UK - Lighting designer Rob Mills used a grandMA2 light as his control platform for a recent production of Verdi's Aida at the Epsom Playhouse in Surrey. The week-long production by Riverside Opera was directed by James Hurley who is a regular client of Mills, a busy theatre and opera LD, who also lights corporate and live events.
It was the first time that the opportunity had arisen for him to specify and use a grandMA2 on one of his shows, a chance he had been waiting for since working on the Floating Finale section of the Lord Mayor of London's show, on the River Thames last year. It was here he saw a grandMA 'series 1' properly in action being programmed by David Miller.
"Once I'd mastered the fundamentals, I found it incredibly fast to move on to more advanced programming," states Mills. "Whilst it needs a bit of time at the beginning to set up and learn the programming architecture and philosophy, once that is done, it's incredibly straightforward and easy. I can programme complex scenes and effects in less than half the time and button presses than the other consoles I have been using".
For the Aida production, the grandMA2 light was controlling Vari*Lite VL1000 TS and Martin Professional MAC 600 wash moving lights plus about 120 conventionals, a mix of profiles, fresnels and PARs.
