03.05.2016 | Elation Platinum Fixtures Light Off-Broadway’s “Death for Five Voices”

Lighting Designer Susan Nicholson used Elation Professional’s Platinum Spot 35 Pro™ moving head luminaire for front lighting, backlighting and texturing on a recent Off Broadway production of the new musical drama “Death for Five Voices.”

Staged March 24 to April 17 at the Sheen Center for Thought and Culture in New York City, and inspired by the life and work of Renaissance composer Carlo Gesualdo, “Death for Five Voices” is a complex musical that changes locations on a static set. “The show does not call for spot lights,” Susan Nicholson explains, “So moving lights were my answer as a way to be able to pop characters out. It gave me an opportunity to draw the audience’s attention to the important action on stage.”

Nicholson used the Platinum Spot 35 Pro subtly as front light and highlights with fixtures positioned over the audience, splitting center, and another located upstage just off of center for backlighting. “I also used the movers as texture,” she says, “decorating the walls and the actors both from the front and back. The Platinum 35’s were great in both of these. They have gobos that can both work very subtly when texturing the actor on stage, and very dynamically when adding to a heightened moment.”

The 800W Platinum Spot 35 Pro is rife with design features including CMY and CTO color mixing plus color wheel with texturing options from two gobo wheels as well as animation effect possibilities. “The color mixing was the most important feature,” Nicholson says. “I needed a good face light color when using them to spot the actors, but also needed vibrant colors for use during night time and heated scenes. The front of house fixtures were used in many white/pink and amber tones that looked good on the skin. The back light fixture was used in more deep and saturated tones. I found the color mixing very even.” The fixture’s templates (gobos) were also important, she says. “Though they can be considered by some to be too ‘rock and roll’, I found several perfect for theatre.”

Since launching in 2013, the Platinum Spot 35 Pro has been a popular light for special events like the growing variety of music festivals, but its full-feature set allows for use on a wide variety of projects including installations as well as theatre applications. “They performed great!” Nicholson stated. “They were very quick and consistent.”

Nicholson, who has been illuminating productions professionally since 2004, says she has used Elation lights many times before including Elation EPAR lights for colorful uplighting on corporate events, as truss toners and for general color wash lighting. “This past summer I used the Platinum Profile 35 Pro™ on a show I was the associate on in Cape Cod. Those were great fixtures as well!” she concluded. Assisting her on “Death for Five Voices” and also serving as Master Electrician on the show was Travis Seminara.

Photos: Robert Termine