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Stage Technologies Fly Witches in Japan
In a story of desire, seduction and scandal, three female protagonists give an impressive display of their seemingly magical powers which are actually provided by Stage Technologies' stage automation. The audience can anticipate something special is about to occur as the three Witches Of Eastwick's feet begin to lift from the stage floor. Encouraged by their mysterious, charismatic seducer, Darryl Van Horne, the witches Alex, Sukie and Jane rise into the air, fly out above the audience and prompt spontaneous applause.
Once again Stage Technologies worked with Toho Co Ltd’s Theatrical Division to create the flying effects for Japan’s third production of ‘The Witches of Eastwick’. The musical’s famous story is based on a John Updike novel of the same name and was a West End hit in 2000 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Stage Technologies supplied the complete automation systems for the original Cameron Mackintosh production in London and for subsequent productions. The show was later re-designed to fit smaller theatres and travelled overseas to Australia and Japan. Stage Technologies supplied the complex flying system for the latest Japan production in just 2 days, from load in to flying demonstrations. The production company was delighted with the ease and speed of the installation at the Imperial Theatre Tokyo where it opened on the 9th October for a four-week run.
Nine BigTow winches were installed by Stage Technologies to achieve the flying effect. Each performer is flown by a group of three winches. One winch is mounted above the stage and another is mounted to a truss above the auditorium, which traverses along the length of truss with the use of a third winch. Controlled and programmed from an Acrobat control desk, the group is synchronised such that the performer can be lifted and flown within a specific area. Using Stage Technologies’ Visual Creator software, a fourth ‘virtual’ axis is added to the group to determine the length of the path and the position of the axes along that path; this generates and performs a 3-dimensional curve. The control system is programmed with a carefully constructed flight path for the individual performers as they fly above the audience.
The absolute accuracy of position, speed, acceleration, deceleration and repeatability gained when using automated performer flying, ensures the performance is identical every time. Of course, flying into the air on two lengths of steel wire rope is not an easy concept for any performer new to the task. In this production, two of the three leading ladies had worked with Stage Technologies during the previous two shows in Japan and were delighted to take flight again. The experience was new to the third actress, so Stage Technologies’ engineers performed the usual demonstrations and test flights by flying themselves, the stage manager and a stage hand up into the air to dispel any nerves or anxieties. So with encouragement and support from the crew and the two other witches, she took flight for the first time. The reliability and safety of the system instils faith in the performer, allowing them to dazzle their audiences on stage without a second thought to the technology behind the action.
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