Fresh from a sold-out tour of the UK and Ireland, Derren Brown recently brought his spell-binding show, SHOWMAN, to London’s West End at the Apollo Theatre. Known across the globe for his ability to astonish and amaze audiences, SHOWMAN further cements Derren’s reputation as the master of mind control and psychological illusion. The lighting designer for the production is Charlie Morgan Jones and, having approached WL to supply the show’s UK Tour, once again asked the company to supply the West End production.
Charlie is a long-term collaborator of Derren Brown’s, having previously lit the West End and touring production, Underground. He comments: “As seen by the unprecedented critical acclaim from the tour, SHOWMAN truly is an exceptional show and offers audiences a night they simply won’t experience anywhere else. Like all of Derren’s work, and the reason he’s a master of his craft, the show isn’t just spectacle and ‘how did he do that’. Rather, there’s a beautiful emotional arc and a real pathos that comes with the humour and spectacle; resulting in a truly theatrical experience”.
Whilst the show has spent the last year touring venues across the UK, playing in situ at one venue in London’s West End naturally meant the lighting had to be adapted accordingly. Charlie explains: “The biggest difference is that our West End home is considerably smaller than the theatres we’ve been playing up and down the country – we’ve actually lost a whole portal from the set! However, each light on the tour had very specific roles, so it was a case of adjusting, slightly moving and ensuring we gave the London audience as mesmerising an experience as those across the rest of the UK. Similarly, because the show is sitting in such a beautiful venue, I decided that I also really wanted to highlight some of the detail of this gorgeous architecture”.
With a production like SHOWMAN, rather than have an excessively large rig, Charlie’s role was to enhance the mood and emotion that Derren creates on stage. As such, he had to be selective with his fixtures, ensuring that every light is playing a pivotal role. He explains: “The rig itself is actually very small – although this is definitely a case of less is more. On tour, we’d get whatever followspots the venue had (to a basic spec set by me), but spots vary, so 50% at the Edinburgh Playhouse may be the equivalent to 100% at another venue. The followspotters and touring team did their best to keep the intensities ‘as designed’, but, understandably, it was always a struggle. So, when we knew we would be playing in the West End and staying within one venue, we switched to ETC Lustr 5˚s with the City Theatrical followspot attachment. This meant (being the control freak I am) that I could have control of the colour, intensity and fade times… And our wonderful Production Electricians gave each Operator a small DMX controller, should they need to fade off at any point.
Charlie continues: “We only had 13 VariLite 2600s overhead and little else – these work really hard throughout the show. There’s a smattering of Auras, Lustrs and generic Source Fours here and there too. As I wanted to highlight the venue’s beautiful architecture, if you look up from the stalls, you’ll see that there are a few lamps focussed on a gaggle of cherubs which respond to the lighting on stage, really making the whole space feel alive”.
As this is such a unique show, that meant the process in creating it and bringing it to life was just as distinctive. Charlie comments: “Derren’s a superbly fun show to work on! The directors are great to bounce ideas off and let you try pretty much anything! But because of the nature of audience interaction, there is no dress rehearsal! It’s such an interesting to go into a first preview having had no dress – although I’m already a nervous LD at the best of times!”
Derren Brown’s SHOWMAN is running at the Apollo Theatre until 18th March 2023. For more information, please visit: https://derrenbrown.co.uk/ticket-info/
Charlie concludes: “On SHOWMAN, I truly had the best time an our exceptional lighting team: Prod LXs Andy Bird and Phil Brejza (they’re two of the best in the business, and I’m always thrilled to work with them); the in-house staff, Nick (who I trained with 14 years ago!) and Matt; our lovely, ever patient, Followspotters Chloe and Jody; and the invaluable, calm, kind and always hilarious Associate LD and Programmer Clancy Flynn. As ever, thanks to WL for supplying the rig!”.
Photos courtesy of Charlie Morgan Jones/Greenbeanz Photography
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