 300s. There are also four DHA Digital Light Curtains. Generic lighting consists of 36 ETC Source Four® Profiles with different lenses, and a selection of PAR cans.
All the generic fixtures are fitted with either ChromaQ Broadway or ChromaQ PAR scrollers, and the show runs from a Flying Pig Systems Wholehog® 2 console. HSL has also supplied three Avolites ART dimmer racks and one of their custom-built mains distros. The whole rig is completely self contained at each venue apart from follow spots, which are supplied by the house.
Most of the generic fixtures are used for set washes, and the Source Fours used for additional set dressing and gobo texturing. The smaller MACs are installed under the main scenic bridge and used for sidelight.
It’s a very classic show in terms of moving lights: they rarely move, and when they do it is with maximum impact, like large audience sweeps to include the crowd in the stage action. The flexibility of the rig enables a spectacular visual result to be achieved with a relatively small lamp count. The colors are also traditional, with blues, reds, and lots of sepias and color correction–maximizing the CTC systems in the MAC 2000 Profiles.
With nearly 300 lighting cues in the show, lighting designer Nick Richings, show operater Simon Sherrif, and programmer Tim Beagley had a full week of lighting prep at HSL’s headquarters in Blackburn, UK before launching the tour. This is the first time that Sherrif has worked with HSL as a lighting supplier, and he has been impressed. "The gear is in excellent condition and a lot of it was bought new for the tour," he says. "The support and back-up from HSL has been brilliant.…If anything has needed dealing with or swapping out, it’s happened either the same day or within 24 hours."
The tour is currently scheduled to run until August. Orbital is supplying sound (FOH engineer Alex Bryson), and the production manager is David Stoddart. Company manager is Maria Gibbons and production LX is Keith Johnson.
