In the midst of university students uprising with the Fees Must Fall campaign in
South Africa, Varsity Sing proved that music transcends all boundaries. Hosted by
Kyknet, an Afrikaans television channel, Varsity Sing visited universities across the
country as their choirs went head to head in a sing off! Varsity Sing travelled to
universities in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein, Johannesburg and then all
the way back to Cape Town with Blond Productions and Dream Sets transporting the
set and technical gear, a load of 15 tons! The competition started in May with the
finale hosted in mid-October.
Christiaan Ballot from Blond and Robert Hoey from Dream Sets had to come up with
a design that would accommodate all the different venues. There had to be
continuity and the set had to be the same. “When we originally pitched we wanted
to go for a bigger set,’ explained Ballot. “After going to each university venue to
measure, we realized the original would not fit and we had to scale it down. At the
same time the set had to accommodate the largest choir of the competition which
was made up of 42 members.’
As the crew had to be in and out each venue in a very short time frame, Hoey and
Ballot cleverly created a Gig in a Box, so to speak. With steps shaped in a half
moon, the airy set had Prolyte trussing forming the basic back outline onto which
lighting fixtures were hung and where a 6mm LED wall was suspended for graphics
material to complement each song item.
The conductor was placed on a podium at the centre of the set. The judges’ bench,
facing the stage, was also created by Dream Sets. The judging panel include a
celebrity guest, with brilliant artists such Arno Carstens, Jannie Moolman and
Laurika Rauch.
The lighting was designed by Mauritz Neethling and programmed by Hein Stroh on a
grandMA2 light. A grandMA VPU was used for content on the LED Screens. The
lighting equipment list comprised of 12 x Robe miniPointes, 24 x Robin LEDBeam
100 and 24 x Robin 300 LEDWash and various conventional lights.
“Lighting had to be suitable for television, and we had to bring in mood and
atmosphere to give each song its own identity,’ explained Ballot. “Why this event
was so cool is that we were taken out from our comfort zone.’ While the main crew
consisted of four technicians from Blond and two from Dream Sets, with extra
hands hired in each town everybody jumped in to set-up, strike, build stages, hang
lights…whatever was needed.
“We loved being a part of this production which showcased the rich tradition of
beautiful choral singing in SA,’ said Hoey. “The competition saw an integration of
people,’ ended Ballot. “Music has the ability of bringing everyone together.’
