Stage Electrics has all the Right Moves
Stage Electrics is supplying the technical equipment for the new version of CHESS the Musical which opened at the Newcastle Theatre Royal before embarking on a 24 venue national tour. This stunning new revival is directed by Strictly Come Dancing's Craig Revel Horwood, who has recently won critical acclaim for his thrilling production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's' Sunset Boulevard.
"We are delighted to be working with the production team as the nominated supplier of all production lighting in addition to providing a sizeable LED video wall to the 9 month tour. The production brings together Stage Electrics with the creative team which includes Lighting Designer Ben Cracknell and Video Designer Jack James and further cements our position as a leading multi discipline technical supplier": commented Mark Burnett, Business Development Manager for Stage Electrics.
Written by Tim Rice and ABBA's Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Anderson, CHESS tells the story of two of the world's greatest chess masters as they battle it out at the world chess championships for the title, but their greatest contest is for the love of one woman. Set during the Cold War, amidst political intrigue and international conspiracies, the American and Russian contestants fight to win the heart of Florence Vassy.
For this production Stage Electrics supplied one of their latest 6mm pitch LED video walls which at 6.1m x 5.2m, is designed to integrate perfectly into the set. The screens, controlled by a Catalyst Media Server, are also tracked to allow them to slide on and off stage as required. Video Designer Jack James' innovative design fully utilises the flexibility of the screens in multiple formats, both as one large screen and also split into smaller shapes. Jack's most recent projects include 42nd Street, Haunted- UK Tour, Katy Brands Big Ass Tour, Speaking in Tongues, This Much is True, Semper Download & The Corridor, The Coma and When the Rain Stops Falling.
Ben's lighting design for CHESS features 10 Clay Paky Alpha Spot 1500 Profile, Varilite VL3500Q Spot Moving Head, ETC Source 4 Revolution Moving Heads, Martin MAC 700, MAC 2000 Wash and Martin Atomic Strobes, all of which are controlled by an ETC EOS console. Ben's work as a lighting designer stretches from the West End, Regional Theatres to Worldwide. His West End credits include; All the Fun of the Fair, Shout! The 60's Musical and Defending the Caveman.
Due to the technical complexity of the show, production time in Newcastle was exceedingly tight. Ben, James and their respective teams opted to plot the majority of the lighting and video offline using Stage Electrics in house WYSIWYG facilities at the company's London Bridge branch.
To ensure a smooth transition of equipment from warehouse to venue, Stage Electrics provided two members of their in house Live Events team to work with the tours own production team at the first venue in Newcastle with further local support provided from the Stage Electrics Tyneside branch just a few miles away in Gateshead.
"Supplying Chess with lighting and video equipment has been very rewarding. It is great to see how successful our significant investment in video inventory has been and how it has allowed us to demonstrate that we are now able to apply the same high level of service in providing video equipment as well as lighting and audio", continued Burnett.