Professional Lighting & Production - Summer 2019 | Page 26

26 PL&P
THE NEXT STAGE
PL&P ’s 2019 Theatrical Lighting Designers Panel
By Michael Raine
Welcome to our 2019 panel con-
versation with some of the finest
and most acclaimed theatrical
lighting designers in the industry,
some working here in Canada
and others working on Broadway,
London’s West End, and else-
where. We’re picking their brains
to find out what is currently excit-
ing or concerning them about the
discipline in which they work, and
to share some quality advice and
insights with their peers.
PL&P: What’s the latest product
or piece of technology that you’ve
incorporated into your work with good
results, or that you see as a potential
game changer for theatrical lighting
design?
Constable: The quality of LED
engines we’re able to work
with at the moment is extraordinary. I
redesigned the 25 th anniversary [tour]
of Les Miserables, the one that played
on Broadway, and we’ve just sent that
out on a U.K. tour again. I’m a bit of a
tungsten queen and love that kind of
palette, but we’ve changed them all for
[Martin MAC] Encores very success-
fully. All the Profile scroller cross lights
we’ve changed for [Source Four LED
Series 2] Lustrs. The guys from White
Light, the big rental company we use
over here [in England], came to see it
and they said, “You’d never know that
the show wasn’t a tungsten show.” It’s
a real turning point for us in terms of
possibilities.
Other than that, I am using a lot
of GLP products. On this, I’ve been
playing with the impression X4 XL.
They created a yellow-chip version,
which we’ve been playing with, and in
this we’ve got the conventional version.
Essentially, I’m looking for something
that can replace a par can scroller or
5K. We’re not there yet, but I think we’re
getting really close.
Fraser: I particularly like the
new crop of white LED profile
moving lights. I did a show last year
with High End’s SolaFrame Theatre and
they were really great. I have a show
coming up with a bunch of Ayrton Dia-
blos and they look quite promising.