With strong reviews, word-of-mouth recommendations, and 12 Tony Award®
nominations, the musical Fun Home appears to be right at home on Broadway.
Based on an autobiographical graphic novel by Alison Bechdel, it is an unusual show
– incredibly delicate, rather than big and flashy musical – according to lighting
designer Ben Stanton, who found himself with a low-tech show in need of high-tech
lighting.
Stanton uses shifting pockets of light follow the action from scene to scene, defining
rooms of different shapes and sizes as furniture appears and disappears through a
complex series of traps. Using an ETC Eos Ti® lighting desk, programmer Alex
Fogel built a low-res pixel map encompassing the whole stage, with each lighting
area as a separate pixel. By applying a gradient to the intensity parameter of the
area lights, he was able to smoothly drag focus around the playing area, responding
quickly to changes in blocking, while maintaining the intimate look of the scene.
“The show is all about the deck,’ adds Stanton. “The floor is the backdrop.’ At
times, characters are placed inside frames projected on the floor from custom
gobos, referencing the hand drawn panels of a graphic novel. One jubilant dance
sequence involves disco squares, while at another, bleaker moment, the lighting
pulls back from the edges of the open trap doors, and chunks of the stage picture
seem to go missing.
Stanton initially specified colour scrollers, and even took chances with the fans
turned off. But noise was still going to be a problem. He knew that he needed
colour-changing fixtures. So rental house Christie Lites offered to substitute Source
Four LED Series 2 Lustr luminaires for the 200-plus scroller fixtures in the rental
package. None of the lighting team had used the Series 2 luminaires before, but
they were quickly won over by the high light output, minimal power needs, and of
course the lack of fan noise.
“Alex went through colour by colour with Lustrs and gels [on Eos Ti] and was able to
match perfectly any colour I’d have wanted,’ Stanton says, adding that he was
particularly impressed with the LED luminaires’ ability to mix deeper colours:
“Some of the blues are insane.’
The ability to cue area lights using colour, as well as intensity, turned out to be a
big asset to the production. The Source Four LED Series 2 Lustr luminaires, he says,
“take us from a simple, subtle look to the most vibrant colour you’ll ever see.’
To learn more about ETC’s products, please go here.
