This production required building a moveable lighting system from scratch as it was put on in a high school gym. This had never been attempted before and many were skeptical that it could actually work, including myself. After some nights with only a couple hours of sleep and calling in 4 electricians to figure out why we couldn't interface the dimmer with the electricty feed into the building, the impossible became reality.

"Bleacher Bars" I had to come up with a unique name for a unique situation.  Rather than having traps as in a theater we had the rafters between the bleachers. Putting together a couple sections of special piping, I then took the ellipsodial's that I rented and set them.   Large Version

"Bleacher Bars" More of those "bleacher bars" setup in the high school gym.     Large Version

"Bleacher Bars" It was quite interesting trying to finely aim these instruments for their specific purposes. Since the bars were connected via the rafters in the gym, they weren't locked in place by any means. Aiming a light in a bending and moving bar is quite an interesting feat - all in the name of theater! Large Version

the "Lighting Booth" Since this was the high school gym, we had no facilities to setup the controls in, so they ended up being on the top of the bleachers along with the dimmer pack.     Large Version

the "Lighting & Sound Booth" Adding to the need for a lighting control booth, we had to house the computer running our sound effects.     Large Version

the "Lighting Booth" The dimmer pack was an "interesting beast", it never really knew what it wanted to to, and it certainly didn't want to interface with the 3-phase power in our gym.     Large Version

the "Lighting Booth" The containers that all the cables and various connectors came in became more useful than just a storage container, they became our tables. The lighting board had issues of its own, after programming all of the cues in, it decided to crash and wipe them all out - luckily we had 4 hrs before the show to get them back in. Large Version

Dimming Central Scary enough, I knew where each and every cable went without any diagrams by opening night of this show. Even scarier, the electricians we hired to hook the gym's power up to this bad boy didn't even know what it was.   Large Version

Lighting Pole When major companies blow into town to setup temporary lighting systems, the always come with tree poles - I figured that they would come in very handy for the scoops and fernels.   Large Version

Lighting Pole close-up A more detailed view of one of the lighting poles. The rental company didn't send the right clamps, but luckily enough I had the master keys to CCT's lighting closets and we had the clamps I needed.       Large Version

Opening Night What it all comes down to, why we do what we do.... Opening Night. After all the problems we had the power feed, the lighting board crashing on us and the long, long hours we put in, it all went off without a hitch.   Large Version