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AVW Controls Goes Round in Circles

At first sight, the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas, a miner's son dreaming of becoming a principal dancer and a band called Madness have nothing in common. But in the world of entertainment they are linked by a common thread - or rather, a common control system.

When production manager Steve Rebbeck needed an automation system for the many and complicated scene changes in Billy Elliot the Musical, he knew exactly where to go. Back in 2002, Steve had specified AVW Controls' Impressario system to provide the automation for the intricate flying manoeuvres on Our House and was sure the system would be absolutely right for Billy Elliot.

Meanwhile, Patrick Molony was looking for set automation that he could rely on for The Far Pavilions. Having previously used the Impressario system on Thoroughly Modern Millie, Patrick too was in no doubt that it was just what he needed.

For The Far Pavilions, award winning set designer Lez Brotherston had to create sets which took the action from the snow-capped Himalayas to the hot and dusty deserts of Rajasthan. A raked triple concentric revolve - the three sections of which can move simultaneously, in different directions and at a different angle - is used to create the peaks of the Himalayas, while the lavish set also employs a total of 11 flying pieces.

Extensive use is also made of a revolve for the many scene changes in Billy Elliot. Here, another award winner designer, Ian MacNeil, takes the audience from Billy's home, through the demonstrations of the 1984 miners' strike and on to the stage of London's Royal Opera House. Billy's 4m tall house comes up through the stage's main trap door on a hydraulic lift, revolving - and, on occasions, with Billy dancing up and down the stairs - as it appears, so the control has to be absolutely smooth. Billy's bedroom is another device which appears through a trap within the main trap door. AVW provides the controls for these and two other lifts - the kitchen table and the pit - four stage wagons and two side and two rear walls, which have to meet with absolute accuracy. In order to get the side walls off or on stage, the side lighting bars have to be lifted and then quickly lowered back into place. These specially strengthened bars each weigh two tons, and have a 40kW motor driving them. Moving at a speed of 2m a second, controlled by Impressario, the travel on these massive lighting bars has to be 100% accurate. Other flying pieces on Billy Elliot include the proscenium arch of the Royal Opera House, plus the pit gates and footlights.

Steve Rebbeck is delighted with the input from AVW Controls, saying: "Anton and I had worked together on Our House, so I knew exactly what Impressario was capable of. When Anton told me he was going to upgrade the software we talked through what I thought we needed for Billy Elliot and it's all gone really well - exactly as I expected it to. I've got no complaints at all. If we've had any glitches at all - and what production doesn't - they've been mechanical rather than software related."

Working simultaneously on The Far Pavilions and Billy Elliot the Musical gave Anton Woodward, AVW Control's managing director, the impetus to update Impressario. Maintaining the simplicity of operation that has won accolades for the system, Impressario 2005 has an improved revolve interface that keeps track of the relative position of the revolve and the number of complete revolutions. This is particularly useful when dealing with multiple revolves, as in The Far Pavilions. The other, more linear type of axis, such as flying, stage tracks and wagons etc, are still controlled in the more traditional absolute manner. In both cases, AVW's Impressario Motion Processors (IMP modules) carry out the maths and control the hardware from the Impressario console on a data network based on the industrial RS485 infrastructure. Each axis, whether it be an AC servo motor, three phase motor, or a hydraulic lift or motor, is controlled from its own IMP module and can gather information such as limit switch, encoder position, under- and overload sensors and datum references from friction driven systems to send back to the operator at the Impressario console.

For big productions such as these, adding and deleting cues is easy with Impressario 2005, which has a generous 5,000 programmable cue capacity with two-digit point cues. It also offers the ability to control up to 255 pieces of scenery and rigging simultaneously, with group control and synchronisation of multiple motors and hydraulics.

Where Impressario is used in a repertory theatre, such as the Cottesloe or Lyttelton, AVW is offering a free upgrade.

As well as upgraded software, the Impressario console has been redesigned to give a sleeker, more streamlined look, while retaining the practicality and intuitiveness for which it is renowned. Impressario won the prestigious Product of the Year in the engineering category at the 2002 ABTT show and, since its launch in 1999, has become the automation system of choice for many leading London and regional theatres.

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AVW Controls Goes Round in Circles

20th June 2005

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