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Viva Las Divas Las Vegas!
When VH1 Divas aired on Sunday, 18th April, it treated viewers to musical performances by a variety of popular artists, including Jessica Simpson, Ashanti, Eve, Debbie Harry, Cyndi Lauper, Gladys Night, Sheila E., Patti LaBelle, Joss Stone, Tom Jones, Carmen Electra, and The Pussycat Dolls. It also treated viewers to a spectacular stage and light show designed by production designer Roy Bennett and art director Anne Brahic and supplied by Production Resource Group.
The stage, a theatre-in-the-round design, included two artist lifts, two elevators for quick change-outs of musical equipment, large amounts of hidden storage space, and a long tunnel that enabled artists to arrive and depart out of view. With the surface of the stage ranging in height from 8 feet to 10 and 1/2 feet above the floor of MGM's Grand Garden Arena, the surrounding seating needed to be raised as well. PRG built the stage in prefabricated sections that enabled it to be installed ahead of schedule and with a minimum of onsite finish work. PRG also supplied hundreds of decks to raise the surrounding seating area.
In addition to the stage, PRG supplied most of the lighting equipment used in the show, including many Icon luminaires and Mac 2000 Profiles and Wash Lights. There were also many conventional lighting fixtures, Kino-Flos, and Lightning Strikes under the control of an ETC Expressions. The Lighting Director was Tom Beck, with Drew Findley programming an Icon Console for the hard-edged automated lights and Paul Sharwell programming a Whole Hog for the automated wash fixtures.
Being a supplier of both the staging and the lighting offered some real benefits to VH1. "Our lighting people met with our scenic people while the stage was being built in our shop," said Lincoln Maynard, PRG's scenic project manager. "This enabled us to address potential integration issues before the stage was loaded in."
The results were terrific. "I was thrilled with the work PRG did," stated Kyle Millar, the event's production manager. "It was a stunning set, and this is one of the best experiences I've had working with a set shop," he added.
"We were very pleased to have had this opportunity to serve VH1", said Joe Schenk, president of PRG's Las Vegas operations. "We are unique among suppliers in being able to provide many different elements of a production in an integrated package, and this was a great chance for us to show what we can do."
photo courtesy VH1/MTV
27th April 2004
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