Italy – Sal Da Vinci is back in the theatre with a new show after the success of Stelle a metà (Half stars), which he shared with Alessandro Siani. Se Amore è… Revolution (If Love is… a Revolution) is the title the Neapolitan singer gave to his show, which was staged at the Augusteo theatre in Naples.
The show was written by Da Vinci with Gino Landi and Paolo Caiazzo, and combines music, sketches (entrusted to the actor Lello Radice) and narratives (read by Pasquale Panella).
“I met Sal Da Vinci,” lighting designer Francesco Adinolfi told us, “during the amazing success of C’era una volta Scugnizzi (Once upon a time there were street urchins), a musical written by Claudio Mattone (music and lyrics) and Claudio Mattone and Enrico Vaime (script) in 2002. The work was inspired by the 1989 film Scugnizzi (street urchins) directed by Nanni Loy. The musical was staged for the first time in 2002 and, because of its enormous success, restaged during the 2010-2011 winter season.”
“In C’era un volta Scugnizzi, Da Vinci played the leading character, and sang and acted. As requested by the more experienced lighting designer Luca Maneli, I operated and programmed the console to synchronize all the videos, audio and lighting during the show using SMTP protocol. The Sorrento-based rental firm Emme Due di Attilio Ruggiero provided all the equipment and lights needed.”
“Later, in 2004/2005, the producers asked me to design the lighting for the new musical myself. Although there was no final programme, I proposed various new ideas to the director and reworked the work already done little by little.”
“It was on this occasion that I met the Neapolitan artist. Sal Da Vinci was always there at the director’s desk and appreciated the proposals I made to him and the director. Working side by side with the artist led to our professional relationship consolidating. For several years now, he has always asked me to deal with his other productions.”
“In the past two years, we have started working together again intensively during the production of the musical Se amore è… Revolution, co-written and directed by Gino Landi.”
“My idea of using three large twenty-by-sixteen-foot triangular frames, one inside the other, was approved enthusiastically. They were geometrically simple to build thanks to the common structural systems used in the show. Staggered aluminium elements illuminated by LED strips inside them were hung on hoists in the trusses so they could be dynamically controlled by DMX protocol from the console. I used a GrandMa 1 full size to program all the musical and acting sequences, from the first to the last.”
“Sal Da Vinci had not yet seen the latest generation Clay Paky lights and the outstanding features and performance of the Alpha Beam and Sharpy Beam series. When he saw them, he was very enthusiastic.”
“My requests were accepted with the same enthusiasm by the producers too.”
“We installed 20 Clay Paky lights on the lighting rig for the musical: 6 Sharpys on the central triangular frame, 4 Alpha 700 HPEs on the stage, 5 Alpha Beam 300s on the left and another five on the right. Other LED wash lights provided the general lighting when a lot of people were on stage: Sal Da Vinci, six musicians and eight dancers. Lello Radice played the comic part of the body guard.”
Thanks to the work of set designer Luigi Ferrigno, the whole stage was flooded with light. The entire backdrop and various side elements on the stage were decorated with a mirror effect, thanks to silver strips, which – on one side – reflected the light over the entire stage and – on the other – cleverly hid sixteen ACL bars, which created a veritable wall of light once lit.
The musical will start again in October with a tour of the most important theatres. In the meantime, Sal Da Vinci’s lighting requirements for his summer shows will certainly be met by choosing Clay Paky lights.