Clay Paky‘s Alpha Wash Halo has been extensively used on the new Broadway production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Woman in White, which opened on November 17th.
The Halo, a 1,000W (3,200K) halogen wash light fixture, was specifically designed for use in theatre and television. The Woman in White marks the Broadway début of the Halo. The original London production of was lit by UK-based lighting designer, Paul Pyant. Pyant’s associate lighting designer for the original production, David Howe, was tasked with recreating Pyant’s design in The Marquis Theatre, New York.
“We needed a bright, color mixing, tungsten-source wash light with a great range of subtle pastel and tonal colors that was consistent across all units,” remarks Howe on the decision to use the Clay Paky Alpha Wash Halo fixtures. “As the show’s scenery is entirely projected, a fixture with a wide focus range was essential to prevent any unwanted light spill. For this reason, the automatic top hat on the Alpha Wash Halo is also very useful. Noise level was also factored into our decision, and the Halos move quickly and quietly.”
The 14 Clay Paky Alpha Wash Light Halo fixtures on The Woman in White were supplied, along with the rest of the lighting rig, by Hudson Scenic and Lighting, who also built the set. The Alpha Wash Light Halo features CMY color-mixing, variable linear frost, an indexable ovalizer, a strobe, and a 0-100% electronic dimmer. “The brightness of the Halos is surprising,” notes Howe. “Even when used in a full, saturated blue the Halos are still really very bright. I also love the virtually silent top hat–very neat.” The Halo features a moving top hat that can retract inside the fixture or extend to almost four inches in front of the lens to reduce spill from the main beam of the fixture.”
For the Broadway production on The Woman in White, Pyant and Howe were assisted by US-based associate lighting designer Vivien Leone, US-based assistant lighting designer Jared Sayeg, and UK-based programmer Vic Smerdon.
Pyant and Howe are also using fixtures from Clay Paky’s Alpha range for the new musical version of Lord of the Rings, which opened in March 2006 in Toronto.