Named by critic Mark Shenton as his “guilty pleasure” of 2006, the BoneyM musical Daddy Cool opened at London’s Shaftesbury Theatre last September with a lighting rig supplied by White Light.
Now the show has picked itself up and moved to Europe, opening in late April in a EuropArena 70m diameter touring theatre tent in Berlin. The tour once again has lighting designed by Rob Halliday, with equipment once again supplied by White Light, working with German supplier Racks & Stacks.
“When the show closed at the Shaftesbury, there was talk about the whole rig moving to Berlin,” notes White Light’s hire director, Dave Isherwood. “Ultimately that didn’t happen because the rig design was changed to suit the much larger venue. However, Rob was keen to continue to keep some core elements of the rig from London, particularly the Vari-Lite VL3000 and VL3500 spotlights, the DHA Digital Light Curtains and the Strand control system. Racks & Stacks didn’t have these items in stock, so they came to us and we were happy to help.”
White Light supplied the production with twenty Vari-Lite VL3000Q Spots, four VL3500Q framing spots, four VL3000Q Washlights, DHA Digital Light Curtains, thirty-four Rainbow Pro scrollers for Source Fours, sixteen three-circuit L&E Battens, and eight VFSX cloud projectors. White Light also supplied the lighting control system of main and backup Strand 500-series consoles along with Strand network nodes. The equipment rental was organized by Isherwood and Martin Heinemann of Racks & Stacks, who supplied the rest of the rig as well as the large quantities of trussing and chain hoists required by the show. White Light’s equipment was prepared on a very tight schedule and transported to Berlin to join the rest of the rig, which includes Martin Mac700 Spot and Washlights, Source Fours, Par Cans and a selection of LED products owned by the show, including the show’s dramatic LED mirrorball.
In Germany, the equipment was rigged by a team including production electricians Ian Moulds, John Tapster and Chris Nicholls from the UK and Bert Scherbarth and Dieter Broemsen from Germany, as well as programmer Sarah Brown and assistant lighting designer Anna MacInnes. “With the show finally coming together at very short notice it became something of an exercise in cross-European cooperation to get all of the equipment we needed in the time available,” notes Rob Halliday. “White Light’s extensive equipment stocks, and their ability to react quickly and work in co-operation with another lighting supplier were invaluable in getting the show back up and running in its new home.”
Scheduled to run in Berlin for twelve weeks prior to a world tour, Daddy Cool is produced by Frank Farian and Robert Mackintosh; the show opened on April 2007 to a capacity audience.