Nearly
200 Robe fixtures were used by award-winning lighting and show designer Terry
Miranda of Lighthouse Productions to light a special production of musical “Fakhrak
Ya Watan” (The Pride of a Nation) for the 2016 Ras al-Khaimah National Day
Celebrations on the eve of the United Arab Emirates 2016 National Day event.
Ras al-Khaimah (RAK) is one of the seven Emirates making up the UAE.
The
spectacular, performed by a cast of over 800 singers, dancers, actors and poets
of all ages, was attended by His Highness Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Supreme
Council member of the UAE & Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, plus a host of dignitaries
and VVIPs as well as 10,000 members of the public.
The
show, which included eye-catching projections mapped across a 92 metre wide set
and performance / presentation area, celebrated UAE’s achievements over the
last 45 years and presented a vision of the future of the country based on
peace and inclusion. It culminated in a high-impact 4 minute pyro and laser
spectacular finale, leaving guests stunned with awe!
Lighthouse
Productions actually designed and built the entire 1,250,000 square metre site from
the ground up, creating the venue for the event – from the stage and set,
extensive backstage and production areas to the seating tribunes and car parks
– in an empty space on the mangroves along the Ras al-Khaimah Corniche waterfront.
Terry
– designer of the show as well as being responsible for the lighting design – with
his team at Lighthouse Productions have designed, produced and supplied
equipment and technical services for many prestigious events in the region. A
project like this with a complete site build starting a month before the show
date was challenging, high pressure and ‘pushed the envelope’ in every way.
Terry
stated that “Intricate projections were mapped onto the side screens for the
show whilst a large cast of dancers and actors played out onstage, so it was essential
that I had the best and most versatile lighting fixtures to both support the
video projections and to ensure that everyone could clearly see all the stage
action across the vast area.”
He
continued by stating, “There was no roof on the stage, so all the lighting
positions were created from a massive structure at the back with horizontal and
angled lines of trusses sub-hung either side of a central V-shape.”
Thirty-two
Robe MMX WashBeams were utilized, rigged all over the structure. They were used
extensively for general lighting, washing the stage, for gobo and beam work
onto the floor and also to complement the fireworks, the majority of which were
rigged to a 72 metre wide x 44 metre arch erected behind the stage.
The
MMX WashBeam is one of Terry’s favourite fixtures. He loves it for its
“Brightness, flexibility and smooth transition between wash and beam
functionality”.
He
also comments that for the Middle East region, where shows are often organised
at short notice, a multi-purpose fixture like the MMX Wash Beam gives LDs
multiple possibilities if they have a very compressed timeframe to get their
show on! “The handle-ability of this fixture has been invaluable time and time
again,” he said.
There
were 22 x 300E Beams on the show, 14 rigged on horizontal trusses both sides of
the stage and used for punchy beam to complement the projections and the other
eight on the verticals.
Twelve
ColorWash 575 ATs – still going strong after over 10 years’ service in the
dusty, arid desert environment of the UAE – provided rear and side lighting
onto the dancers.
One
of Lighthouse’s recent purchases has been Pointes and 24 of these were used on
this show, rigged on the angled trusses either side and used for a variety of aerial
effects and as head-height lighting for actors entering the stage space on a
mechanical boat prop.
The
Pointes were combined with the MMX WashBeams and some 7K searchlights upstage
on the deck to present a number of ‘beam layers’ which could be revealed and
juxtaposed as the show unfolded.
Terry
comments that the light weight of the Pointes made them handy for rigging
almost anywhere on the structure at the back, while their intensity and the
quality of the optics enabled them to ‘hold their own’ against other more
powerful lightsources across the 40 scenes involved in the performance.
Twelve
PARFect 100s along the front of stage left and right were used to illuminate
the various dance troupes participating in the show, with another 12 dotted
around at the back.
Other
Robe fixtures on the rig included CycFX 8s, LEDWash 1200s and ColorMix 250s.
The
big creative challenges of the show for Terry and the Lighthouse Productions team
were making the big bold statements needed to reinforce the show with its
important cultural message, along with presenting the drama and excitement associated
with a large scale spectacle.
“I
was extremely proud of what we delivered and also working very closely with the
talented local Emiratis,” he stated.
Terry
has been using Robe for several years and Lighthouse Productions has been a big
investor of the brand. He feels that Robe’s move to set up direct
representation and distribution in the region with the foundation of Robe
Middle East Trading LLC has been smart and positive, enhancing what had been an
already organic growth pattern.
Over
400 technical and event services staff and crew in total were involved in staging
the 2016 Ras al-Khaimah
National Day Celebrations so successfully, including a full
time team of 30 from Lighthouse Productions. The lighting programming was completed
by Adrian Guzman.
The
musical was directed by Mohammad Al Amri, director of the show, Ali Al Khawar,
director of the music and Obaid Ali, director of the choreography. It was the
largest Emirati musical production to date, created and presented by a strongly
Emirati team working alongside Terry and Lighthouse Production.
The
performance included translated sub-titles for non-Arabic speaking attendees and
a truly international cast of artists from India, the GCC, France, England, Morocco
and the Philippines, as well as a host of leading Emirati talent.
http://www.robe.cz
Photos : Courtesy Lighthouse
