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MSA moves barricades and more for “Les Misérables” arena world tour
Denmark-based entertainment automation specialist Motor Stage Automation (MSA) is supplying a full rigging, control and automation package for the current “Les Misérables: The Arena Spectacular” world tour, co-produced by Cameron Mackintosh Ltd (CML) and Nick Grace Management and performing in over fifteen countries and regions worldwide.
Cameron Mackintosh’s production team, led by technical director Chris Boone, directly approached MSA wanting an ingenious touring solution and global technical support for the tour. Nick Grace Management, who are responsible for contracting the touring personnel, then asked Roger Smissen onboard as Head of Rigging and Automation, with his company Van Der Smissen Production, providing a touring crew team to work with the production’s rigging and automation requirements. Smissen worked in conjunction with MSA’s Jimmy Johnson on the task of producing a tourable system design, and MSA project manager Daniel Klausen was integral in managing delivery of all the equipment.
The main automation rig supplied includes 28 x 500 kg Apex hoists with V2 drives and a Kinesys Mentor SIL3 compatible safety system. Additionally, two 8-metre runs of Litec DST Tracking truss are being supplied with MSA custom Touring Dollies to facilitate efficient get-ins/outs and transportation.
A 2-ton screen with surrounding lighting fixtures is tracked on each side of stage, driven by a combination of MSA’s motorised trolleys and a Kinesys Elevation 1+ drive each. Another two Elevation 1+ drives power to two pivoting arms that lift lighting trusses out from inside the stage floor for the suicide scene. Their fabrication was co-ordinated by MSA with Italian manufacturer Alfa System, and they comprise a section of pre-rigged truss with an electric piston for the sideways movement. A Kinesys Vector console is used to queue all elements together in tandem for a seamless look.
Twenty Apex 500 kg hoists are used to fly ten lighting trusses. Two motors per truss allow them to be flown up/down and tilted. Each truss is clad in scenic elements allowing the automation to play a dual role in setting different lighting states and reconfiguring the stage design, most notably forming the “Les Mis” barricades. A large bridge structure hinged on both sides is flown right at the centre of the set - suspended on another eight Apex 500 kg hoists. This can be lowered in at crooked angles to become another disjointed and seemingly random component of the barricades.
Later in the action, the bridge comes in and folds out, allowing actors to run across it and perform above the orchestra positioned on an upstage platform. The Kinesys Mentor safety system is a key here, allowing this complex object to be flown in a way that meets the stringent EN17206:2019 stage machinery regulations.
The show is staged with performers always facing the audience, allowing the live cameras to focus on picking up the different characters for IMAG screens. This works to great effect with this production being staged away from its native theatre environment in a much larger arena setting. With audience viewing angles reaching up to 120 degrees, there was some concern that flown automation elements might potentially block screen sightlines, but using MSA’s tracking system enables the IMAG screens to track offstage.
The hub of the technical rigging design is a 9-ton mothergrid that houses all 28 Apex motors and their drives. The grid was originally designed by Unusual Rigging (who also compiled the initial automation spec) and is central to creating a tourable construction that can fly all the moving lighting/scenic trusses regardless in any venue. It simplifies load-ins and the general rigging workflow.
Nine 2-ton Chainmaster hoists with encoders, driven by an encoder upgraded Kinesys DigiHoist system, allow the mothergrid to be lifted with centimetre precision by a separate Vector console. MSA’s inhouse technicians specially upgraded their hoists and controllers to make this possible for the tour. MSA has also provided the power distribution solution allowing just one 400-amp feed for rigging and automation at each venue with all downstream power outputs housed in MSA’s touring racks.
Smissen is working the full “Les Misérables: The Arena Spectacular” tour with a rigging and automation crew of up to seven taking care of all the ins, outs and runs. The show officially opened at Glasgow’s Hydro Arena in October 2024. It has since travelled through the UK and Europe and has a full schedule playing venues around the world through 2025.
(Photos: Danny Kaan)
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