South Africa – Twelve brand new Clay Paky Alpha Profile 1500s have provided the luminaire acrobatics for an adrenaline-fuelled performance by Le Grand Cirque in Johannesburg.
Lighting a turbo-charged show featuring some of the most extreme acts in the world proved to be a challenge, and South Africa-based MGG Productions was the company in charge of supplying the right gear.
MGG is known for getting a kick out of specifying something new, and the team was not disappointed when opting for the Clay Paky Alpha 1500s, one of the most powerful spot and wash lights available. The fixture offers an extremely rich range of functions with infinite colour choices, limitless control of beam size and shape, and unmatched speed.
“The Alphas were just amazing,” commented Renaldo van den Berg from MGG. “This was also the first time I saw the Clay Paky Alpha Profiles in action and they just blew me away. Two things that really amazed me was the optics of this fixture, the zoom especially on the profiles is something special, and of course their brightness.”
The lighting design was kept simple with a couple of really funky ideas mixed in there. “The actual programming of the show was well executed and looked great,” said Renaldo. “As for the actual performance, there were a couple of times when I thought someone was going to die on stage!”
Pio Nahum chief commercial officer for Clay Paky comments: “The Alpha Profile 1500 is respected by lighting designers worldwide for its 1500 W lamp high output power and breathtaking speed. This of course makes it a valuable resource to designers like Renaldo who are working in demanding environments where super responsive, high-speed lighting can make all the difference to the visual impact of their show.”
Le Grand Cirque took place at Johannesburg’s Civic Theatre, which was built by the then city council in 1962, creating a high-profile landmark on the top of the Braamfontein hill. The building was given a magnificent face-lift in the late ‘80s, turning it into one of the most technically proficient theatres in the southern hemisphere.