ETECH spoke to the head of the lighting department for the Chicago the Musical International Tour 2018-2019, Glenn Duncan, to find out more about his experience of the technology used to bring this audacious and colourful all-South African production to the international stage.
A nightclub singer, a double-murderess, a smooth-talking lawyer, a cell block of sin… and, of course, all that jazz! Chicago, the world’s sexiest musical, brought its high-energy flare back to the Montecasino Teatro stage after performing in New Zealand and China to critical acclaim.
I KNOW A WHOOPEE SPOT
Chicago has everything that makes Broadway and the West End great – a universal tale of fame and fortune, sensational dancing, a sophisticated set (which incorporates a live orchestra) and one show-stopping song after another. Chicago continues to be one of the most successful international musical hits of all time.
Based on a 1926 Broadway play written by Maurine Dallas Watkins, a journalist from the Chicago Tribune who had covered the trials of two women accused of killing their lovers while under the then-controversial influence of alcohol and jazz, Chicago was first created by the legendary Broadway trio of John Kander, Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse in 1975.
A nightclub singer, a double-murderess, a smooth-talking lawyer, a cell block of sin… and, of course, all that jazz! Chicago, the world’s sexiest musical, brought its high-energy flare back to the Montecasino Teatro stage after performing in New Zealand and China to critical acclaim.
I KNOW A WHOOPEE SPOT
Chicago has everything that makes Broadway and the West End great – a universal tale of fame and fortune, sensational dancing, a sophisticated set (which incorporates a live orchestra) and one show-stopping song after another. Chicago continues to be one of the most successful international musical hits of all time.
Based on a 1926 Broadway play written by Maurine Dallas Watkins, a journalist from the Chicago Tribune who had covered the trials of two women accused of killing their lovers while under the then-controversial influence of alcohol and jazz, Chicago was first created by the legendary Broadway trio of John Kander, Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse in 1975.
Winner of six Tonys, two Oliviers, one Grammy, two Baftas and six Academy Awards, Chicago is the longest-running musical revival in Broadway history. An estimated 31 million people have seen Chicago, and the show has played over 32,500 performances worldwide.
THE TECH TANGO
The swinging tale is a feast for the eyes and ears, and is being told with the help of the best theatre lighting technology that ETC has to offer. Programmed and run on ETC’s Eos family of consoles, the Johannesburg run has been utilising the Ion XE 20, which was provided by South African distributor ApexPro to Splitbeam, the Technical supplier for the South African Season.
Mathew Lewis of ApexPro said, “We are always happy to assist where needed with service, as support is a major priority for us at ApexPro.”
However, it’s not only the control side that features ETC products: the production is beautifully lit using a combination of standard Source Four Tungsten profiles along with the incomparable Source Four LED Series 2 Lustrs, which create absolutely breath-taking scenes. “With such a high standard of LED technology available, it is no wonder that productions all over the world include ETC fixtures as their go-to choice,”
GLENN DUNCAN TAKES THE STAND
We spoke to the head of the lighting department for Chicago’s International Tour 2018-2019, Glenn Duncan, to find out more about his experience with the technology used to bring this audacious and colourful production to the stage.
“Having the bigger programming surfaces and more displays on the flagship consoles is great for programming, while the smaller, compact desks make life much easier on the road. Seamless networking also allows us to program and update from whichever console happens to be nearest the action, and gives us a backup system which can be relied on.”
According to Duncan, using ETC’s Eos family for a touring production is useful in that one can programme on one of the larger consoles and then run the show on a more compact member of the Eos family.
“The ETC Eos family is just that – a family,” says Duncan. “It’s a big plus that our show will run on any of the consoles in the family without modification. At various points on tour, we’ve used an Eos, two Gios, three Ions and an Ion XE, and the showfile has always been perfectly portable between the desks.”
Duncan previously worked on the original production, which used scrollers. We asked him how using the ETC Lustrs have changed the show for him – do they measure up in the typical tungsten environment of theatre?
“What a relief to have moved beyond scrollers!” he says. “A great deal of very precise and detailed work was done by Ken Billington and Associates to match the colours and outputs to the original design – and the fact that the Lustr units have been able to fully replace the scroller versions is a testament to the quality of their output.”
Duncan goes on to explain: “The switch to LED has made for a rig that is easier to tour and more robust on the long, bumpy journeys between cities in China. Recently, I heard a comment regarding one scene, saying how good the all-tungsten picture looked. I later realised that there were actually a few Source Four Lustr units in that picture, too, and one simply could not tell the difference.” He adds that “on a show like Chicago, where the lighting is all about precision, achieving those matches [must have been time-consuming], but I’m certainly impressed with the results.”
ME AND MY TOUR TECH
On tour, Glenn has worked with gear from a variety of hire companies, so we were curious about the relative consistency of the ETC gear. “We’ve worked with three different suppliers so far on tour, and the ETC equipment has always been reliable and consistent. I think it helps that the ETC gear is clearly named and you always know what you’re getting after presenting a spec. Rather than a plethora of similar-but-not-identical models, it’s good to know that a Source Four is a Source Four, a given lens will always give you the same optics, and a Lustr will always do what it says on the tin. Helpful too are the RDM features of the LED units – if there is a discrepancy in dimmer curve, mode, colour mix or DMX response on the supplied gear, we don’t have to climb ladders to put it right.”
ETC is internationally lauded for their service and support. “We’ve had very little reason to contact support or ask for help on this tour, which in itself has been a pleasure. The equipment simply gets on with the job – we can all take a lesson from it! In the past, however, I’ve always been able to get the help I need from ETC, from the silliest questions to the deepest code-level nitpicking.”
Finally, we asked Glenn why, as a touring lighting HOD, he would choose ETC products for a show. “A busy tour can be hard work for crew and equipment alike. The ETC equipment is robust and consistent, easy to work with and always leaves us with a great-looking final product. If I sign up for a tour and see that the rig is ETC-based, I know that the gear will perform. It saves a whole lot of worry and fault-finding when you know the equipment will deliver.”
In Duncan’s words, Chicago the Musical continues to deliver, night after night – and city after city. Thanks to the hard work behind the scenes, the audience can sit back knowing that the lighting experience will be as slick and savvy as the show’s signature piano riffs.
