RECORD-BREAKING HOLIDAY ON ICE
Ever since its very first show in Toledo (Ohio) in 1943, Holiday on Ice has been seen by over 300 million people and has been judged in the Guinness Book of Records as “the most popular event of live entertainment in the world”. One of the various shows offered by “Holiday on Ice” in the 2000-2001 biennium is “In Concert”, the first production of the new millennium and a highly innovative show in many ways.
THE SUBJECT MATTER OF “IN CONCERT”
“In Concert” is a historical and cultural journey in the world of music, where musicians and singers perform in front of the public: the orchestra, made up of world famous performers, plays live on the scene, among the audience, until it moves onto the ice rink. The remarkably varied program unites cover versions of songs by Sting, John Lee Hooker, Gypsy Kings and Moby, exploring musical genres that range from Africa to Europe, including America and the Middle East (jazz, blues, soul, fusion, flamenco, classical and more.) “In Concert” represents yet another success for the art director and creator of the show, Willy Bietak, the man who was able to introduce shows on ice to theatrical performances, and who has now devised this new and important creative proposal.
THE PARIS PREMIER AND THE TOUR
Making its debut on the 22nd September 2000 at the Palais Omnisport of Bercy, Paris, “In Concert” earned a huge success with a turnout of 17,000 people. The tour appears in several places in France, stopping off in Switzerland and then onto Germany, where it will end on the 28th February 2001. Charlie Kaufmann, technical director of the show, told us: “A show like this one needs strong commitment on behalf of the staff, because every time we have to move 150 tonnes of equipment which includes sound and lighting systems, machines for the ice, stage settings and costumes. We have to make sure that everything arrives at the right time at the venue in the engagement city, that everything is prepared to have a perfect show after a very short preparation”.
CLAY PAKY “PARTNER IN QUALITY”
In the sector of lighting effects, “In Concert” benefits from an exceptional partner: Clay Paky. The products made by this Italian company play an essential role in the show, as their light beams merge with the ice-skaters’ costumes and stage scenery, forming a language that contributes towards the whole performance. The Stage Colors 1200 – the powerful washlights with a moving body – offer any colour shade required, owing to the 4 disc colour system with CMY+Amber gradual insertion. Thanks to the Amber disc, Stage Color 1200 also enables the Gradual Correction of the Colour Temperature (GTC), which is crucial in environments like these, in order to perfectly balance the colour temperature differences of the lamps when working with a number of lights on one stage. The Stage Colors 1200 are installed on a large central rigging, composed of 2 concentric structures that also support 18 Stage Zooms 1200 and 24 Stage Scans. The lighting is mainly directed towards the ice rink as well as the front and back of the orchestra, making it another protagonist of the show. 20 Stage Colors 575 are arranged on the edge of the rink in order to colour the ice even more and provide the lateral beams.
YVES AUCOIN
The creator of all these extraordinary lighting effects is the LD Yves Aucoin, who has a long career behind him in live performances and theatrical settings. The “In Concert” show present both these elements, and so is the best setting possible for Yves to apply his remarkably creative talent. In addition, the “ice rink” element must be tackled in a most unusual way, as Yves explained: “When you do an Ice show you have to be careful because the area you have to put your lights on is really big .You have to focus on the choreography and be a real team player with the costume designer . It can get too busy really quick. But as soon as the choreographer , the costume designer , the set designer and the lighting designer start to work as a team suddenly it become magic”.
YVES AUCOIN AND CLAY PAKY
Yves then told us about his relationship with Clay Paky: “For me it was easy to choose Clay Paky to be part of this new project . I am working with them since 1990 and I have a solid relationship because they never let me down. Clay Paky always provide high class service for the designer and for production. And the big point when you have a show which is going on the road for a long period of time, you need reliability . And that what’s Clay Paky is all about. Those products are the best on that aspect”.
“In Concert” Production Team:
Art Director: Willy Bietak
Technical Director: Charlie Kaufmann
Lighting Designer: Yves Aucoin
Choreography: Robin Cousins
Set Designer: David Shields
Costumes Designer: Pete Menefree
Sound Engineer: Leo Van den Boogaard
Music Director: Kevin Nadeau
Clay Paky intelligent lighting:
24 Stage Scans
18 Stage Zooms 1200
22 Stage Colors 1200
20 Stage Colors 575