The Full Monty, a stage adaptation of the hit British film, has been playing to enormous popular acclaim in New York - and is now making the journey back to the UK, where it will play at the Prince of Wales Theatre. Lighting designer Howell Binkley will re-create his New York design, making use of an automated lighting rig of six Martin MAC 2000s, 12 MAC 500s and 38 High End Studio Colors controlled from a WholeHog 2 console. The rig also features around 325 ETC Source Fours, 55 of which are fitted with Wybron colour scrollers, and Orion and L&E Ministrip floodlight units, 80 StarStrobes, police beacons, Robert Juliat Aramis followspots, and MDG Atmosphere and Look Solutions Tiny Fogger smoke machines. The conventional rig will be controlled from an ETC Obsession 2 console. The show's production electrician is Pete Lambert, with Stewart Crosbie and Simon Marlow serving as production managers.
Taboo, by contrast, is a brand new musical written by eighties pop icon Boy George, which is playing at a new 300-seat venue called The Venue, located just off Leicester Square. Designed by Tim Goodchild, the show is being lit by Chris Ellis using a four Martin MAC 600s, 12 MAC 250s and five MAC 300s, alongside a conventional rig that includes ETC Source Fours and Source Four Pars with a Source Four 10° used as a followspot, CCT Minuette Fresnels, Strand Prelude 16/30s and a selection of Birdies and Par 36s. Atmospheric effects are being provided by a Spaceball smoke machine and the Unique hazer, which, given the compact nature of The Venue, has the advantage of being silent in operation. The entire rig is controlled from a Strand 520i console, which the lighting designer is programming himself; the show's production electrician is Simon Needle.
(Ruth Rossington)
