HUDSON provided scenery, automation, and lighting for the North American production of PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT. The show officially opened on October 26th, 2010 at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto, Canada. The musical is adapted from the 1994 Oscar award-winning cult film "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert."
At the heart of the musical is the eponymous bus “Priscilla”, which showcases a spectacular array of lighting and automation ingenuity. Watch video of the bus below posted by Mirvish Productions on YouTube.
HUDSON'S electrical foreman David Rosenfeld provides these details behind the electrifying magic of the star vehicle:
The bus has 29,455 Traxon String RGB pixels controlled by the Coolux Pandora’s Box Media Playback Unit, triggered via DMX from the Grand Ma Lighting console. In addition to the LEDs on the exterior, there are 32 onboard dimmers, 20 @120v dimmers, 12 @12vdc dimmers and 12 James Thomas Pixel Line W Fixtures for conventional actor area lighting. The lights range from 50w MR16’s, Led Wash fixtures, to 12v Auto marker and headlights.
The Sidney Harbor Bridge is a self contained unit, requiring only DMX and non dim power, with lights from 3 channel chasing incandescent rope light to GE Tetra Contour Led’s. The unit has 88 DMX channels of control via 120vac dimmers using the Hudson Scenic Studio Dim 12 modules, and 24vdc dimmers using 4 channel 24vdc Diminators to bring the bridge alive with light.
HUDSON'S project and production managers as well as dedicated crew of engineers, carpenters, electricians, iron workers, automation programmers, and scenic artists worked directly with set designer Brian Thomson and lighting designer Nick Schlieper to build a show that not only would marvel audiences but also could travel to Toronto and eventually Broadway.
