Cameron Mackintosh's acclaimed production of Les Miserables, adapted from the Victor Hugo novel, played at London's Palace Theatre from 1985 until March 27th this year. It has now moved down Shaftesbury Avenue to make way for The Woman in White, the new musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Though appearing from the outside as a straight transfer, the new production features an entirely new version of John Napier's acclaimed set designed to fit within the Queen's smaller stage. At the same time, lighting designer David Hersey has taken the opportunity to update his Tony-award winning design for the show to incorporate some of the latest lighting technology. This continues the process which began when High End StudioColors were added for the show's 1997 UK tour, the rig for which was also supplied by White Light and The Moving Light Company.
For the new London rig, Hersey has opted to replace the StudioColors with Vari-Lite VL2000 Wash units. He has also added six VL2000 Spot units and added two VL3000Q Spot units, chosen for their brightness, wide zoom range, optical effects and low running noise. The rig also features two DHA Digital Beamlight 2s, as well as the DHA Digital Light Curtains which have long been a mainstay of the design. However, here Hersey has opted to add sideways movement, with ten of the seventeen DLCs being Pitching DLCs!
The rest of the rig consists mainly of ETC Source Fours (replacing the CCT Silhouettes which have seen long service at the Palace) and PAR64s along with Strand Cantata Fresnels, White Light VSFX cloud projectors, R&V and Pani 24V 1000W Beamlight followspots and twenty-eight Rainbow Pro colour scrollers as well as six Artistic Licence Colour-Pipe LED units. The entire rig is controlled from a Strand 520i console as on the UK tour and, latterly, at the Palace after White Light Sales supplied a new console to the show following the failure of the earlier Light Palette 90.
Les Miserables opened at the Queen's Theatre on April 3rd, designed by John Napier with lighting by David Hersey, directed by Trevor Nunn and John Caird and produced by Cameron Mackintosh. The production managers for the transfer were David Gregory and Pat Ayling, with Fraser Hall as production electrician, Rachael McCutcheon as assistant lighting designer and Rob Halliday as lighting programmer.
The show is just one of the many currently making use of equipment from White Light Hire and The Moving Light Company, joining other musicals such as Anything Goes (also lit by David Hersey), Jerry Springer: The Opera, Tonight's The Night, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Joseph... and Chicago and plays including Endgame, When Harry Met Sally, George Gershwin Alone and Democracy.
Further information about Les Miserables can be found at the show's website, www.lesmis.com.