A complement of grandMA3 consoles was chosen to provide lighting control for the recent Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show produced by Roc Nation, DPS and Jesse Collins Productions. Provided by PRG, three grandMA3 full-size systems and one light, which served as the tech desk, were deployed at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. ACT Entertainment is the exclusive distributor of MA Lighting products in North America.
This year rapper Kendrick Lamar headlined the Super Bowl halftime show with guest appearances from R&B artist SZA, actor Samuel L. Jackson, tennis great Serena Williams and DJ/record producer Mustard. It was seen by a combined 133.5m viewers domestically across broadcast television and streaming platforms becoming the most viewed halftime show in the US.
Eric Marchwinski of Burbank-based Earlybird Visual partnered with Mark Humphrey to program the lighting for the show. It marked Marchwinski’s fifth time as lighting programmer for the event. He and Humphrey teamed with Lighting Designer Al Gurdon and Lighting Directors Ben Green and Harry Forster; Cory FitzGerald was the Lighting Designer on the artist’s side.
“This is a unique show in that Mark and I don’t have a clear division of labor like on other shows which separate music and people,” Marchwinski explained. “Instead, it’s a 12-minute experience that Mark and I work on together, sharing the same workflow on the console and easily handing off the workload back and forth.”
He points out that there were only three rehearsal blocks when the entire set – scenery, stages and lighting carts – was on the field. “We did a lot of preproduction and pre-vis so when we arrived it was a case of looking at what we’d done and making adjustments. We wanted to push play at the first rehearsal and have the show look like something.”
Marchwinski notes that this year’s halftime show was in a closed venue for the first time (since his involvement) so lighting conditions were consistent at each rehearsal and “adjusting lighting levels meant we were always looking at what we could trust as ‘true’.”
In addition, the Caesars Superdome roof meant “there was truss overhead and rigging opportunities for downlight, which was important for the artist who wanted an operatic, theatrical look to the show. I had worked with Cory FitzGerald on one of Kendrick’s previous tours, all of which was helpful in translating how to get the show their camp wanted on stage.”
Marchwinski was an early adopter of grandMA3 software and has used it for the past three years on TV awards shows, theatrical installations, concert touring and three previous Super Bowl halftime shows.
“I love the platform, knew it was reliable and able to handle a show of this scale without compromise,” he said. “grandMA3 is a tool we choose all the time, for every corner of the industry we work in. For this halftime show, viz-key proved to be a great help in pre-vis since we were dealing with such a large system.” Viz-key is the unique solution for a stable and safe connectivity between third-party visualisation tools and grandMA3 lighting control.
He cites ACT Entertainment as a steady source of support for all of his shows. “The team is always attentive and there to help us every way they can, and we always appreciate that,” Marchwinski noted.
