The play of the same name, The 27 Club, directed by British director Toby Gough and performed at the St. Pauli Theatre in Hamburg, pays tribute to these and other music legends. It is a musical journey through time in which first-class musicians from Britain and the United States bow down to their idols and play songs such as Hey Joe, Light my Fire and Smells like Teen Spirit.
Patrick Woodroffe and associated designer Roland Greil dealt with the lighting design. Fifteen Clay Paky Sharpys, 8 Sharpy Wash 330s, 20 A.Leda K5s, 20 GlowUp Strip 100s and other lights were installed in the St. Pauli theatre specifically for the show. Such a well equipped rig has never been used in a theatre before, and this made the lighting design an interesting challenge.
Roland Greil reports, "Patrick and I had to create a rig that was as flexible as possible, but at the same time 'pounding', and therefore suitable for rock 'n' roll. We needed flexibility because the musicians performed pieces from different eras, and each modern light music era deserves the right frame: static light images for Robert Johnson, powerful rock 'n' roll arrangements for artists like Brian Jones, sharp movements for Nirvana and an elegant theatrical look for Amy Winehouse."
"We also had to design suitable atmospheric lighting for the narrated parts between the songs, so we needed a multifunctional lighting rig," Greil continued. "Taking all this equipment into a small theatre like the St. Pauli, which is normally fitted out almost exclusively for classical events, was an enormous technical challenge. However everything worked at its best thanks to the use of mainly compact equipment and the efforts of the theatre's technical managers. Once again we have to thank Lightpower and PRG for the assistance they provided."
Peter Overbeck is the technical manager of the St. Pauli theatre. Tanja Ahrends helped the team on site as a system engineer. The show is directed for the theatrical season by Dorle Reiss and Birte Horst, who acted as an operator. It is co-produced by Collien Konzert Theater GmbH and BB-Promotion GmbH.
(Jim Evans)
