The event included four hair shows (by hairdressers Charles Worthington, Antoinette Beenders, Trevor Sorbie and Toni & Guy), a three-course dinner, and an after-show party. The action took place on a main stage with an array of mobile and fixed video screens, a 77m long catwalk whose centre section flew into the air to reveal an ice rink, a second stage at the catwalk's far end with a flying reveal, and four long radiating trusses from which aerialists swooped over the seated audience.
Vertigo's involvement included the four main precision lifting elements, all flown from CyberHoist motors and tracked horizontally by a Stage Technologies winch system: the catwalk 'bridge', the flying aerialists, a pair of main stage 'reveals' (lifting two large boxes to reveal dancers), raising four giant video screens, and lifting a 5m gauze box over the 'B' stage as a dramatic entrance for a troupe of dancers. All the motors were under the control of a single InMotion 3D programming / control system running on an Apple Macintosh G5 computer. The catwalk bridge alone weighed 8.5 tonnes, and measured 36m long by 5.4m wide, and lifted 6m into the air on 18 CyberHoist motors. The flown catwalk was specified by Vertigo using their new aluminium Libra Grid System, clad in timber deck and drapes and incorporating lighting and smoke machines. It was designed to permit a golf cart with six people to drive across it as well as a Military Marching Band, and then at the Finale fly to reveal the ice and a spectacular light show incorporated within it. The designer was Martin Sutherland, with lighting by Nigel Catmur.
Vertigo's Paddy Burnside explains: "The most significant aspect for us was the precision of the movement. The eight-and-a-half tonne bridge had to fit into the catwalk with just one millimetre of tolerance at either end - which was made possible by the BGV-C1 specification of the CyberHoists. BGV-C1 is a German standard that's specifically designed for moving set pieces in a live environment, and it's the most stringent in Europe. The millimetre accuracy of the CyberHoist system allowed it to be lifted and set back down very gently - yet moved very quickly."The system lends itself to large spans and its modular nature also allows for easy construction, while the InMotion software means fast programming. Once on site we fine tuned each hoist so that there was a precisely even load per hoist and the on the roof."
The aerialists were elevated into the air from a 'hide' at each corner of the arena using CyberHoist motors, then tracked along 45m tracks in the air at a height of 8 metres towards the centre, lowered to near the catwalk, and finally flown out again just over the heads of the audience. The tracking system was designed by Tim Roberts and fabricated in house at Vertigo. The four screens on stage, supplied by Creative Technology, were tracked sideways using winches and elevated on CyberHoists, allowing numerous different video screen combinations.The Vertigo Rigging team were production manager Tim Roberts, crew chief / operator Paddy Burnside and operator Natasha Mason.
(Lee Baldock)
