Philips Lighting has announced that its stage lighting fixture, the Philips VL6000 Beam, was chosen by Lighting Designer Bryan Hartley to create his powerful ‘rock theatre’ design for the recent winter tour by Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
Hartley, who has lit the American rock band’s shows for the past 18 years, found the powerful output, distinctive styling and physical presence of the new VL6000 Beam gave him everything he needed to create his searchlight effect. He said: “The VL6000 Beam has an awesome output, which more than delivered to expectations.”
“I wanted to sync’ the production with the show’s story, which is about a child who wanders into an old theatre,” Hartley explained. “I designed the set to be an old theatre during narrations, then during the songs the stage morphs into a rock stage! The impressive output and the look of the VL6000 Beam helped to create that old-style movie Skytracker look.”
To build this contrast between small-scale theatre and large-scale rock show, Hartley said: “I wanted lots of small lights, but also some big lights, positioned at each side of the theatre, to stand out among the rest. The VL6000 Beam looks the part. I also have 3 huge video screens and the VL6000 Beam is so bright, it’s able to cut right through and be visible against that LED background.”
The show’s design pays tribute to the late Paul O’Neill, the band’s founder and lyricist who passed away in April 2017. O’Neill’s love for the concept of “rock theatre” survived through Hartley’s design. Hartley said: “Paul was everything Trans-Siberian Orchestra. His passion made it the most amazing show, year after year. He loved the term ‘Rock Theatre’, so I came up with a theatre of light that coincides with the story. Even though Paul is sadly no longer with us, he is still very much a part of the show and it is a total tribute to him.
“This has been our most successful tour to date. We were number 2 in 2017 in total tickets sold in the United States and I’d like to thank everyone involved on the tour – they are truly an amazing team of people to work with every year,” Hartley added.
Martin Palmer, Vari-Lite Product Manager EMEA for Philips Entertainment, concluded: “The VL6000 Beam is a truly unique fixture, offering high-power, impactful beams, a flexible range of performance features and, of course, that searchlight styling that designers simply love. We are committed to providing the entertainment industry with fixtures that deliver the best solutions, uniting versatility and quality.”