The Bodyguard goes global lighting up stages across Europe, Canada and China with the support of SLX.
The smash hit musical, The Bodyguard, filled theatres across the UK on its 2015 tour and then made a home at the Dominion Theatre London for six months. With stunning performances from a number of high profile singers, the production attracted significant media interest and ticket sales sustained a sold out run in the West End. A year on and this production of The Bodyguard is once again touring globally. It isn’t, however, just the performances of the actors and actresses that are stealing the show, as award winning Mark Henderson’s impressive lighting design both complements the performance and wows audiences.
With the lighting provided by specialist hire and events company, SLX, more than 100 fixtures were supplied to the production. These included Clay Paky Sharpy & Sharpy Washes, Martin Professional MAC Viper Profiles, Viper Performances, Aura & TW1s, ETC Source 4 Revolutions, Philips SL Bar 510s, and Chroma Q Colorforce 72s. It is as a result of SLX’s work and knowledge in technical theatre hire that has enabled the team to provide and continue to provide such a comprehensive rig for this production.
Dale Driscoll, Associate Lighting Designer, and his team certainly had a challenge on their hands to make Mark Henderson’s vision a reality. “Having previously worked with SLX on other tours, it was reassuring to know I was going to be in the same great hands for The Bodyguard” says Dale. “The support was spot on. It’s not easy keeping an extensive rig all working on a long and sold out tour but SLX were there every step of the way, helping us when we needed it.”
SLX have a history of working with high profile touring productions and Alastair Currie, newly appointed Chairman, sees this as an integral part of the business. He says: “We are proud to be specialists in this area, and supporting theatre productions, such as The Bodyguard, are projects we are really passionate about. Not only do we have extensive equipment for hire – from lighting to audio, video and rigging – but we also have the perfect facility to allow the crews on these productions to test and prepare their rigs before moving into the theatre spaces”.
With The Bodyguard set to continue its global tour, SLX continue to support the production, even personally delivering lights to Paris.
Author: Paul Allott
Paul Allott is a director and co-founder of Event Industry News, Event Tech Live and the Event Technology Awards.
