Les Mis Arena Spectacular will play venues around the world through 2025 (photo: Danny Kaan)

Europe - Denmark-based entertainment automation specialist Motor Stage Automation (MSA) is supplying a full rigging, control and automation package for the current Les Misérables: The Arena Spectacular world tour, co-produced by Cameron Mackintosh Ltd (CML) and Nick Grace Management and performing in over 15 countries and regions worldwide.

Cameron Mackintosh’s production team led by technical director Chris Boone directly approached MSA wanting an ingenious touring solution and global technical support for the tour.

Nick Grace Management, who is responsible for contracting the touring personnel, asked Roger Smissen onboard as head of rigging and automation, with his company, Van Der Smissen Production, providing a touring crew team to work with the production’s rigging and automation requirements.

Smissen worked in conjunction with MSA’s Jimmy Johnson on the task of producing a tourable system design, and MSA project manager Daniel Klausen was integral in managing delivery of all the equipment.

The main automation rig supplied includes 28 x 500kg Apex hoists with v2 drives and a Kinesys Mentor SIL3 compatible safety system. Additionally, two 8m runs of Litec DST Tracking truss are being supplied with MSA custom Touring Dollies to facilitate the most efficient get-ins/outs and transportation. 

A 2-ton screen with surrounding lighting fixtures is tracked on each side of stage, driven by a combination of MSA’s motorised trolleys and a Kinesys Elevation 1+ drive each.

Another two Elevation 1+ drive power to two pivoting arms that lift lighting trusses out from inside the stage floor for the suicide scene. Their fabrication was co-ordinated by MSA with Italian manufacturer Alfa System, and they comprise a section of pre-rigged truss with an electric piston for the sideways movement.

A Kinesys Vector console is used to queue all elements together in tandem for a seamless look.

20 Apex 500kg hoists are used to fly 10 lighting trusses. Two motors per truss allow them to be flown up / down and tilted. Each truss is clad in scenic elements allowing the automation to play a dual role in setting different lighting states and reconfiguring the stage design, most notably forming the famous Les Mis barricades.

A large bridge structure hinged on both sides is flown right at the centre of the set – suspended on another eight Apex 500kg hoists. This can be lowered in at crooked angles to become another disjointed and seemingly random component of the barricades.

Later in the action, the bridge comes in and folds out, allowing actors to run across it and perform above the orchestra positioned on an upstage platform, a move that works brilliantly both scenically and narratively.

The Kinesys Mentor safety system is a key here, allowing this complex object to be flown in a way that meets the stringent EN17206:2019 stage machinery regulations.

Like all Cameron Mackintosh productions, high-end technical production and entertainment values are at the fore. The show is staged with performers always facing the audience, allowing the live cameras to focus on picking up the different characters for IMAG screens.

With audience viewing angles reaching up to 120°, there was some concern that flown automation elements might potentially block screen sightlines, but using MSA’s tracking system enables the IMAG screens to track offstage which helps to preserve sightlines, supporting this integral design element of the show’s arena version.

The hub of the technical rigging design is a large nine-ton mothergrid that houses all 28 x Apex motors and their drives.

The grid was originally designed by Unusual Rigging (who also compiled the initial automation spec) and is central to creating a tourable construction that can reliably fly all the moving lighting/scenic trusses in any venue. It greatly simplifies load ins and the general rigging workflow.

Nine 2-ton Chainmaster hoists with encoders, driven by an encoder upgraded Kinesys DigiHoist system, allow the mothergrid to be lifted with centimetre precision by a separate Vector console.

MSA’s in-house technicians specially upgraded their hoists and controllers to make this possible for the tour.

MSA’s Jimmy Johnson commented: “We are delighted to be part of realising this incredible production which sees a well-loved classic presented with a new design and new energy that integrates automation and scenic elements so smartly with lighting.”

He adds that it’s particularly gratifying to see automation designed as part of the show from the outset, rather than being a special effect or an add-on.

Smissen explains that the Apex/Vector combination has been a great choice. “It’s proven many times to be stable and reliable, and that’s what is needed, especially for touring,” he noted, and so far, they have not had to swap out a single drive.

MSA has also provided the power distribution solution allowing just one 400A feed for rigging and automation at each venue with all downstream power outputs housed in MSA’s flexible touring racks.

Chris Boone commented: “I was initially a little nervous going with a new supplier for both myself and CML, but from our first correspondence with the team at MSA I was reassured we were in safe hands, and they have delivered in every aspect of the project. The equipment is of the highest standard and once on the road, the after-service has been second to none. I can’t recommend Motor Stage Automation enough and they will be my go-to supplier for touring automation in the future.”

Smissen is working the full tour with a rigging and automation crew of up to seven taking care of all the ins, outs and runs.

The show officially opened at Glasgow’s Hydro Arena in October 2024. It has since travelled through the UK and Europe and has a full schedule playing venues around the world through 2025.


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