The Parisian is an integrated resort located on the Cotai Strip in Macau, China. It officially opened in September 2016 and contains a half-scale Eiffel Tower along with a luxury hotel which houses 3,000 guest rooms, covering 200,000 square metres. The site is also filled with attractions, including the recently-opened Parisian Theatre which is located on the hotel’s fifth floor. The construction of the Theatre was overseen by Shalleck Collaborative and, following a successful tendering process, White Light was brought on board as the Specialist Contractor, tasked with providing the theatrical lighting installation along with the production lighting system.
The Parisian Theatre is a 1,200-seat theatre that is not only designed for theatre performances but also conferences, themed events and even weddings. WL’s Special Projects Director Simon Needle comments: “Our role was to supply and install the lighting equipment and infrastructure for the space, which included kit fixtures, dimming and power controls, lighting control desks, architectural control and dimming. We would essentially be helping turn an empty auditorium into a space fit for performance”.
Working from the architectural specification, WL worked closely with Shalleck Collaborative to develop an intricate set-up. Simon adds: “The theatre is quite large and had to be multi-purpose. The equipment needed to be adaptable, have longevity and, most importantly, be able to get the most out of the space”.
The lighting fixtures used included ETC Source Fours, City Theatrical Ellipsoidal Spotlights, MA Lighting grandMA2 desk, Martin MAC Viper Washes, Martin MAC Viper Airs, Philips Vari*Lite VL1100s, ROBE Lighting 1200 LED Washes and Robert Juliet Victor 1800w MSRs.
Simon adds: “One of the briefs was to make the entire theatre as user-friendly as possible, which would benefit the various productions using the space. We also supplied ETC Unison Heritage Button Stations across all Technical & FOH areas with Touchscreens in the Box Office and Stage Managers corner. This allowed complete control of the architectural and working light system”.
WL spent three months on-site with a team consisting of Simon, Jim Beagley and Billy Wong. However, as The Perisian Hotel was still being built, this meant that WL had to work alongside the construction team.
Simon states: “With any project similar to this, it’s about collaboration. We had to work within the limits of what was essentially a construction site yet ensure we provided the best service we possibly could. Similarly, as tickets were already on sale for the opening production, Thriller, we had a definitive date in which we had to be ready by, meaning that going over schedule simply wasn’t an option”.
