2014 is the 20th anniversary of Rent's first staging. In this time it's becoming one of the most universally popular and successful musicals worldwide.
Stage Right's Kevin Roach has known Aylesbury based EMTO's Wes Matthews for many years and comments, "I use EMTO whenever we need specialist LED screen elements for our shows and events. The products are really reliable and EMTO's service and back-up is excellent."
For Jack & The Beanstalk, two elements of EMTO screen - indoor and outdoor - were used, illustrating the breadth and versatility of the products.
Inside, a 7m high by 12m wide LED pros arch was constructed from 20 mm LED panels which were fed with video content stored on a laptop running Cue Lab.
Roach commissioned a video artist to create special footage and also compiled some himself. The images appearing on the pros arch played a powerful role in the show's narrative and also complimented the stage lighting and the whole pros arch could also be used as another lightsource.
For the pop music numbers onstage the surface was filled with vibrant and colourful content, and for the moodier ones, with texturing and ambient movement. It was also used to denote various environmental and locational aspects via pictorial information, as well as forming the beanstalk itself that was at the centre of the action - growing up the pros arch!
The Giant - in cartoon format - would also appear on the pros - a vantage point from where he was also able to literally look down on everyone - which was a lot of fun and a big hit with the many small people in the audience.
'The whole LED pros concept really worked well," enthused Roach, "It is something we will look at doing again".
Stage Right also supplied lighting and sound for the production.
Rigged outside on the roof of the theatre was a 3 x 2m EMTO Mambo 8 screen which served as a prominent interactive billboard on the main thoroughfare of Wellingborough Road, attracting attention and advertising the show.
For JP Productions' UK tour of Rent which has recently concluded, Stage Right utilised EMTO's 10mm pitch own-brand LED panels which are 500 x 750mm each and also weigh in at an expedient 7Kgs. These can be curved to 10 degrees and have a brightness of 3500 nits.
The full screen on the tour measured 3m wide by 1.5 high and was at the back of the stage. All the video content was supplied by JP Productions and the screen was looked after on the road by the production's Lighting Designer, Ben M Rogers.
(Jim Evans)
