Late February, Summit Steel abandoned the typically dull, British weather and took off for Cannes in the South of France. The company was called in by Adam Proto, producer for Turquoise Blue, to rig a party at the Radisson SAS Montfleury Hotel, for Lucent Technologies’ guests, as part of the 3GSM World Congress. Summit’s principal task was to rig large, white, gauze sails between the palm trees around the pool which were to be used as projection screens.

Since there was no flying equipment from roof trusses on this job, this proved to be open air rigging with a difference. "It made a change from climbing roof beams," explained Summit’s Jon Bray. "We actually used the pool-side Palm trees to rig the sails, fixing guy wires and using diverters in the palms to ensure we did not cause any damage. The end result looked great. The sails created an outside auditorium, the perfect backdrop to the stages."

Designed by Philippe Brandt using ‘art’ as the theme, the party also kept Summit busy within the hotel. This included creating a 12m x 10m music lounge using a ground-supported Superlight truss system. The Star Cloth Walls, along with a variety of truss structures supporting the lights and sound, created a unique performance space. The local production manager was Alex Gorman, video imaging by Atomic Arts and lighting design by Andy Gardner, with lights supplied by Arpege Son et Lumière.

(Ruth Rossington)


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