Vari-Lite VLZ range delivers for Dreamgirls
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Billington specified 32 VLZ Wash, 22 VLZ Spot and 12 VLZ Profile fixtures to form the show’s entire overhead lighting rig. “The fixtures are bright,” he says, “in fact a bit too bright! We run them at 50-70% most of the time. When you fade the LED, there is no beam degradation, which you would see if there was a shutter dimming a discharge fixture.”
A key aim for this production was recreating the original colour palette, which the VLZs matched well. “The colours are really clear, clean colours that don’t muddy the beam or hurt light output,” comments lighting programmer, Jackson Miller.
The VLZ’s four-blade framing system was also praised. “It’s impressive how much beam control you can get without compromising the soft edge of the wash or the intensity,” says associate lighting designer, Ben Travis.
“The shutters are pretty great,” agrees Miller. “They all seem to exist on the same plane, optically speaking. All four can be sharp at once, which is some sort of amazing witchcraft, considering every other full-frame shutter unit I’ve seen will only sharpen to one or two at a time.”
Overall, the fixtures have been widely welcomed by the Dreamgirls lighting team. “The quality is great,” concludes Travis. “They have met, and exceeded, our expectations.”
(Jim Evans)
