Lyceum Theatre, London

[Jambo_UK]

Hi everyone,

 

Got a quick question does anyone have any links or know anything about the lighting design for the Lyceum Theatre, London as I'm doing a project on the Loin King and so far the first 150 web sites that came up where all booking tickets for the show and the rest were reviews and also the actual theatre doesn't seen to have its own web site.

 

I'm really looking for information like how many fixtures they use, how many channels and some basic facts on some of the designs.

 

Thanks all for the help in advance.

 

from

 

Jambo

[Stu]

Because the show is a West End show, and therefore pretty much everything (if not everything) will be hired in from one of the big hire companies you'd probably do better to contact the hire co and ask nicely if they can tell you what is in the rig and how much of it etc etc.

 

I'm going to go on a hunch here and say it's WL and MLC.

 

Hope this helps

Stu

 

Edit. Actually no I'm going to change my hunch to be anyting but WL/MLC. Might be VLPS/PRG or Stage Electrics then... Anyway something for you to look into I suppose!

[Piers Shepperd]

LD was Don Holder

 

I would try contacting Iain Quinn who was lighting design assistant in London;

Iain Quinn Website

 

Cheers,

 

Piers

[Rob]

I can help you out with some rough details. I reserve the right to get any facts and figures wrong though :)

 

The intelligent parts of the rig are leased from VLPS / PRG and contain a mixture of 70 VL5's, VL6's, VL4's, VL2's and a couple of studio colours run from a mini artisan. The generics are largely S4 profiles with the usual smattering of pars, howie batons and groundrow floods. Lots of the Source four's are fitted with Wybron Colouram scrollers and the generics are controlled by ETC sensor dimmers and an Obsession desk. There are various special fx bits including a couple of Pani projectors, strobes and radio controlled dimming. I think Disney owns the majority of the kit with the exception of the movers, given the long running nature of the show.

 

The show runs with a minimum of 4 spot ops - 2 out front and 2 in pros positions, 2 board ops and 2 stage electricians. There are approximately 600 cues IIRC, and both the generic and VL desks have the same cue stack.

 

If you need more I'd suggest ringing up stage door at the Lyceum and asking to speak to the Chief LX or his Deputy. Alternatively, see if you can get an e-mail addy and ask that way.

 

hth

 

Rob

[wilcoxjnr]

Equipment supplier is PRG (Fourth Phase), movers from PRG (VLPS).

[Jambo_UK]

This is goign to sound really stupid but what are VL5's, VL6's, VL4's, VL2's, I know they are intelligent effects but what actuall are they?

 

I have contacted Ian in the hope he can put me in contact with the shows lighting tech,

[Chris_R]

The VL series are a range of fixtures made by Vari Lite. More can be found on Vari Lites website here.

 

Hope this helps,

[Bryson]

VL2, VL4, VL5 and VL6 are the previous generations (called Series 200 and 300) of moving head lanterns from Vari Lite. I note they've now been taken off Vari-Lites front webpage but theres some info here.

 

At the time they came out, they were miles ahead of the competition, and they're still very capable fixtures, and popular in hirestock still. They also have the advantage/disadvantage of keeping some of their "guts" in an external box called a Smart Repeater, which mean that you can keep the bars very tidy - they don't have a great big box under them like many fixtures do.

 

The oldest ones are LV2s and VL4s. The 2s are hard-edged spots and the 4s are washlights. Quite old, but still used - they're quite bright compared to the 5s and 6s apparently.

 

The 5s and 6s (which I'm more familiar with) are slighly newer but still discontinued. the 5 is a washlight that looks much like a parcan, but has a colour changing system and variable frost. It also uses a tungsten source instead of a arc lamp, which makes the colours it produces a bit more "subtle" and easier to blend with conventionals. The 6 is a hard-edged spot, and very compact.

 

As I say, they are still widely used, despite being off the production line for a few years now. They can be a bit unreliable (I love that noise you get when you know there's loose glass sloshing around inside your Vl5...) if they're not looked after properly. Personally, I think the VL5s are one of my favorite washlights, partially for the look of the fixture itself, and partially for the Tungsten source.

 

Hope this helps.

[Rob]

As I say, they are still widely used, despite being off the production line for a few years now. They can be a bit unreliable (I love that noise you get when you know there's loose glass sloshing around inside your Vl5...) if they're not looked after properly. Personally, I think the VL5s are one of my favorite washlights, partially for the look of the fixture itself, and partially for the Tungsten source.

 

Its pretty much a full time job for one person to keep all the movers working on the show. The rest of the rig is serviced on something like an 18 week cycle, with a different bit done every week.

[stormster]

The rig was originally put in by a canadian rental company called West Sun, who went under and were bought out by prg, and they employed stage electrics to do the service contract here, dont know the history after that, sorry.