Late Night

I mentioned previously that lighting is key to the show.  Mia and Ferry (the lighting engineer) have to write the lighting "cues" for the entire show and program them into the lighting system as pre-sets.  Each act and each transition can have multiple lighting cues.  There are huge trusses of lights in front of, behind, and to either side of the stage (more on that later) and 4 articulated robot lights at each corner of the stage to light performers from below.  Lastly, there are two follow spots at the rear of the venue that are manually operated.

Each lighting cue depends on stage placement and must not only make the performance look good, but also  has to be checked out with the artist to ensure the lights are not blinding or create distracting shadows, etc.  It is a very time consuming process and requires the entire cast to be present for most of it.  After everybody goes home, Mia and Ferry still have a lot of work to do.

Mia and Ferry are testing some lights.

Most of the lights on the trusses are the big colored gels but there are also these high intensity articulated robot lights.  I am sure there is a shorter and more appropriate name for them, but I am equally sure I don't know what it is.  I do dig these lights though.  They can be programmed for some really cool effects.  Here they are running through some wave and strobe effects, and the haze from the fog machines allows the lighting engineer to see precisely where the lights are targeted.

For Mia it's been an 18 hour day - less for me, as I cannot help with the technical end of the lighting.  When I was hanging my shirt before bed, I noticed we picked up a hitchhiker on the walk home.  I put him on one of the plants in the floor lobby.  Godspeed, my clingy little friend.