Following Ariana Grande’s Sweetener World Tour in 2019, which saw her headline Coachella, tour her celebrated GRAMMYs Best Pop Vocal record, and tick off nearly 100 dates, it is no wonder that the singer took a step away from touring for a while – specifically to play Glinda in blockbuster film, Wicked. Finally, seven years after her previous foray into touring, Grande hit the road again to celebrate her seventh studio album, Eternal Sunshine. With an elaborate staging design that saw a dedicated team embark on 41 shows, across only a handful of venues, the artist and her touring team present the innovation and production value that a residency style of touring can offer.
TPi caught up with the crew a week before the tour’s end date, at The O2 in London, and was met warmly by Production Manager Andres Restrepo, who was a late addition to the tour, joining the camp for the final two weeks of rehearsals. With such a short lead time, the Production Manager placed a huge amount of trust in the team that was already in place. Confident that everybody on the tour had been hired for their talent, his priority was encouraging interdepartmental synergy.
“Culture is crucial to me,” Restrepo smiled, crediting Production Coordinator Kim Hilton, and Production Assistant, Tricia Engelbert with helping to create a welcoming atmosphere in the production office. “As a newcomer to this camp, I wanted to be as open as possible,” he added. “One way of doing that has been having a suggestion box for the tour where crew members can submit any requests and, if possible, we can implement them.”
With the production carried in 32 trucks, weighing just under 240,000lbs, and taking an average of 22 hours to load-in each night, Restrepo described the tour as a “stadium-level show inside an arena”. The technical and logistical vendors included 1826 Studio (production and lighting design), 1826 Group (producer), PRG (lighting), Fuse Technical Group (video), Clair Global (audio), Pyrotecnico (SFX), TAIT (staging and automation), Four 4 Solutions (rigging), Dreamliner (NA trucking), Stagetruck (UK trucking), and Dreamliner (US trucking), Auto Bus and Transportation Charter Services (bussing). Restrepo had worked with several of the vendors across different projects.
“It has been the honour of a lifetime to be a part of this tour,” he reflected, praising his crew as well as the suppliers. “Seeing how passionate people are in this industry is my biggest motivation. From our crew to the suppliers; people are sacrificing time spent with family to be here, and for me that is the best thing in the world.”
Read the full front cover feature in TPi Magazine #296.
Words: Alicia Pollitt
Photos: Julian Dakdouk, Katia Temkin and TPi
