Designed by Andrew Bridge, Tony award winner for his work on shows such as The Phantom of the Opera, Sunset Boulevard and Fosse (the London production of which also uses equipment from White Light and The Moving Light Company), the lighting rig for the Fever tour is once again based around a core of automated units from Martin Professional: 34 MAC500 spotlights and 34 MAC600 washlights, the number of automated units having increased slightly from the London production while the number of conventional lanterns has decreased to minimise the focussing time required on the tour. The automated rig, including the Martin Robocolours, Destroyers and Robozaps and the LED floor made by Howard Eaton Lighting Limited, both used in the show’s disco scenes, will once again be controlled from a Flying Pig Whole Hog II console programmed by Stuart Porter. Porter will make use of the WYSIWYG facilities at The Moving Light Company to adapt the showfile from the London production for the touring rig prior to the fit-up in Edinburgh.
The conventional rig will feature ETC Source Fours, Strand Cantatas, PAR64s, Rainbow scrollers, and L&E battens, driven by two Avo FD72 dimmer racks and run from an ETC Obsession console. The two consoles will be linked through MIDI via the SAM control software running on an Apple Macintosh.
Working with Andrew Bridge on the production will be associate lighting designer Alistair Grant, production electrician Pete Lambert and moving light technician Chris Dunford. The show's production manager is Richard Bullimore.
Saturday Night Fever opened at the London Palladium on May 5th 1998, with the New York production opening in late 1999. The show runs in Edinburgh until January 2001 before moving on to the Manchester Opera House. Further information about the show can be obtained from its website, www.nightfever.co.uk.