Many highly anticipated shows of the fall theatre season are using automated lighting from Vari-Lite Inc. "The entire inventory of Vari*Lite® products is well represented in the theatre industry," said Clay Powers, Vari-Lite president and COO, "which illustrates the wide range of our automated lighting tools. The Series 1000™ products have been popular in the theatre market ever since we introduced them, and we continue to see a good number of VL2000™ Spot and VL2000™ Wash luminaires on these shows as well."
Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer will use an assortment of 87 Vari*Lite automated luminaires on Amour, which opens October 20. VLPS Lighting Services is supplying 18 VL1000™ ERS luminaires (a combination of tungsten and arc units), 34 VL6C™ luminaires, 19VL5B™ units, 16 VL5™ fixtures, and a Virtuoso™ control console.
For the production of Movin' Out, which begins its New York run on October 24 at the Richard Rogers Theatre, lighting designer Donald Holder needed automated lighting fixtures that at one moment could light a 30'-wide billboard where hard edges are a must, and the next moment could be used in a traditional sense of spots and washes. To accomplish the feat, he specified 18 VL1000 ERS luminaires as part of the show's automated lighting package. TMB New York supplied the automated fixtures. "The color-mixing on the VL1000 fixtures is excellent, and the framing shutters were a must," Holder said. "The tungsten source blends in great with conventional lights to provide us a complex, sophisticated lighting rig."
When La Bohème begins its run in mid-November, lighting designer Nigel Levings will be using 13 of the VL1000 ERS fixtures, supplied by Bytecraft. Also in November is the highly anticipated opening of Dance of the Vampires. For that production, lighting designer Ken Billington is using 38 VL2000 Wash luminaires from Fourth Phase, as well as 27 VL5 luminaires, four VL6C units and one VL5Arc™ fixture, all provided by VLPS, which is also supplying the 24 VL2000 Wash luminaires and 20 VL2000 Spot fixtures that Paul Gallo has incorporated into the production of Man of La Mancha, which opens on December 5. VLPS is also providing 20 VL2000 Wash units that Richard Winkler will use on Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? which opened October 15 in Houston.
A number of prominent national productions are also touring with Vari*Lite automated lighting equipment. Seussical began its nationwide run September 17 in Indianapolis. Boston-based High Output provided lighting designer Howell Binkley with a lighting package that included 37 VL2000 Wash luminaires.