Produced by Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, The Dallas Christmas Festival redefines Christmas Spectacular: with 13 performances over two weeks in December, more than 70,000 people attend this three-hour pageant each year. The 7,000-seat worship centre is transformed into a theatre, complete with lavish proscenium; a 15,000sq.ft, 150ft wide stage, multiple flying, travelling and automated drops and over 1,000 lighting fixtures. The show includes a live 70-piece orchestra, a cast of 500 and a 100-strong crew, plus seven angels (probably real ones) that fly 70ft over the crowd, pyro, horse-drawn sleighs, chariots, live animals, SFX, custom-built fogging systems and houses that track on and off stage.
Donnie Brawner, of Brawner & Associates, has been lighting designer for this show for three years. He says: "Each year gets more exciting as we experiment further and continue to turn over new rocks in this over-sized production. The lighting is a real undertaking from design to install and cue construction, but very rewarding in the end."
Lighting is supplied by Christie Lites in Dallas, and includes over 350 Pars and 300 ETC Source Fours of various denominations. There are 50+ cyc lights (Strand and Altman units) and more than 160 scrollers of various sizes from the ranges of Chroma Q and Wybron. There are over 100 moving lights, predominantly Martin MAC 2000s and 600s, with some High End Studio Colors. There are 20 strobes, 10 followspots (Robert Juliat and Lycian), six Rosco 4500 foggers and a handful of DF-50 hazers. Control is via an MA Lighting GrandMA console.
This massive production requires four weeks of venue conversion, set construction, rigging, lighting hang, rehearsals and programming, and it's an achievement of which all involved are justifiably proud.
