Artiste Picasso for The Best Man at historic Walnut Street Theatre
08/04/2020
Karen Peakes, Leonard C. Haas, Paul L. Nolan
LD Jimmy Lawlor turns to quiet, versatile LED profile for looks both strong and soft. Lighting supply by 4Wall Entertainment
The Best Man at the historic Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia squeezed in a handful of preview performances before shutting down to wait out the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet what a treat awaits! Set at the national convention in Philadelphia, and altogether a fitting production for an election year, lighting designer Jimmy Lawlor skillfully lights a set that takes us into the back rooms and onto the convention floor where two candidates vie for their party's nomination.
Lawlor sought a quiet yet versatile luminaire for the production, one he could use to light scenes both stark and soft. From the outset, we knew we wanted the audience to experience the kinetic energy of a presidential convention, he explains. As such, I knew I wanted a lighting fixture that could move and change colors. Since this is a play, and the Front of House positions in the theatre are limited, I needed fixtures that were super quiet, but also could look like concert lighting when I needed them to, or seamlessly blend into the rest of the rig for the hotel room scenes. The Artiste Picasso checked all the right boxes.
Although Lawlor has designed two previous shows at Walnut Street's upstairs space, this is his first time working on the venue's historic Mainstage. A National Historic Landmark and the oldest theatre in the United States, the Walnut Street Theatre has been in continuous operation since 1809. Interestingly, some of it milestones belong to the lighting industry such as its designation as the first theatre to install gas footlights in 1837.
Fast-forward to 2020 and The Best Man set where Lawlor is using state-of-the-art Elation Artiste Picasso LED profile moving heads for everything from the in your face' looks of a modern presidential convention to the softer, more discreet looks of the hotel room scenes.
Scott Greer, Greg Wood, ensemble
The LD explains how the Picassos serve as the main driver of the convention lighting as the audience comes into the space, at each intermission and at the end of the play. We wanted the convention to feel more boisterous each time we visited it, he says, so the Picassos were called on to run increasingly complex effects. I started with a simple red/white/blue color chase while having the four FOH fixtures pointed into the house for an audience wash. Each time we return to the convention, I added a new effect: pan/tilt, zoom, etc.
Located on FOH box booms, vertical FOH slots, the FOH truss, and overhead on the 2nd Electric, the LD says the Picassos were used through most of the show and for more than just flash looks. I was able to seamlessly mix it into my tungsten rig where it did a lot of the heavy lifting for the book scenes as well, he said. Most of the play takes place in two different, though almost identical, hotel rooms. The Picassos were hung so that they had a great angle for those scenes as well. Everyone was very impressed by the fact that even at roughly 50 away, they were brighter than the cross light hung only 18 from the face of the actors - all while being whisper quiet.
Part of Elations award-winning Artiste series, the Artiste Picasso produces a powerful, crisp output of 23,000-lumens and houses theatrically useful design features like graphics, animation wheel and framing. Lighting vendor for The Best Man is 4Wall Entertainment, who supported the production out of their Washington DC facility. Lawlor calls Scott Church at 4Wall a rock star for going above and beyond and thanks Elation National Sales Manager John Dunn for his assistance on the project.
Scott Greer, Johnnie Hobbs Jr., Damon Bonetti
Acknowledging that it takes a village to put on a production like this, the LD lauds Walnut Street Theatre's Siobhan Ruane and Lindsay Cook (PM and APM, respectively), as well as his IATSE Local 8 department head, Matthew Sanatore. He adds, My right hand on this was Ryan Stofa, my ALD, who stepped in when my wife gave birth to our baby on the 4th day of tech. His expertise and poise made me feel totally confident while I had to step away for a bit. To that end, I would be remiss if I didnt mention Michael Wilson, my director, who was also a dream to work with. Last but not least, I want to thank Bernard Havard, WSTs Artistic Director and Mark Sylvester WSTs Managing Director for trusting me with such a wonderful show.
Director: Michael Wilson
Sets: Roman Tararowicz
Lights: Jimmy Lawlor
Clothes: Kayla Speedy
Sound: John Gromada
Props: Greer Duckworth
SM: Angela Cucco
About Elation Professional
Based in California with facilities in Florida and Mexico City, as well as European offices in The Netherlands, Elation designs and manufactures a comprehensive range of innovative lighting and video products known for its superior performance, excellent efficiency, and outstanding price:value ratio, all backed by a hard-earned reputation for Total Support. Through nearly three decades of intelligent lighting development, our mission has always been simple: to provide best-in-class products and service while offering the best value:performance ratio in the industry, helping show designers and producers achieve their vision. From discharge to LED, intelligent to conventional, Elation products continue to be a part of the industry's most exciting projects across the globe and our list of references is always growing
LINK: | https://www.live-production.tv/news/shows/artiste-picasso%E2%84%A2-bes... |
See more stories from liveproduction |
Europe Stories
04/08/2024
Dalet Appoints Santiago Solanas as CEO to Lead Next Era of Growth and Innovation
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
28/04/2024
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with URSA Broadcast G2
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...
26/04/2024
Career insights instead of everyday school life
Once again this year, SGL Carbon opened its doors to interested children and young people. On the occasion of the German Girls and Boys Day, which took place on...
26/04/2024
The Story Collective opens largest film and TV studio in the heart of London
The Story Collective has gradually repurposed the former Mortlake Brewery to include production offices, workshops and sound stages By Matthew Corrigan Publi...
26/04/2024
Richard Perkett joins Amagi as chief product officer
Perkett joins the company following a 25 year career in product management, product marketing, engineering and user experience (UX) across multiple industries ...
26/04/2024
Cricket Finds Its Digital Home in Bangladesh: VEON's Banglalink to Stream ICC Cricket on Toffee
26 Apr 2024 Cricket Finds Its Digital Home in Bangladesh: VEON's Banglalink...
26/04/2024
Rohde & Schwarz presents spectrum dominance in all domains at AOC Europe
Rohde & Schwarz presents spectrum dominance in all domains at AOC Europe Rohde & Schwarz demonstrates the next generation of SIGINT/EW systems and sensor fusi...
25/04/2024
Opinion: charting a cloud driven future
M2A Medias Matt Hughes asks, is it time for news broadcasting to shift to the cloud? By Contributor Published: April 25, 2024 M2A Media's Matt Hughes ...
25/04/2024
Czech mates
The writer and director of a hit Czech series tell Robert Shepherd about their approach to portraying real-life Pakistani kidnappings on the small screen, while...
25/04/2024
Molinaire Creative Group opens new Liverpool facility
Notorious DIT will work with the Liverpool Film Office to increase opportunities for regional talent By Matthew Corrigan Published: April 25, 2024 Updated:...
25/04/2024
Unlock the potential of automated node-based and no-code media workflows at MPTS 2024
Published On: April 25th, 2024 data-orig-src=https://www.sgo.es/wp-content/upl...
25/04/2024
Explore the Future of VR 180 Storytelling with Dolce Mia and Mistika VR
Published On: April 25th, 2024 data-orig-src=https://www.sgo.es/wp-content/uploads/Dolce-Mia-Header-image.png width=1040 height=533 class=lazyload wp-image-0 ...
25/04/2024
IBM Transforms the Storage Ownership Experience with IBM Storage Assurance
LONDON, UK, April 25, 2024 IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced new storage capabilities that give clients choice and control in the data center to maximise perfor...
25/04/2024
Socio-ecological impact through reuse of IT hardware
Social and Ecological Impact through Reuse of IT Hardware Social & green IT: Arvato Systems and AfB Securing three jobs for people with disabilities Savings...
25/04/2024
AMATEUR DRAMA TAKES CENTRE STAGE AS RT ALL IRELAND DRAMA FESTIVAL LAUNCHES IN THE ABBEY THEATRE
Amateur drama took centre stage as the All Ireland Drama Festival was officially...
25/04/2024
AI-assisted optronics: an unprecedented European project to increase combat perception capabilities
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn The European Commission signed the Grant Agreeme...
24/04/2024
UKTV's pay TV channel Alibi joins forces with S4C and All3Media International for new legal crime drama series Mudtown
Cast set to star include Erin Richards and Tom Cullen Wednesday 24 April 2024 ...
24/04/2024
K-Hip-Hop's Biggest Names Take Center Stage on KrOWN X HAN 2024'
This month marked the return of Spotify's HAN, our collaborative program that brings the unique sounds and culture of Korean hip-hop to the world through ex...
24/04/2024
RADAR Italy Returns With 6 Artists Transforming the Country's Music Landscape
As Spotify's program to spotlight rising talent from around the world, RADAR...
24/04/2024
Spotify Partners With Les Flammes Music Awards To Celebrate French Rap
Spotify is once again teaming up with Les Flammes, the only music awards dedicated to rap, R&B, Afrobeats, and popular culture in France. Spotify helped create...
24/04/2024
Taylor Swift's THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT' Becomes Spotify's Most-Streamed Album in One Week
Records smashed. History made. It's been just five days since Taylor Swift u...
24/04/2024
Authentic Perspectives
The first feature film from writer-director Shaun Seneviratne, Ben and Suzanne: A Reunion in 4 Parts depicts the struggle between love and duty as Ben (Sathya S...
24/04/2024
Melanie Georgieva Joins Panalux as Long Form Sales Director
LONDON, England (24 April 2024) Panalux, a leading rental provider of lighting and power solutions for the motion-picture industry and part of Panavision'...
24/04/2024
Deutsche Telekom Powers New MagentaTV Service With Broadpeak's Cloud DVR Solution
April 24, 2024 -- Deutsche Telekom Powers New MagentaTV Service With Broadpea...
24/04/2024
VEON Announces 2024 AGM and Board Nominees
24 Apr 2024 VEON Announces 2024 AGM and Board Nominees Amsterdam, 24 April 2024 - VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON, Euronext Amsterdam: VEON), a global digital operator...
24/04/2024
Rohde & Schwarz and IPG Automotive unveil a complete Hardware-in-the-Loop automotive radar test solution
Rohde & Schwarz and IPG Automotive unveil a complete Hardware-in-the-Loop automo...
24/04/2024
Nurturing a new look for Huntapac
Posted on 24 Apr 2024 Creating a contemporary brand update that reflects a company's strong heritage can often pose a challenge, yet its a task ICG embrace...
24/04/2024
2024-04-24
Beginning in May, a special Today at Apple series titled Made for Business will offer small business owners and entrepreneurs free opportunities to learn how ...
24/04/2024
Print beats other media channels to deliver largest ROI
% of profit volume % of advertising investment % of full payback % of sustained parback % of short-term payback % of immediate payback Full payback ROI S...
23/04/2024
Tackling lies online: the answer may be all in the mind
Psychology can play an important role in helping us understand what audiences respond to (Dr Jon Roozenbeek, Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab) For newsroom...
23/04/2024
Spotify Reports First Quarter 2024 Earnings
Today, we announced our first quarter 2024 earnings. In a solid start to the year, Spotify reported Monthly Active Users grew 19% Y/Y to 615 million. Subscri...
23/04/2024
Spotify rapporterar intkter fr frsta kvartalet i 2024
Idag publicerar Spotify sina finansiella resultat f r f rsta kvartalet 2024. ret har inletts stabilt: M natliga aktiva anv ndare kade med 19 % j mf rt med f...
23/04/2024
Discover Your K-Pop Persona With Spotify's New Interactive Experience
In the last decade, as K-Pop cemented its status as a global phenomenon, Spotify has helped fans around the world keep their fingers on the pulse at every step ...
23/04/2024
Creative UK launches manifesto calling for more investment in creative R&D; revised approach to trade and exports
Entitled Our Creative Future, the manifesto calls for radical new action' t...
23/04/2024
Audiotonix secures landmark' investment
The company has secured investment from private equity firm PAI Partners, which also holds a stake in outside broadcasting company EMG By Jenny Priestley Pub...
23/04/2024
James Cameron backs Marlow Film Studios proposal
Cameron also said he recognised Marlow as a potential UK and European base for his new company, LIGHTSTORM 3D By Matthew Corrigan Published: April 23, 2024 ...
23/04/2024
IBC launches 2024 Innovation Awards with new categories
The five categories cover Content Creation, Content Distribution, Content Everywhere, Social Impact and Environment & Sustainability By Matthew Corrigan Publ...
23/04/2024
Pascal Fratellia leaves Olympics role at EBU
He played a central role in securing key broadcast rights, including the FIFA World Cup 2018 and 2022 By Matthew Corrigan Published: April 23, 2024 He pla...
23/04/2024
Discover what is new: Mistika Boutique and Ultima enhance conforming, rendering and project collaboration
Published On: April 23rd, 2024 data-orig-src=https://www.sgo.es/wp-content/upl...
23/04/2024
Rohde & Schwarz introduces new R&S SMB100B microwave signal generator for analog signal generation up to 40 GHz
Rohde & Schwarz introduces new R&S SMB100B microwave signal generator for analog...
23/04/2024
FilmLight Colour Awards welcomes 2024 entries and introduces new Emerging Talent' award
Entries open from 1 May 31 July to colourists on any grading platform The Fil...
23/04/2024
Niels Steenstrup appointed CEO of Thales InFlyt Experience
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn We thank TK for his leadership and dedication to our customers' success. We wish him well on his retirement, said Yannick ...
23/04/2024
Thales opens a new System Testing Centre for German F126 project
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn On April 23rd 2024, Thales, the German Navy and German military procurement agency, BAAINBw (Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipm...
22/04/2024
UKTV Ventures partners with Elder, in airtime-for-equity deal
22 April 2024 - Award-winning broadcaster UKTV has today announced it has invested in the award-winning online care marketplace, Elder, using its multi-million ...
22/04/2024
Taylor Swift's THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT' Breaks Multiple Spotify Records in Less Than 24 Hours
It's a beautiful day to be a Swiftie. On April 19, Taylor Swift dropped her ...
22/04/2024
Adapting to Landscapes With LEE Filters
In this video, LEE Filters ambassador Jordan Banks ventures into Snowdonia National Park in Wales. Faced with less-than-ideal weather conditions, he adapts his ...
22/04/2024
Ross Video expands graphics portfolio with Bannister Lake Software acquisition
The Chameleon solution provides access to real-time data from a range of sources, enabling users to construct tickers, L-bars, snipes, web widgets and full fram...
22/04/2024
What happened in Vegas: 2024 edition
TVBEuropes editor Jenny Priestley highlights some of the main talking points at this years NAB Show By Jenny Priestley Published: April 22, 2024 TVBEurope...
22/04/2024
Rohde & Schwarz expands footprint in India by opening new state-of-the-art facility in Bengaluru
Rohde & Schwarz expands footprint in India by opening new state-of-the-art facil...