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ACT Productions and IPS light Orange Bowl Halftime Show and Fan Fest with Elation
The Orange Bowl is an American tradition that combines the best in college football with top-class musical performances. ACT Productions of Miami Beach celebrated its 17th year producing the event, handling artist bookings and producing both the Halftime Show and Fan Fest. They partnered with Illuminate Production Services (IPS) as their lighting vendor on the productions, both illuminated using Elation lighting fixtures.
The Capital One Orange Bowl, held on January 9, 2025, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, saw country music star Nate Smith headline the Halftime Show, while Lauren Alaina, a multi-faceted country artist, performed a tailgate concert at the Fan Fest stage before the game. Both performances featured lighting designs by IPS, using a range of all-weather IP-rated Elation products.
The Halftime Show and Fan Fest were entirely lit using Elation lighting rigs, including fixtures from the company’s Proteus and new Pulse series. ACT Productions handled everything from concept to completion, including specification of the lighting and sound packages and worked closely with IPS to realize the event.
“The Orange Bowl Halftime Show is unlike any other event in the entertainment world”, says Carlos Henao, Technical Director at ACT. “In a matter of minutes, five to be precise, our audio, lighting and staging teams have to build a ‘set’ that will both entertain and wow the thousands of fans in the stadium, but also the millions of fans on TV. This is no easy task. The planning and execution of those plans can make or break the outcome.”
The Halftime Show lighting design was led by Caleb Franke, with support from Michael Betancourt, both from IPS. Betancourt also handled the design for the Fan Fest stage, working closely with ACT. “We’re very close with Michael and the IPS team and have partnered with them on major events in the past such as the Montreux Jazz Festival in Miami, and City of Miami Beach 4th of July celebration”, says Bruce Orosz, CEO of ACT Productions. “We worked with them on last year’s Fan Fest and were very happy with the results, their communication, plans, design and their team.” Orosz says that they seek to change the look and feel of the show year after year, and this year chose to forgo the traditional Halftime Show fireworks in favor of IPS’s lighting design.
Working on the Orange Bowl Halftime Show can be quite challenging for a number of reasons, not least the tight logistical circumstances they have to work within. “Right when the last play of the first half ends, the referee throws his red cap onto the ground, which begins a 22-minute clock”, explains Orosz. “That’s our signal to start moving all the staging, pre-set with lighting, through the tunnel and out onto the field. This year, we brought the stage out in four parts plus additional lighting setups on truss systems that flew in stage right and left. Everything had to be out, assembled, plugged in, and tested in five minutes. It’s a complicated maneuver.”
Lighting designer Caleb Franke adds: “There are certain parameters we have to stick to in order to get the stages through the stadium tunnels and on the field in less than five minutes. Designing with very specific limitations and parameters is always something I enjoy because I feel I can be more creative. I see them not as limitations but as opportunities.” Following Nate Smith’s performance, disassembly and load-out took place in four minutes. Orosz says it all worked out perfectly. “We had a dynamite team of 100+ people to manage all the equipment, and it ran like a Swiss clock.”
IPS designed a fresh, multi-layered look for this year’s Halftime Show. “When designing, I wanted the set to have depth and elevation to it”, says Franke. “The depth came by having sixteen Pulse Panel FX in the background attached to the upper 100 level of the stadium. This created opportunity for big hits of color and wash throughout the show. It gave the camera lens something to see in the background which added a lot of depth. Having the Pulse Bars and Pulse Panel FX allowed me to have them work together and they punch very well.” One fun look featured the use of all the cold white strobes of the Pulse Panel FX and Pulse Bar. “It seriously lit up the stadium and made it look huge”, says Franke.
The design featured a myriad of IP-rated moving heads from Elation’s Proteus line, including Maximus, Excalibur, Hybrid Max, and Radius. On the field, Franke designed a 3-tiered look in both stage width and height - the downstage deck for the lead singer, the middle deck for the band, and upstage deck lighting via three tiers of lights. Beam and aerial effects from Proteus Hybrid Max emanated from the top row with aerial beams from Proteus Radius radiating from the bottom two rows.
Each row also had eight Pulse Bars in groups of two for a total of 24 fixtures forming the visual background for the band. “We were able to achieve elevation with the tiers and also it created a great background of eye candy behind the band and artist”, says the designer. Located on the downstage edge of the artist risers as kickers to help light the performance were SixBar 1000 IP battens.
The upper deck of fixtures formed the main element of the design. Down on the field, a truss cart on either side of the stage held five Proteus Rayzor Blade L linear effects and six Proteus Excaliburs each, with five Rayzor Blade L on the artist deck. The truss carts added width to the overall look of the show, says Franke. Lastly, twelve Proteus Maximus on the 300 level of the stadium provided the main key light for the stage. “We also highlighted some of the logo graphics on the field with them”, adds Franke.
“This year, we bulked up lighting on the third level and flew trusses full of lights stage right and left, adding depth and enhancing the visual impact”, says Orosz, adding that lighting also came from FOH from the opposite side of the field and down onto the stage, changing the look and feel and matching up with the music. Franke says that big beam looks using the Hybrid Max, Radius, and Excaliburs were some of his favorites. “When the strobes and color wash are off and it’s just the beams shooting out, it looks amazing. We used this near the end of the show with a big beam sweep at the end”, he concludes.
Lauren Alaina’s pre-game Fan Fest concert featured Elation’s Proteus Rayzor 760 wash effects moving head, Proteus Lucius profile moving heads, and DTW Blinder 700 IP. Lighting control came courtesy of an Obsidian NX2 console with Netron nodes, used on both the Halftime Show and Fan Fest. Atmospheric haze effects from Magmatic Therma Tour 800s added an immersive touch to the outdoor concert.
Alongside Michael Betancourt and Rick Franke (Project Management), and Caleb Franke (Lighting Designer and Programmer), the Halftime Show crew included Alex Aslanian (Video/Graphics Creator and Lead LED Tech), Bryce Adams, Sean Coakley and Sean Marshall (Lighting Techs), Jonathan Petrie (LED Assistant and Tech), as well as Shaloom John, Boyd Powers and Jared Clendenin (Technicians).
The Elation gear at the Halftime Show comprised 12 x Proteus Excalibur, 12 x Proteus Maximus, 12 x Proteus Hybrid Max, 24 x Proteus Radius, 15 x Proteus Rayzor Blade L, 24 x Pulse Bar L, 16 x Pulse Panel FX, 14 x SixBar 1000 IP, 3 x Obsidian Netron EN12, and 2 x Obsidian Netron EN4.
The Fan Fest crew: Michael Betancourt (Project Management and Designer), Jeff Miller (Project Manager), Matt Hutton (Lead Video Technician), Julian Mitat (Lighting Programmer), George Mitat (Lighting Tech), and Leo Betancourt (Technician).
Elation gear at the Fan Fest: 12 x Proteus Rayzor 760, 12 x Proteus Lucius, 4 x DTW Blinder 700 IP, 1 x Obsidian NX2, 1 x Obsidian Netron EN4, 2 x Magmatic Therma Tour 800.
(Photos: ACT/Elation/IPS/@keepitexclusive/@michelphoto69)
www.illuminateproductionsevents.com
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