USA – Gemini Lighting Sound & Video (Gemini LSV) in Dallas supported “The Gift of Christmas” at Prestonwood Baptist Church by providing Claypaky Mythos fixtures to the holiday pageant.
2016 Live Design Excellence award winner, “The Gift of Christmas”, played 13 performances in the Worship Center of the Plano, Texas campus. Opening with Santa and his workshop and concluding with the Nativity, the 90-minute multimedia production featured elaborate staging and lighting, a massive LED wall, a live 50-piece orchestra, nearly 1,000 cast and choir members, flying angels and a Living Nativity. The pageant was shot and edited for broadcast on television.
“There’s really nothing like this at other churches in the area,” notes Nick Deel, account manager and production electrician/systems engineer for Gemini LSV, which owns the region’s largest inventory of rental equipment. “It rivals some off-Broadway shows in scale.”
Deel says a major overhaul in scenics was implemented last year when additional automation provided by ZFX Flying Effects was integrated into the production. “Now, instead of an open stage there’s a proscenium created with large automated panels that open and close for scene changes upstage,” he explains. The panels are also used as a projection backdrop for scenery and moving lanscapes.
This year the biggest technology change was upgrading the lighting system and adding 44 active Claypaky Mythos 2.0 fixtures to the rig. Prestonwood Baptist bought 20 of its own Mythos fixtures; the balance was obtained from Gemini LSV.
“Matt Webb, production designer from Unlimited Visibility Lighting Design(UVLD), raves about Mythos,” says Deel. “They’re one of his favorite lights. As a hybrid fixture, Mythos gave him more options than just beam effects for the show. They were hung and floor mounted, above and around the stage, to provide not only aireals.
In addition, eight Claypaky Sharpy Washes provided audience and house washes and effects.
A.C.T Lighting is the exclusive North American distributor for Claypaky.
Francesco Romagnoli, Claypaky Area Manager for North and Latin America, added, “The House of Worship market has been a very active one for us with some very intersting applications. This production is no acception. They had a great team working on this and we were proud that they chose our fixtures for it.’