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DreamgirlsModern technology for a classic musical

Business:Straight talk with Martin’sChristian Engsted

ALSO:Lincoln Center’sDavid H. Koch Theatre

Philips Vari*Lite VLX

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50 • March 2010 • Lighting&Sound America

THEATRE

Dreamgirls is reinvented for the roadin a sizzling, innovative new production

By: David Barbour

Copyright Lighting&Sound America March 2010 http://www.lightingandsoundamerica.com/LSA.html

www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • March 2010 • 51

ow do you improve onDreamgirls? It’s a daunting task,as the original production ofTom Eyen and Henry Krieger’s1981 hit still burns brightly in the

memories of musical theatre fans—and for good reason: MichaelBennett’s nonstop staging of acomplex, epic story was facilitated byRobin Wagner’s brilliantly flexiblescenic design and Tharon Musser’sdaring lighting, and Theoni V.Aldredge’s fabulous, instantaneouscostume changes. Frank Rich, thenThe New York Times’ theatre critic,called it “a show that strikes with thespeed and heat of lightning”—and hewasn’t exaggerating.Few theatre productions in the last

25+ years have yielded so manystunning moments: the opening viewof backstage pandemonium at aHarlem talent show, the toweringtableau of record-industry hacksstriking payola deals, the wall oflighting units in the number “One NightOnly,” and, most of all, the Act I coupde théâtre, in which the heroine,deprived of her career and her lover,launches into the furious, woundingtorch song, “And I Am Telling You I’mNot Going,” only to be cruelly cut offby the falling curtain.The result of an intensive series of

workshops, Dreamgirls came with aseamless original production thatperfectly fit its restless, rangy narrative.In Bennett’s hands, a story trackingeight characters across 12 years anddozens of locations unfolded withcinematic ease. So influential were thedirector’s ideas that even the 2006movie version alludes to them in morethan one scene. All of which has leftthe question hanging for years: Is itpossible to stage an entirely newversion of Dreamgirls?The answer has arrived in Robert

Longbottom’s new production, whichlaunched a national tour at the ApolloTheatre in New York. Thedirector/choreographer has provideda Dreamgirls that is no tired imitation;

instead, it packs every bit of theoriginal’s sizzle while takingadvantage of today’s technologicaladvancements. (The New Yorkengagement was especially exciting,as Dreamgirls begins and ends at theApollo; when, in the final scene, oneof the characters notes, “Here weare—right where it all began,” it wasimpossible not to get goose bumps.)Combining Bennett’s vocabulary withmodern stage gear and adding hisown distinctive sensibility,Longbottom has reinvented the showfor the 21st century.And why not? In this era of insta-

celebrities and reality television, thetime is especially ripe for a tale ofyoung hopefuls swallowed up by theleviathan of fame. Equally pertinent isthe show’s examination of how soulmusic was repackaged for a larger(read: white) audience, thus providingblack entertainers with a shot atmainstream success. The theme, thenand now, is the same: Show businessis the gateway to the AmericanDream—if you’re willing to pay theprice of entry.

Dreamgirls is the story of theDreams—Effie, Deena, and Lorrelle—young women from Chicago who hopeto make it big as a girl group. It is1962, the era of the Shirelles, theRonettes, and the Shangri-Las. At atalent show in Harlem, they hook upwith Curtis, a Cadillac salesmanturned promoter, who gets them a gigsinging backup for James ThunderEarly, a James Brown-style R&B star.Curtis has dreams of selling “race”music to mainstream audiences, andhe sees the Dreams as the vehicle todo it. (He even takes Effie, the Dreams’assertive, ferociously gifted, leadsinger, as his lover.) Before long,thanks in part to some well-placedbribes, the Dreams are climbing thepop charts with a radio-ready versionof soul music. Trouble brews, however,when Effie, who is deemed too blackand insufficiently glamorous fortelevision audiences, is first relegated

to backup, then cut out of the actaltogether. Lorrell becomes trapped ina dead-relationship with the marriedJimmy. Deena, now a major star,marries Curtis, but their relationshipdevolves into a power struggler overthe direction of her career. Dreamgirlstraces all of these characters’changing fortunes as black musicenters the American mainstream.Providing a touchstone with the

original production is Robin Wagner,whose brilliant scenic concept was thekey to Bennett’s original vision. Here,Wagner has come up with an entirelynew approach that retains what wasexciting about his 1981 design whileadding the innovation of video projec-tions by the media designer, HowardWerner, of the firm Lightswitch. Alsoon board are the lighting designer KenBillington and the sound design teamof Acme Sound Partners. All havecollaborated on an unusuallyintegrated design, which wasdeveloped under an unusual set ofcircumstances—beginning with atryout in Seoul, Korea.

One more picture pleaseOnce again, thanks to Wagner,Dreamgirls provides spectacleseemingly without scenery. In hisconception—aided by the expertcontribution of Werner—it consistsof a rush of images seen in multipleconfigurations. Skylines, highways,and theatre marquees whoosh by asthe Dreams make their way to thetop. When the girls are performing,the stage pulsates with colors andpatterns that explode like a seriesof novas. The design is more thanflash and glitter, however; itprovides a technologically gildedcage that seduces and traps Effie,Deena, and Lorrell.Bennett’s staging of Dreamgirls

would not have been possible withoutWagner’s scenic design, in which aseries of towers—loaded with lightingunits—and a bridge remained in nearlyconstant motion. But, as the designer

Photo:JoanMarcus

52 • March 2010 • Lighting&Sound America

says, that design “was based ontechnology from 1981. You can’t evenget it, it’s so obsolete.” As a result, hesays, “We decided not to recreate it,but to do something of our age. AndBobby was all for that.“The original concept was to show

how these girls are trapped in thetechnology of show business,”Wagner continues. “They’re controlledby it. That idea hasn’t changed. Thequestion was, how do we make it fornow?” As he notes, “The only reallynew thing that has come along sincethen is the LED screen.” He andLongbottom accompanied Werner toXL Video’s demo room in lowerManhattan to see what might bedone with video technology. Thedirector quickly signed on to the idea.The design for Dreamgirls consists

of five double-wide panels of LEDscreens, hung from a track. Thanksthe automation system, provided byHudson Scenic Studio, they arecapable of multiple movements and

configurations. At times, they functionas an upstage wall—with one centerpanel flying up to allow for entrances.The screens can be staggered, form acurve, or make a kind of long S shapethat reshapes the stage. They can alsopivot open. Except for one or twominor pieces of furniture, theyconstitute the entire scenic design.Wagner worked out the movement

of the panels in an old-fashioned 3-Dset model, to show Longbottom whatwas possible and, he says, “to seehow simple we could make it and stillgive it the technological complexity ofshow business.” He used this methodto demonstrate his concept to theteam at Hudson Scenic Studio, wherethe set was built. (I. Weiss alsoprovided softgoods to the production.)Working with Hudson, he says, “It wasnever a question of ‘Can we do this?’You say to them, ‘This is what I want,’and they’ll find a way to make it work.”According to Chuck Adomanis,

senior engineer at Hudson Scenic

Studio, “Each of the five video wallsis attached to a mechanism thatallows them to rotate. That piece ofmachinery is attached to a piece thatallows upstage-downstage travel. Allof this is attached to an element thatlifts and lowers the panels.” As aresult, he notes, when the panels arein full motion, “There are often asmany as 15 axes working at thesame time.”Control of the scenery is via the

company’s HMC systems (for HudsonMotion Control). Adomanis says theautomation operator also controls adozen more scenic effects, includingdeck tracks for various pieces ofscenery, roll drops that occasionallymask the onstage musicians, and thetwo big light walls seen in “One NightOnly” [to be discussed later]. One ofthe project’s big challenges, he adds,is “because all of the machinerymoves around, we had to have a hugecable-management effort; this isespecially complicated, because the

Billington creates his own version of Tharon Musser’s wall of lights for “One Night Only.”

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cables also handle the power and datafor the video panels. We put a hugeamount of design and engineeringtime in getting all of the interconnec-tions for the cables to be put togetherquickly and easily.”As mentioned previously, the

production had an unusual devel-opment process. The lead producer,John Breglio, partnered with ShinChun Soo, president of the ODMusical Theatre Company in Seoul,which bankrolled the Korean show.Because so much work was accom-plished there, and so much of thephysical production was transferableto America, Breglio estimated to TheNew York Times that his costs werecut in half. Whatever a Koreanaudience may or may not have madeof the story’s racial politics, the show,featuring several local stars, was asmash hit.

It was, of course, necessary toensure that the scenic concept workedbefore the company set off for Asia,so, once the set was built it wasinstalled at the Eisenhower Theatre atWest Point for a technical workshopfocusing on scenic movement andvideo images. “The Eisenhower was ahelpful experience,” Wagner says.“David Benken, who is a really greattechnical director, showed us how tomake it fit into a very small space.”The salient quality of the screens is

their lightness and transparency; as aresult, the images that appear onthem have the quality of apparitions.“They had the idea for the screens,but they didn’t know which screen touse,” says Howard Werner. “Welooked at different resolutions,weights, and transparencies. Theywanted to see through the screen,but, of course, there is a tradeoffbetween resolution and transparency.One big question was how low aresolution would be acceptable.“Originally,” Werner adds, “We had

specified another screen, which wasthe best available product at the time.”In the end, however, the design team

went with a previously unknownscreen from the Korean companyVissem Electronics, which wasretained when the production movedto the U.S. “The image feels cleaner,”Werner says. “Also, the processing isvery different. There’s a singleprocessing unit on each of the fivepanels; we send a fiber-optic signal toit, and it distributes from there. Youcould have done that with the otherproduct, but it would have required alot of R&D and testing.” Vissem’sTransparent Mobile Unit is designed tobe lightweight—each panel is lessthan 21lbs—and to provide brightimages even at viewing angles of 120°.Each panel consumes an average of300W. The product accepts a numberinput types, including composite, S-Video, RGB, and DVI.For his media server, Werner chose

the D3, from the British firm UnitedVisual Artists and supplied by XLVideo. More than a media server, theD3 allows one to build a show usingits 3-D visualizer, play the show backin demo mode, and deliver imagery tothe video screen. “One of the biggestchallenges was how to get everyoneto visualize the show prior to it beingbuilt,” says Werner. “I’ve had someexperience using various products,and have never been totally happywith their ability to visualize LED orvideo surfaces—and here we’re talking

about a surface that could move andform different configurations. The D3was the godsend that I needed.“With the D3, we could model the

set and figure out the scenic changes,and we were able to add the musicfrom the show into the model,” Wernersays. “We could figure out how long itwould take to get the panels fromPoint A to Point B—and if we neededto change their movement or writemore music. As we built our story-boards, we fed imagery into themodel. These rough images helped toinform the way the set moved andwhat the images would be. With theD3, as you visualize your show, you’reprogramming it. When we got to theEisenhower Theatre, with the panelsbuilt and the automation programmed,we fed the video signals from the D3—and the whole thing fell into place.”The Eisenhower workshop was in

October, 2008. At the end of the year,Jason Lindahl, Werner’s associate,arrived in Seoul to do preliminary workwith the camera gear. (The production,which occasionally makes use ofIMAG imagery from live feeds,currently employs three Sony high-definition cameras, supplied by PRG.)In Seoul, media was controlled by aMedialon manager system, which alsohandled the live-camera feeds. For theU.S. tour, Werner says, “The D3triggers presets in the cameras—

An abstract video look for “Steppin’ to the Bad Side;” later in the number, the screenswill be used to seemingly double the size of the chorus.

Photos:JoanMarcus

54 • March 2010 • Lighting&Sound America

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including zoom, focus, and irissettings—via serial commands. The[grandMA] lighting console triggers theD3 via MIDI show control. A fewsequences are linked by a click track.In those cases, the conductor startsthe click track, which starts a SMPTEclock; it triggers the lighting desk,which, in turn, triggers the video.”Werner and Wagner worked out

what images would and wouldn’t workon the Vissem screens. Before anyimages were generated, over 100plates of storyboards were drawn byLightswitch and discussed. Partlybecause of the screen’s low resolution,and partly because of the artful way itis handled, the video neveroverwhelms the on-stage action. Often,Werner fills out the stage pictures withblocks of color or abstract patterns,which add visual interest withoutdrawing one’s attention away from theperformers. “Robin and Bobby hadseveral strong ideas,” he notes. “Forexample, in the backstage scenes, thepanels are turned backwards, withnothing on the screens. But we felt thatthose scenes needed a little morevisual energy, so, at the Apollo, weturned three of the five panels aroundand put a diagonal slash of blue acrossthem, to add a little texture.”Other images add to the spectacle.

In the number “Steppin’ to the BadSide,” chorus members appear insuits, carrying briefcases and wads ofcash for bribes; the panels separatehorizontally and we see a series of

silhouettes—and, instantly, thepopulation on stage has doubled anda statement made about widespreadcorruption in the music industry. Thenumber climaxes with an overheadview of the chorus in a circle, like onewould see in a Busby Berkeleymusical of the 1930s. (This is the onlypre-taped sequence in the show.)Later, when the Dreams are takingpart in a fashion shoot, we see themon stage and, larger than life, on thescreens. Perhaps the most pointeduse of video comes in the number“Heavy Heavy.” Effie has beenrelegated to backup singer and isnone too happy about it; the Dreamsare rehearsing a number in a TVstudio, and, on the screens, we seewhat the TV cameras are capturing—a series of close-ups of Deena. It’s amordant commentary on the way Effieis being done out of her career.The video also plays a key role in

certain sleight-of-hand stagingmoments. “At the top of the secondact, the girls do a press conference,”says Werner. “Then they go over tostage right; they’re standing behindthe crowd, and, when they come out,there’s been a magical costumechange. While it’s happening, thescreen pans from a shot of Paris to aflashing concert-stage look; we’rediverting your eye away from thecostume change. Every night, thatmoment gets applause.”The imagery is a mixture of new

and existing content. Some material

was drawn by animators, some of itwhat shot by Werner and his crew, andsome was pulled from stock videofootage. “We storyboarded the entireshow before we started clicking anymouse,” he says. “We made animatedstoryboards, broke them down intomusical beats, and put the images tothe music.”Wagner notes that the imagery is

used creatively throughout. “We didn’twant to use the screens as a locationdevice. Once or twice we use it thatway, but really it opens up avenues todoing a different kind of scenery. Youcan use it emotionally, to reveal thingsthat aren’t being said onstage.”

One night onlyKen Billington came into the projectrelatively late, after the set design wasin place and much of the media hadbeen created. His initial task, for ashow that relies heavily on lighting,was determining how many units, andwhat kind, could be fit into the existinglayout. He notes that the run-throughat the Eisenhower Theatre, which wasdone without lighting, was, never-theless, helpful to him. “It was a goodstarting point for getting the timingswe needed, even if they weren’texact,” he notes.The automated portion of the

lighting rig largely consists of twenty-four 5' x 4' pods installed over thestage, which contain 31 Philips Vari*LiteVL2000 Washes, seven VL1000 ASunits, 23 VL3000s, and 16 VL3500s.

www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • March 2010 • 55

The pods, which move, are crucial tothe scenic design, as they allow thepanels to fly in and out. They alsoprovide a kind of visual unity, Billingtonnotes: “If you’re sitting in the mezzanineor balcony, you can see that the podsline up with squares on the deck; it’slike a grid that is mirrored overhead.”The other major aspect of the rig is

also a set design idea; it consists oftwo wall units, each holding 108 ETCSource Fours, gelled in a variety ofcolors. For much of the show, theyrest just offstage, providing saturatedsidelight color washes; however, theymake a spectacular appearance in ActII when Effie, now a struggling soloartist, releases a new single, “OneNight Only.” Curtis, who wants thenumber for Deena, has the Dreamsrecord it, using it to launch his newdisco sound. We hear competingversions of the song; Effie’s slow,soulful take is followed by the Dreams,all glammed up, performing theirversion with two big walls of lightbehind them. It’s an exciting theatricalmoment and a powerful allusion toTharon Musser’s original design, whichalso featured a wall-of-lights look.Throughout the show, Billington

effortlessly carves the cast out of thestage, defines them against the videoscreens, and paces the musical action.In the “performance” numbers, thelighting and video operate as aseamless whole, creating a super-charged environment for the Dreams.Indeed, the lighting gives the entire

production an edge of dark glamourthat perfectly suits the narrative.Given all of the rig’s moving parts,

says Billington, “The biggest problemis cable management—where does itgo and what is the distribution?” Inorder to reach the pods, he says, thecable is carefully laid out not tointerfere with the movement of thescreens. Power management is anissue, as well. Speaking of theSource Four light walls, he says, “Iput everything on a single dimmer, sowe could matrix it and do dimmer-doubling. Because of that, I got itdown on a 48 rack plus a six-pack.”ETC Sensor dimmers are used; thelighting units are 750W models.The rest of the package includes

eight Altman Mini-Tens, four Altman6' striplights, 56 Wybron Coloramscrollers, two MDG Atmospherehazers, eight Jem DMX fans, andthree Lycian 1293 xenonfollowspots. In an indication of howmuch the production is built fortouring, Billington says thefollowspots constitute the entirefrontlight package. As mentionedpreviously, control is provided by anMA Lighting grandMA console—alikely choice when the lightingconsole is asked to trigger themedia server as well.Billington, for one, was a big fan of

the Korea tryout. “We had no distrac-

tions,” he says. “That’s one of thegood things about going out of town—not seeing your friends or doing yourgrocery shopping. It’s really quitepleasant in that you go there to work—and you work.“The crew in Korea was first-class,”

he adds. “They were as good as anycrew I’ve had. The theatre was built fora production of The Lion King—it hada huge backstage and triple boxbooms; there were lighting positionsand circuits everywhere. You couldn’task for more. In that part of the world,they open when they open, which wasinteresting; they treated the firstpreview as opening night. They didn’tknow why we were coming in torehearse and do tech the next day.”For the U.S. tour’s initial

engagement at the Apollo, with its lackof space and power, Billington says hemade a few changes, which helped tomake the production additionally road-ready. “I had some VL5s in thesidelight, but I made changes there;the sidelight is all conventional now. Ialso cut some automated units that Ididn’t feel we needed. But, basically,we put the disc in the board, andwhen it went to the first focus group,the lights were within 6" of where theyneeded to be. Jonathan Rouse [whoprogrammed the show in Korea] hadleft the show so clean that we werepractically ready to go.”

This page and opposite: The screens, in various configurations, partner with the lightingto create a broad array of looks.

Photos:CourtesyofLightswitch

56 • March 2010 • Lighting&Sound America

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That Motown soundTom Clark, speaking for the teamknown as Acme Sound Partners(which includes Mark Menard, NevinSteinberg, and Sten Severson), saysthe biggest challenge was to create atour-worthy system while dealing withthe unusual production calendar. “InKorea,” he says, “we were workingwith the theatre’s existing soundsystem—which was designed for TheLion King—and with the wirelesssystem and console that werequested. The show was mixed by aKorean engineer; we couldn’t do muchof the homework that can usually beaccomplished in a preparatoryproduction. Then we came into theApollo—which was a splendid idea—and our touring sound system didn’t fitinto the room at all. There’s no deadspace in the proscenium there fortouring, and no orchestra pit.”The Apollo proved challenging in

other ways, as well. The orchestra—which, on tour, is placed in the pit—was moved to the third floor of thebuilding next door, another part of theApollo complex. (In Korea, becausethe space was available, the orchestrawas located upstage, to simulate theupcoming Apollo experience.) Also,says Clark, “The show features arhythm section on stage, but, because

of the shallowness of the Apollo’sstage—the very small platformprecluded the use of acoustic drums—we went with electronic drums,although, in rehearsals, we decided touse a real hi-hat and snare; everythingelse makes no acoustic sound of itsown, however. An electronic devicegenerates the sound of the instru-ments, which is pumped into theonstage foldback and the auditoriumsound system.”Another challenge remains the

same wherever the show plays, Clarknotes: “Because of the show’sextreme vocal demands, we’ve beenstriving to keep the levels on stage aslow as we can, so the actors can hearthemselves and feel supported, anddon’t have to compete with theorchestrations.” As a result, he adds,“It’s a very different event on the twosides of the plaster line—it’s muchlouder in front than it is behind. Aftersome tinkering, and feedback from thecast, we think we’re in a very goodplace with it.”In any event, the orchestra, whether

in the pit or the building next door, ishooked up to an Aviom 16-channelpersonal monitor mixing system,allowing the bulk of the orchestra tohear the onstage rhythm section andvice versa. “It allows each player to set

his or own mix of 16 inputs,” he adds.For the Apollo, the loudspeaker rig

was attached to proscenium boompipes, as one typically sees in aBroadway house. (For the road, theyare arranged in 21'-tall towers.) “Weweren’t able to hang under-balconyspeakers—the under-balcony is verydeep but too structurally fragile forattachment of delay speakers—so wehad to drive the main floor levelcabinets a little harder than usual, toget it all the way to the back of thehouse,” says Clark. The touring rig,he adds, is a combination of MeyerSound CQ-1s and CQ-2s. These self-powered, phase-corrected units aresmall—making them a good touringchoice—and offer high power andprecise pattern control, making themworkable for a variety of theatres.Upper balcony coverage is providedby Meyer MSL-4s, which are definedby their long-throw capabilities. “Theuse of MSLs in a tower is unusual forus, because they’re big, heavy, andexpensive—but they’re very powerfulfor shooting to the back of thebalconies and they have narrowcoverage, so we’re not splattering theside walls with them.”

For additional main floorcoverage, two L-Acoustics ARCs line-source elements are placed in ontheir sides, forming what Clark calls“a sideways two-box cluster in thelower section of the tower. As a pair,they give you coverage of 60°horizontal and 44° vertical, which is ahelpful geometry for boxes that needto cover the near field and also reachto the back of the main floor. We canturn the lower box down a few dBs,so we don’t hurt the folks in the firstten rows and still have plenty ofpunch in the upper box to get to theback with authority.” He adds thatthis arrangement replicates Acme’srig for the tour of the Broadwaymusical Spamalot. “We were able tore-use the towers without dismantlingthem—they had already proved thatthey could handle any house.” L-

The entire cast uses DPA 4061 mics with Sennheiser SK 5212 wireless packs.

Photo:JoanMarcus

www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • March 2010 • 57

Acoustics SB118 subwoofers fill outthe towers; “It’s a very tight, good-sounding sub for this kind of music,”he adds. “This is the one differencefrom the Spamalot rig; there, we usedMeyer USWs.”On stage, foldback is provided by a

mix of Meyer Sound UPM-1Ps and L-Acoustics 108Ps. “They’re used justupstage of the curtain line,” saysClark of the latter, adding that theformer are placed just behind theSource Four light walls, fitting invisually with those units.The entire cast uses DPA 4061

headworn mics with Sennheiser SK5212 wireless packs. Dreamgirls is aperiod show, but, Clark says, wryly,“Fortunately, it’s a time frame andculture that didn’t spend a lot of timeon hats. The only number with hats is‘Steppin’ to the Bad Side.’Fortuitously for the sounddepartment, it’s also the only numberwith pre-recorded vocals, to synchwith the video.” Of course, WilliamIvey Long’s parade of costumescomes with plenty of wigs, but, saysClark, “As usual, most of the femaleperformers have their transmitters intheir wig-prep shower caps.” Headds, there is fair amount of “wigog-raphy” in terms of shoving micsaround as the hairlines change duringthe show, but adds that “managingthis has been beautifully handled bythe tour A2, David Romich.”Two numbers do feature Sennheiser

SKM 5000 wireless mics: When JimmyEarly, making his debut in a whitenightclub, sings “I Want You Baby”—Chester Gregory II, who plays Jimmy“wanted to croon into the mic,” saysClark—and when the Dreamgirls arerelaunched with Deena as the leadsinger. The designer says that thenumber’s “introductory vocals are verylow in the singing range,” making ahandheld mic preferable. Theorchestra mic lineup includes DPA,Neumann, and a number of DI boxesfor the electronic instruments.The sound is controlled by the

DiGiCo SD7T, the theatre edition of aconsole that has proven to be popularon the concert touring circuit. It’s anew choice for the Acme team; they’realso using it another show, theBroadway-bound musical The AddamsFamily. “As a replacement to the D5T,it offers some very interestingenhancements,” says Clark. “It has allof its backup capability built into themain desk, so you’re not carrying acouple more boxes of backupequipment to get redundancy. It’s asolid board, a pleasure to work with.”Effects gear includes T.C. Electronic

M3000 and R4000 reverb units, XTAdigital signal processors, and StageResearch’s SFX system for the soundeffects and voiceovers heard in theshow. “The SFX system also outputstime code in addition to a click track,”says Clark, “in order to keep theorchestra synched together with thelighting and video” in sequences like“Steppin’ to the Bad Side.” “In Korea,we thought we were providing timecode for the benefit of video. Then welearned we could be useful to lightingas well, so we feed the lightingconsole and they feed information tothe video server. The conductortriggers the starts of the numbers thatinclude time code.”Clark notes that, as Dreamgirls is

virtually through-composed, intelligi-bility is of prime importance, especiallyin complex dramatic scenes set tomusic. “There are very few words thatyou can stand not to know,” he says,

adding that the characters “arefighting a lot, cutting each other off,and screaming in each other’s faces.Often, they’re singing over powerfulmusic; all in all, it’s a bit of a roller-coaster. It’s a monster to mix, and tourA1 James Wilcox is doing a fantasticjob.” Based on the reaction of theaudience at the Apollo, the words arecoming through, loud and clear.Other key personnel involved in

the project include David Peterson(assistant scenic designer), JohnDemous (associate lighting designer),Ben Travis (assistant lightingdesigner), Daniel Erdberg and NickBorisjuk (associate sound designers),David Arch (moving lightprogrammer), Troy Fujimura (LEDprogrammer), Martin Pavloff(production carpenter), Martin Blacker(head carpenter), Ian Michaud(assistant carpenter), Jeff Zink(advance rigger), Jon Lawson(production electrician), MarcJohnson (head electrician), JustinFreeman and Bruce Yager (assistantelectricians), Michael Prieto(production sound), and RyanMarquart (head propsman).What’s remarkable is that, at a time

when many musical revivals are criti-cized for offering cut-down produc-tions complete with minimized orches-trations, the Dreamgirls tour preserveseverything essential about the show,while using totally modern technology.Nearly 30 years on, it remains one ofthe most innovative shows around.

The screens pivot for this scene, set backstage at the Apollo.

Photo:CourtesyofLightswitch