grandMA and her Sister Act

A grandMA full-size is controlling moving lights and LED elements for the latest musical sensation to hit London’s West End “Sister Act”, a new musical comedy based on the smash hit musical starring Whoopi Goldberg. The show, produced by Stage Entertainment and Whoopi Goldberg, has just opened at the London Palladium.

Natasha Katz is the Lighting Designer. When she asked Stuart Porter to programme the show for her – the two have previously worked together on Beauty & The Beast – Porter wanted to use a grandMA system, a decision Katz was happy to support. Porter has increased his specification of the grandMA, and on this show he uses a grandMA full-size, a grandMA light for backup and four MA NSPs. A tablet PC running grandMA remote software is also used to run the lights from stage.

The rig contained over 100 moving lights – a mix of 62 x Vari*Lite VL3500Qs, 60 x VL2500s and 18 x VL500s, all supplied by White Light. The many LED elements are ensconced in the set, with several custom scenic pieces designed and built by Howard Eaton Lighting Ltd (HELL). They include seven fibre optics with dimmer, colour wheel and twinkle disk functions and 160 other differently-sized LED panels, built to resemble stained glass windows of the abbey in which the principal stage action ensues. These RGB LEDs work off a grandMA virtual dimmer RGB profile for ease of programming, and really make the environment come alive with colour, creating different moods and atmospheres.

Another 28 RGB LED strips are embedded in the bar area, the steps and even integrated into a sofa, again on a virtual dimmer, with a total of nine DMX universes being run from the console. Porter reckons that grandMA is the “only” lighting console around at the moment capable of running this type and size of show with as much adaptability, and “it does the job extremely well.”

The grandMA also triggers an Obsession that drives the show’s generic lights. The grandMA is operated by the house crew each night, who are also giving plenty of positive feedback about the desk.

Sister Act is one of a number of other high profile UK theatre shows being run with grandMA – others include The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of The Desert (also programmed by Porter) at the Palace Theatre, and the UK tours of We Will Rock You and Never Forget The Musical (both programmed by Dave Sadler).

Photos: Copyright – Catherine Ashmore