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PRG Europe Drinks to Drowsy Chaperone Success
“She sings, she dances, she drinks!” proclaims the strap line for The Drowsy Chaperone, the musical at the Novello Theatre which previewed in May and had its opening night on 7 June. Originally shown on Broadway, where it won more Tony awards than any other musical of the 2006 season, the show begins with a narrator known only as Man in Chair who begins to play his favourite album, a musical from the 1920s. What follows is the tale of a pampered starlet determined to get married and her producer who is intent on stopping her. Add a Latin lover, an English butler a couple of gangsters disguised as pastry chefs, a groom and, of course, a drowsy chaperone, and all manner of crazy capers ensue!
Lit by Ken Billington with Brian Monahan, the London production includes over 200 ETC Source Fours and over 50 Vari-Lite luminaires, all supplied by PRG Europe. The company also supplied Coloram scrollers and two Grand MA control desks.
Lighting designer Ken says: “The Novello is much smaller – we’ve had to cut the rig by half and light primarily from front of house. It first opened in May last year, so I went to watch it a couple of times to refresh myself before thinking about how it could move across. I looked at which lights are only rarely used and decided to rationalise and simplify based on that.”
Ken, who uses PRG for virtually all of his shows in the US, continues: “I broke plenty of rules when lighting this show – such as the first 3.5 minutes being in darkness. I was always taught that if the audience can’t see, they can’t laugh – but I proved them wrong. The second blackout, towards the end of the show, gets even more laughs.”
Production electrician Martin Chisnall adds: “The lighting looks stunning. Ken sent across all the paperwork and we spent over a month together reprogramming and relighting.”
The show flips between an “almost monochrome” interior where we see the Man in Chair listening to the album, and a very bright full colour musical starring Elaine Paige in the title role with Bob Martin – the musical's co-creator and star of the original Broadway production – as Man in Chair.
“We’ve found the Vari-Lites to be really reliable, and have been impressed with the service from PRG Europe,” continues Martin, “especially with the quality of prep of the Source Fours. I’ve worked with PRG Europe a number of times, and they’ve always been incredibly helpful and accommodating.”
14th June 2007
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