Touring The Force

April 2010 Issue 128

Rachel Esson witnesses the film and live music fusion that is the phenomenal Star Wars: In Concert production...

I’m not a Star Wars fan and I’ve only ever seen one of the films, so when I first heard that the sci-fi trilogy was going to be reinvented for a live music production I was a little apprehensive. I could only imagine that a re-packaging of the franchise would entertain fans of the space saga exclusively and I couldn’t imagine how it would be adapted to the stage.

But after seeing Star Wars: In Concert at Manchester’s MEN Arena on March 15, like many of the crew, I was totally converted. OK, so I didn’t head straight for the merchandise stand afterwards, but I did leave in complete awe of the level of creativity and talent that went into both the original films and the phenomenal production that I had just seen.

Not only did it have the ‘wow’ factor in terms of fusing film — using one of the largest ever applications of the Daktronics Mag-10 screen — with live music, narration and intelligent stage design, but it also succeeded in bringing the magic of a live orchestra to people that probably wouldn’t otherwise experience one, in a unique and accessible way.

The show, which was four years in the making, was divided into musical sections that accompanied Lucasfilm’s edited montages drawn from the six films, portraying a particular theme, character or storyline. The combination of an elite team of creative minds, talented musicians and star quality offered by narrator Anthony Daniels — who plays nervous android C-3PO in all six films — ensured this was a production to be taken seriously.

John Williams, who composed all the music for the films using the Wagnerian technique ‘Lietmotif’ — meaning the melodic phrases are linked to characters or storylines — refined and re-orchestrated the score for the show, which was performed by the 85-piece Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and local choirs usually comprising around 60 people. 

The multi-media production was designed and directed by Steve Cohen, written by Jamie Richardson, and was overseen by the original creator of the Star Wars films, George Lucas. The show was also produced by Gregg W. Perloff, Spencer Churchill and Steve Welkom, whilst the original music journey was executive produced by Howard Roffman.

It is the first tour for Another Planet Touring, a new division for U.S. company Another Planet Productions, which worked in association with Lucasfilm. It was also the first time Another Planet had worked with production manager Michael Weiss, whose past career includes long stints with Barbara Streisand and Neil Diamond.

I asked Weiss why the show had premiéred at London’s O2 Arena on April 10 & 11 2009, considering it was then earmarked for over 50 dates in the U.S. starting in September. “There’s a big Star Wars fan base in the UK and you can also get a lot of promoters to see it in London,” he replied.

Another Planet got in touch with Weiss in late 2008. “They were going to put the show together in the U.S., but that would have involved rehearsing again with a different orchestra in the UK, so I persuaded them to do it in the UK, rehearsing at Elstree Studios. Each individual choir, which performs for the first half of the show only, is sent the musical score before the show, then on the day of the show they rehearse with the conductor and orchestra.

“The tour is doing really really well. But the hardest thing about it is trying to explain to people what the production is and people ask if they’ll just be watching the film or watching characters jumping around on stage, they don’t know how to fit the clips with the narration and the orchestra,” said Weiss, who manages a team of around 80 crew and is assisted by production co-ordinator Kari Stephens.

FROM CONCEPT TO CREATION
The Star Wars experience begins with a bespoke exhibition of never-seen-before costumes, along with original sketch drawings, photographs and video footage documenting their creation from the initial ideas to how they appear in the films.

Atomic Design managed the exhibit construction, which required bespoke glass cases for the displays and sophisticated methods of safe transit within two trucks.

The show opens with the orchestra playing the famous theme tune, led by Belgian conductor Dirk Brossé, and the huge screen upstage relays I-Mag of close-up shots of the musicians. Anthony Daniels is then introduced, who goes on to narrate parts of the story and introduce each scene.

The main screen, much like a trailer for a film, jumps quickly from scene to scene, and just when you’re about to get lost in the graphics, the content jumps to I-Mag footage of the orchestra once again, reminding you that the music is, amazingly, live. 

Steve Cohen approached Danny O’Bryen at L.A.-based Screenworks in pursuit of the highest quality LED screen for the tour and the company had just made a timely purchase of the Daktronics Mag-10 HD modular screens for the AC/DC tour. Screenworks has had a long relationship with Daktronics, having toured the brand’s screens with Kenny Chesney, Dave Matthews and Jimmy Buffet.

O’Bryen specified 135 modules of the Daktronics Mag-10 HD LED and at 60’ wide by 29’ tall it is the largest ever screen to tour in Europe. Said O’Bryen: “Since Star Wars was originally shot in a wide screen film ratio of 2.21 and our playback and cameras are in HD 16x9 ratio 1.77, I asked Lucasfilms to letterbox the material into a 16x9 format and we built a screen for that sizing.

“We were then able to use our HD cameras and playback (shooting a little wider then normal) to fit live images in the same screen, therefore we have a wide film look on screen even with live cameras.”

Associate production designer/director Seth Jackson worked closely with Steve Cohen on the overall visual design, along with video director Mark Haney, associate lighting designer/programmer Bryan Barancik, and Maxedia & media content programmer Curtis Cox.

Mark Haney described his first impressions of the Daktronics screen: “I’ve been doing this for 20 years and when we turned that screen on for the first time with live camera and video on it, we spent three days with our mouths open, we were that stunned by it. It’s certainly the next step of anything I have ever seen.”

Complementing the main screen are a number of high-res Soft-LED drapery products supplied by Delaware-based Mainlight Industries. Two are fitted to the trusses above the stage, which are shaped to resemble the films’ Star Destroyer spaceships, and the other two are flanked L/R of the main screen.

Haney commented: “Steve Cohen uses a lot of this product on his designs and although not too convinced at the beginning, I understood what he was trying to do when I saw it. It gives you this huge video look without having to go for a higher weight or more money.”

Behind the stage in video world, Haney works alongside technician Bob Larkin, crew chief and LED engineer Bryan Keyes, soft LED engineer Peter Thornton, playback AD Dan Savage, camera operator Allen Gibson, and screen engineer Brad Reiman. The PPU is a fully digital HD camera package and a Sony 8000 switcher with three M/Es. Included are four Sony HD1500 series cameras, and two Sony BRC-700 POVs.
Haney said of the switcher: “It’s quite a complicated product but once you learn it, it’s really useful for a complex show like this.”

Playback is via four Apple Xserves running ‘Green System’ software, and two Doremis. “That provides me with a redundancy of three at all times,” explained Haney.

“One ‘Do’ is V1-UHD the other is a V1x2 SD machine. We created, and did the first shows on the Doremi Labs product, which was fantastic for creation and rehearsal, but for daily playback we brought in Ian McDaniel’s company Gen2Media, formerly known as Media Evolutions, to utilise their software. They do a lot of pop show content, as well as providing this software to playback events. So Ian really ‘gets it’. Great company, great support.”

TIMING IS EVERYTHING
Haney continued: “When we put this together, the biggest thing we had to work out technically was how everything would work together in synch. In movies they have this thing called streaming elements, which is visual click track, so we start a segment with some visual click track that is cued by a piece of Anthony’s dialogue. The conductor then has a four second pre-roll before he starts the orchestra on the down beat of the music.”

Added Jackson: “When the film is running there is a time code going across the bottom, but nothing is actually connected, it’s just a visual reference for everybody, so we’re all completely live. We’re all watching the conductor who dictates our speed.”

Over at FOH, Jackson operates a Maxyzz console, driving two Maxedia media servers that are routed into the video system for feeding to various surfaces. All of the content is triggered through lighting cues, but placement of the media is handled through video routing. The lighting specification reaches the same scale as the video; to give you some idea, the totals run into 38 Martin MAC 2000 Performances, 42 Coemar Infinity Wash XLs, 16 Vari*lite VL3500 EFX Washes and nine Profiles, 24 MAC 3000s, 12 Robe 2500 AT Spots, six Little Big Lites, nine Elation Impressions and eight I-Pix BB7s.

All provided by Upstaging, there are nine VL3500 Profiles on the truss that runs above the front of the stage, whilst upstage are three parallel trusses; the rear one with six Little Big Lites interspersed by MAC 3000s, the middle with further MAC 3000s and the front one with a variety of MAC 2000 Performances and Infinity Wash XLs.

Dotted around the two ‘Star Destroyers’ are a combination of VL3500 EFX Washes, more Infinity Wash XLs and Elation Impressions. Above the side soft LED screens are four 2500 AT Spots and the rig is complete with eight BB7 fixtures, two of which form the Star Destroyer structures’ ‘engines’.

Jackson commented: “Upstaging has been a sincere pleasure to work with. Their attention to detail and solid work ethic has been proven throughout the process. The crew out here works with unrelenting speed and accuracy, combined with a great attitude.” The crew he spoke of consists of crew chief Kevin Royan and technicians Adam Morrison, Ben Bain, Brent Sandrock and Joe Gonzales.

“It’s a very different show to look at because the star is a film and the visuals are the show; it’s not like spotlights to an artist, it’s a whole different approach to how the show is lit and flows,” said Jackson.

It is during the second half of the production, which features scenes on Yoda’s life, Luke and Leia’s story, and culminates in the encore on The Imperial March, that the visual spectacle is enhanced by laser shows that fill the entire arena.

Steve Cohen and Seth Jackson turned to Howard Ungerleider from Production Design International to provide a laser design for the show. Having known them for many years, Ungerleider immediately jumped onboard.

“Steve’s concept was to make the audience part of the laser show and the movie without taking away from the cinematics of it all,” explained Ungerleider, who has worked with Rush for 36 years. “Scott Wilson, who is the programmer and the co-creator of the effects, sat with Steve and programmed the show, taking his ideas and bringing it to fruition.”

Assisted by A.J. Seabeck, Wilson operates three Quantum DPSS Yag lasers (one flown in the centre stage truss and two at FOH) and three Laserscope 60W high-powered Yags (two upstage to the left and right and one at FOH), running off Pangolin software.

Commented Ungerleider: “Full colour laser systems wouldn’t be bright enough to see in front of a huge screen, but the wavelengths that these Yags portray are pretty adaptable to the eye and you see them more clearly when up against a screen.”

STUDER SOUND
Sound for Star Wars: In Concert is mixed using a Studer Vista 5 SR digital live mixing console featuring the Vistonics user interface and handles 130 inputs per night. Steve Colby, the FOH mixer for the touring show, said: “Everything about this production is big, and the Vista 5 SR has not skipped a beat.”

Colby has been the primary FOH mixer for the renowned Boston Pops Orchestra for over 30 years and has mixed some of John Williams’ music before. He is often called upon for his expertise with symphonic ensembles in very large venues. Colby was introduced to the Studer Vista 5 SR for this project by Fred Vogler, sound designer for Star Wars: In Concert, who has his own audio design, engineering and consulting firm in L.A., called Sonitus.

Colby was very happy with the introduction. “The console sounds terrific, very clean and musical,” he said. “We’re at plus 130 inputs at 96kHz and the DSP can handle it with no trouble at all.” Colby quickly became a fan of the Vista 5 SR’s Vistonics touchscreen technology. “The Vistonics user interface is really powerful,” he said. “It’s really nice having soft encoders embedded within the screen.”

The Vista 5 SR is the hub of a complex live sound-for-picture production that is projected by a Meyer sound system provided by Montreal-based Solotech and managed by systems technician Patou Lemay. The console is working in conjunction with a Rosendahl Nanosyncs HD Multi
Standard Sync Engine that locks PAL, NTSC or slow PAL, progressive or interlaced HD video and digital audio reference signals together in any required combination for a synchronised and powerful AV performance.

“We’re also using a Lexicon 960L digital reverb as outboard, but otherwise, the Vista console is doing the lion’s share of the work, and it’s doing it extremely well,” Colby said. “It’s a great console and I’m planning on looking into using one with the Pops in the future.”

Colby described how he approached the challenge of mixing the show: “It’s a constantly moving target because if someone walks on stage that day with a bad attitude or a cold, that can transfer to a whole orchestra, so it’s never the kind of sound mix where you can recall a pre-set and sit back and let the cue play and recall the next one.

“We record the mix stems every night on Pro Tools so we have a reference the next day before the orchestra comes in we can play things back and see how it’s going to be handled in the PA.”

Colby works with “an amazing” seven-strong sound team made up of the talented Patou Lemay who tunes the system each day, monitor engineer Richard Morris and his righthand man Greg ‘Chico’ Lopez, and from Solotech: crew chief Matt Fox; PA techs Hilario Gonzalez and Jeremy Walls; and SIM engineer Sylvain Lemay.

It was also the first time that Colby had worked with audio suppliers Solotech, of whom he commented: “The guys at Solotech are all really smart and funny, which I think is important in the course of a busy day. They’re all extremely dedicated to their jobs and have been very responsive about hardware.”

MEYER THE FORCE BE WITH YOU
The soundtrack for Star Wars: In Concert is brought to life by Meyer Sound’s Milo and Mica line array system, configured as 18 Milo cabinets per side for the main left and right hangs, augmented by centre hangs of nine Mica and six M’elodie cabinets and additional Milo and Mica loudspeakers for outfill.

Low end is covered by 18 Meyer Lab 700-HPs, with another four Lab UPJ-1Ps, four Lab M3D-SUBs, six Lab UPQ-1Ps and six Lab UPQ-2Ps completing the system. A Galileo with four Galileo 616 processors provides system DSP.

Meyer Sound’s Constellation electro-acoustic architecture and loudspeaker system provides an electronic version of the traditional orchestra shell to allow the musicians to hear themselves in a familiar ensemble environment, despite the large arena setting and without the need for any physical construction. This consists of two Lab MS-Constellations, two Lab MS-Const-EXPs, an APC SmartUPS 1500, two Furman PL-8s and a Lab MPS-488.

Fred Vogler said: “The biggest complaint from orchestral players, particularly in large halls, is not being able to hear each other onstage. I didn’t want them to have to rely on wedges; I wanted them to hear each other with a true ensemble feel. The Constellation technology really accomplished that, with very minimal impact on my mix.”

Monitor engineer Richard Morris mixes the show on a Yamha M7CL-48 console, handling a vast amount of inputs. Almost every performer has their own microphone, with the percussion section miked by zone. The majority of the microphones are DPA, including 50 DPA 4061s, eight DPA 4099-S and eight DPA 4099-Ts.

The rest comprise Schoeps MK4s, Schoeps MK21s, Neumann KM184s, Beyer M-160s, Sennheiser  e-825Ss, Sennheiser MKH-800s, Shure SM57s and a Beta 52, as well as Shure wireless systems.

“All the members of the RPO were amazed by the difference Constellation made,” said Ian Maclay, managing director of Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. “We do lots of concerts of this kind and our players usually find it hard to find the right balance. It was apparent from the beginning that this would not be a problem using Constellation.”

“The Meyer system more than lived up to my expectations,” added Vogler. “We achieved a big sound that was nicely defined, from the lightest flute passages to full orchestra.”

Stage manager Jeff Wendt, who has worked with Neil Diamond, Barbara Streisand, and Champions On Ice, manages the the load-in and out for each show, and co-ordinates the action on stage, with co-worker Brandon Sossaman, backline techs David Rapp, Peter Danilowicz, head carpenter Jay Fortune, carpenter Sal Marinello, electrician Neil Mayston, and the rigging team: chief rigger Jimmy Vaughan, along with Amos Cotter and Steve Genovese.

Jackson described the planning process for the stage as an “arduous process” in terms of fitting the orchestra and choir on stage. All Access Staging came on board to build the set along with platforms, risers, on stage lamps and huge gold decorative arch above the stage, which were all designed to reflect what you see in the Star Wars films.

Travel for the Europe leg of the tour was handled by The Tour Company whilst Preferred Travel managed the U.S. leg, air charter was taken care of by Chapman Freeborn, Eat Your Hearts Out dished up the catering, London Chaffeur Company provided the buses, Edwin Shirley supplied the 17 trucks and 34 drivers, and Rock-It Cargo co-ordinated the freight.

I left the show without any apprehension that Star Wars: In Concert was not an off-the-wall exploitation of the franchise but a unique production in its own right and a new piece of history for the film trilogies. May the force continue to tour.
TPi