An epic romance set in the last days of Czarist Russia,
“Doctor Zhivago” has opened at The Broadway Theatre with lighting design by
Tony Award winner Howell Binkley. Conventional and moving lights, wind, fog,
snow and fire effects for the sweeping new musical are controlled by grandMA2
light consoles.
Doctor Zhivago has been described as one of the most
romantic stories of all time. The Broadway musical, based on the Nobel
Prize-winning novel and Academy Award-winning motion picture, is directed by
Tony Award-winner Des McAnuff. Doctor Zhivago reunites McAnuff and Binkley,
long-time collaborators who both garnered Tonys for their work on Jersey Boys.
“There is a lot of big storytelling in this show,” says
Binkley. “Being epic in size but small in content, as far as the scenes are
concerned, means that there are a lot of isolated moments and specificity.
There is a need to call attention to the emotions of each scene and in doing
that I’ve had to be particular about the color palette. How the scenes relate
to each other helps to dictate the transition from warm to cool environments.”
Binkley says that a number of effects help illustrate the
passage of time and the various locations in the story. “For example, there are
a couple of battle sequences that had to be synched with the video, sound and
pyro cues,” he explains. “There is a feeling of the battles surrounding you in
the theatre.”
There’s even a train, which features lighting, smoke and
scenic effects; falling snow; and a huge jet of flame emanating from a pit
under the stage. “The nature of the set has dictated that we have different
trim heights for our electrics in each act,” says Binkley. “The side booms,
attached to the Act 1 walls, are moved during the Intermission. We can actually
recycle the Act 1 side light into Act 2 from the where the set is stored
backstage. This helps in the changeover process during Intermission. The back
wall, which is entirely LEDs, is a large factor in balancing the looks of each
scene.”
Programmer Chris Herman selected 2 x grandMA2 light – one
main and one back up – and 2 x MA NPU (Network Processing Unit) to run
conventional and moving lights as well as the wind, fog, snow and fire effects.
For production he programmed on a grandMA2 full-size and utilized two MA
onPC command wing for feeding designer screens. “The grandMA2 feeds
Art-Net directly out to PRG’s Series 400 system, which eliminates the need for
DMX a/b switches and other failure points,” he says.
Herman notes that, “the grandMA2 range is very versatile;
its ability to deal with multiple cue lists as well as multiple triggering
methods, such as MIDI in, MIDI out and SMPTE timecode make it the ideal console
for this show. As is the norm on a Broadway show, we have a main cue stack with
about 460 cues that are called by stage management or triggered via MIDI or
timecode. Beyond that list we have over 200 cues, in six external cue lists,
that run solely off timecode or triggers from audio or other departments. Being
able to seamlessly pull control of one feature or all features of a light or
effect from the main cue list to another and release it back has been integral
to achieving the look of the show.”
Herman takes advantages of many unique features of the
grandMA2 for Doctor Zhivago. As noted, Advanced MIDI I/O gives him the ability
to send notes, program changes and control changes on different channels on a
per-cue basis to different departments. Timecode Pools enable him to use both internal
timecode and external SMPTE timecode for consistent playback of hundreds of
cues and effects.
Herman also deployed the layouts feature to create a
layout that mimics the magic sheet for channels rather than using the
standard-style channel sheet.
He reports that the grandMA2 is performing “fantastic”
and Binkley agrees. “The grandMA2 has been splendid with all of the different
layers of networking and cue stacks that we’ve had in this show,” Binkley says.
“Almost every department has cues triggering or triggered by the board and
being able to have that level of versatility has been unequivocal.”
Herman adds that “Will Murphy and the rest of the A.C.T
support team are great and always quick to respond when we get into sticky
situations.”
For Doctor Zhivago Ryan J. O’Gara is the associate
lighting designer; Joe Doran and Amanda Zieve assistant lighting designers;
Christopher Herman moving light programmer; James Fedigan and Randall Zaibeck
production electricians; Patrick Johnston head electrician; and Sandy Paradise
lead followspot operator.
A.C.T Lighting, Inc. is the exclusive distributor of MA
Lighting products in the USA and Canada.
