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‘Classic is Groot’ lit with Robe

‘Classic is Groot’ is an annual production created by Coleske Artists with a line up of South African stars showcasing a series of global classic pop and rock songs presented in an orchestral style. It has become a regular event inspired by Coleske’s ‘Afrikaans is Groot’ phenomenon in South Africa, and for the last four years has been staged at the Sun Arena in Pretoria.

Since the ‘Classics’ show spinoff started in 2015, it’s been lit by Joshua Cutts, and, as in previous years, the 2019 event included a lot of Robe moving lights. Lighting and all technical services and disciplines for the Sun Arena venue is supplied by Johannesburg-based rental company MGG. The house lighting rig contains substantial quantities of Robe fixtures which were at Cutts’ disposal for the three show days, together with some selected extras.

Cutts worked closely with the show’s artistic director Barry Pretorius, choreographer Hayley Bennett-Freidin, production manager Ian Vos and set designer Corne Roodt. The wide stage and set incorporated an orchestra, a rhythm section, a choir for certain numbers plus dancers and some props - including a life-size steam train with wagons which chugged across the stage at the top of the show.

This year’s theme referenced a classic railway station - arrivals, departures, journeys - with a double-tiered set of upper and lower platforms, and a set of five arches upstage all filled with LED screen. Exclusive content for each artist was created by the Coleske Artist’s video team.

Josh Cutts looked out for any potential gaps/holes onstage - it was also recorded for DVD/streaming - and eventually filled the space between the five screens with 6 banks of 10 x single cell blinders which complemented the architecture. Six vertical columns of light punctuated the arches, made up from a total of 36 x Robe Pointes and these provided upstage beam work. 

Downstage each side were two side grids both with 12 x LEDBeam 150s in a 4 x 3 Pattern to assist with cross lighting the dancers plus the band on stage right and orchestra on stage left. Twenty-nine Robe Spiider LED wash beams were rigged in the roof trusses together with 17 x BMFL WashBeams and nine BMFL Spots in between offering a selection of beams from overhead.

Thirty-six Spikies were positioned along the front of the stage footlights-style and along the upstage edge of the stage deck, in front of the band/orchestra risers. At the front, along the edge of the pros, Cutts added 20 MegaPointes which illuminated the ceiling and the forestage together with alternating 15 x CycFX 8s.

The audience was also lit. Rigged on two U-shaped audience trusses were 21 x LEDWash 1200s and 24 x LEDBeam 100s. On the same U-shaped trusses were 18 x BMFL Blades for all the main key lifting. For blasting through a big block of light when the mid-stage set doors opened, Cutts placed a bank of six Robe ColorStrobes.

Josh Cutts and his associate on this show, Marius Coetzee, were assisted in the pre-programming by Andre Siebrits. They programmed and ran the show on a GrandMA2 full size with a light for backup. The pixel fixtures including Spiiders, LEDWashes, Spikies and others were all mapped in an MA VPU, which allowed Cutts to create a further selection of different layers for each bank of fixtures.

(Photos: Louise Stickland)

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