Magic happens for Rick Smith with Chauvet
- Details
“Rick Smith Jr. approached me three years ago about designing, building and running the production for this show,” said Schmidt, the owner of B Productions. “Since the shows often take place in schools, they are not your typical theatrical production. I’ve taken theatrical elements, magic show looks and rock concert effects from my other projects and blended them into a creation that’s unique for Magic Gives Back.
“Some of the venues we work in have limited power accessibility, which requires longer power runs,” continued Schmidt. “On other occasions, we may not have a fly system or loading dock. I definitely could not pull all this off under these circumstances without my amazing B Productions crew: Renee, Sam, Anthony, Vince and Tommy. They are the real magicians backstage. Of course, the Chauvet fixtures being LED and compact are also extremely helpful in helping us meet these challenges.”
Working with show producer Drew Murray, Schmidt has four different light design parameters for Magic Gives Back, which will vary depending on the venue. On January 27, he used one of his larger concepts for a performance at the 1500-seat Mentor Schools Fine Arts Centre outside Cleveland.
The Mentor rig consisted of four Rogue R1 Spot and four Rogue R1 Wash fixtures, as well as two Ovation E-190WW ellipsoidal units. Also included in the rig was an assorted collection of 10 CHAUVET DJ Intimidators, as well as 36 Freedom Par Quad-4 IP and four COLORband PiX units, plus 12 Core 3x3 panels. For atmospherics, there were five Geyser units.
(Jim Evans)
