ELP supply Royal Variety Performance

A host of celebrities and artists from the worlds of music, comedy and theatre performed in the 78th annual Royal Variety Performance at the London Coliseum in the presence of Their Royal Highnesses, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall.

This year the top of the bill was Rod Stewart, making his first ever Royal
Variety appearance . He was joined by music stars like Barry Manilow, Meatloaf, Take That and the Sugababes.

Bernie Davis was the LD for this Light entertainment spectacular and under his stewardship ELP supplied lighting and rigging services. The range of hardware included
Studio Colours, Studio Beams, VL1000’s, Martin Mac 2000’s, Mac 700’s, Mac 600’s, Mac 500’s, Mac 300’s, Pixel lines, Chromabanks, Pixel pars and Chroma strips.

When asked what were the most important set of lights on the job the LD replied …
“Because of the constantly changing shape of the stage different lights become important at different parts of the show, but if I had to pick on one set it would be the Mac 700s on the circle front. These were able to add colour and effects all down the portals”

Commenting on the venue Bernie Davis said… “the Coliseum is an excellent venue for the Royal as it has plenty of wing space. We held the Royal there last year and I was looking forward to going back after the very pleasant experience last time. That being said, the intense rehearsal period is a daunting prospect wherever the show is held. We used the same set as last time, or at least the portals, so we were at least working in a known space.”

According to Bernie the most important ingredient in the lighting for a variety show is ‘flexibility’, as you never know what will be thrown in at the last minute. Every space between the set has lighting - mostly moving lights - and this year he had Catalyst driving a rear projector covering the cyc which added a new dimension they had not had before.

The lighting ‘looks’ have to reflect the style of act, from theatrical excerpts from West End productions to top music acts such as Rod Stewart and Take That. The lighting ‘styles’ have to switch as fast as the turns.

Bernie concludes …“The only way to manage a show of this scale is to surround yourself with the best crew, and the ELP crew headed by Paul Tibbles gave me all I wanted and more. Together with two of the best lighting operators - Nigel Catmur and Ross Williams - I was working with the dream team.