Sal Da Vinci is back in the theatre with a new show
after the success of Stelle a metà
(Half stars), which he shared with Alessandro Siani. Se Amore è… Revolution (If Love is… a Revolution) is the title
the Neapolitan singer gave to his show, which was staged at the Augusteo
theatre in Naples.
The show was written by Da Vinci with Gino Landi and
Paolo Caiazzo, and combines music, sketches (entrusted to the actor Lello
Radice) and narratives (read by Pasquale Panella).
“I met Sal Da
Vinci,\” lighting designer Francesco Adinolfi told us, \”during the
amazing success of C\’era una volta
Scugnizzi (Once upon a time there were street urchins), a musical
written by Claudio Mattone (music and lyrics) and Claudio Mattone and Enrico
Vaime (script) in 2002. The work was inspired by the 1989 film Scugnizzi (street urchins) directed
by Nanni Loy.
The musical was
staged for the first time in 2002 and, because of its enormous success,
restaged during the 2010-2011 winter season.”
“In C\’era un volta Scugnizzi, Da
Vinci played the leading character, and sang and acted. As requested by the
more experienced lighting designer Luca Maneli, I operated and programmed the
console to synchronize all the videos, audio and lighting during the show using
SMTP protocol. The Sorrento-based rental firm Emme Due di Attilio Ruggiero provided all the equipment and lights
needed.”
“Later, in 2004/2005, the producers
asked me to design the lighting for the new musical myself. Although there was
no final programme, I proposed various new ideas to the director and reworked
the work already done little by little.”
“It was on this occasion that I met
the Neapolitan artist. Sal Da Vinci was always there at the director\’s desk and
appreciated the proposals I made to him and the director. Working side by side
with the artist led to our professional relationship consolidating. For several
years now, he has always asked me to deal with his other productions.\”
“In the past two years, we have
started working together again intensively during the production of the musical
Se amore è… Revolution,
co-written and directed by Gino Landi.”
“My idea of using three large
twenty-by-sixteen-foot triangular frames, one inside the other, was approved
enthusiastically. They were geometrically simple to build thanks to the common
structural systems used in the show. Staggered aluminium elements illuminated
by LED strips inside them were hung on hoists in the trusses so they could be
dynamically controlled by DMX protocol from the console. I used a GrandMa 1
full size to program all the musical and acting sequences, from the first to
the last.\”
“Sal Da Vinci had not yet seen the
latest generation Clay Paky lights and the outstanding features and performance
of the Alpha Beam and Sharpy Beam series. When he saw them, he was very
enthusiastic.”
“My requests were accepted with the
same enthusiasm by the producers too.”
“We installed 20 Clay Paky lights
on the lighting rig for the musical: 6 Sharpy 300s on the central
triangular frame, 4 Alpha 700 HPEs on the stage, 5 Alpha Beam 300s on
the left and another five on the right. Other LED wash lights provided the
general lighting when a lot of people were on stage: Sal Da Vinci, six
musicians and eight dancers. Lello Radice played the comic part of the body
guard.”
Thanks to the work of set
designer Luigi Ferrigno, the whole stage was flooded with light. The entire
backdrop and various side elements on the stage were decorated with a mirror
effect, thanks to silver strips, which – on one side – reflected the light over
the entire stage and – on the other – cleverly hid sixteen ACL bars, which
created a veritable wall of light once lit.
The musical will start again in
October with a tour of the most important theatres. In the meantime, Sal Da
Vinci\’s lighting requirements for his summer shows will certainly be met by
choosing Clay Paky lights.
