the design the technology the architecture€¦ · the design the technology the architecture...

KÀ : THE DESIGNTHE TECHNOLOGYTHE ARCHITECTURE

Cirque du Soleil’s astonishing achievement

Entertainment, Presentation, Communication

www.lightingandsoundamerica.com April 2005

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After 20 years in the business, it’s rare that I see a live show andsay, “Wow—how did they do that?” But when I saw KÀ, I was soamazed that I felt compelled to write a behind-the-scenes detailpiece, something I haven’t done in many years.

Under the brilliant creative leadership of Robert Lepage andthe Cirque team, the technology in KÀ is completely at the serv-ice of the art. While KÀ certainly could be called a spectacle, itcertainly is not a case where the technology trumps the art, likeone of those depressing high-concept special-effects actionmovies. In many ways, KÀ is an example of the kind of show I’vebeen hoping would exist—and have been advocating for—formany years, because the performers are often in control of thetechnology, rather than the other way around, and the technologyis integral to the performance, not a gimmick. In KÀ, the technol-ogy allows the show to connect with and reach the audience,extending the performance; it doesn’t get in the way.

Scenic AutomationThere is no stage in KÀ. There is simply a huge pit, from whichenormous performance spaces rise, descend, track, tilt, andswivel. The scenic elements were conceptualized by Mark Fisher;the Tatami Deck and the Gantry were designed by the entertain-ment team at the McLaren Engineering Group in West Nyack,New York, starting in late 2002; McLaren also engineered theSand Cliff deck, which was designed by Tomcat. (The other sce-

April 2005 • Lighting&Sound America

THE STORY OF KÀ, PART II

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Above: performers rehearsing one of the vertical battle scenes underwork light on the Sand Cliff deck. Above right: The Sand Cliff deckrotated to a different position.

HOW DID A look at the scenic automation,

By John Huntington

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nic pieces were done in-house atCirque du Soleil, with the companyalso handling the integration of thepieces.) “Mark is a very clever man,”says McLaren Engineering presidentMalcolm McLaren. “He thinks motionthrough, and he has a very goodunderstanding of the mechanics thatit takes to drive these things. Sowhen he gives us his thoughts onhow something could be actuated, herespects the laws of physics.”

The Gantry LiftThe enormous 50’x25’ Sand CliffDeck is actuated by the Gantry Lift,the largest and most incredible ele-ment of the scenic automation sys-tem—a mechanism you’d be morelikely to see in an aluminum smeltingplant than a theatre. The Gantry Liftmechanism can rotate the Sand CliffDeck 360° at 2RPM (which is 12° persecond) tilt it from flat up 100°(beyond vertical), and track the wholething up and down vertically nearly70’ at 2’ per second. Determining themaximum speeds of the Gantry Liftmechanism was a critical part of thedesign process, since a faster movemeant more horsepower was needed.To make these horsepower calcula-tions, McLaren made extensive use ofsophisticated MSC Nastran designsimulation software. However,Nastran “was designed for mechanicsand assembly lines and so forth,”explains McLaren’s Murphy Gigliotti,

“so we actually had to write a cueautomation front end for Nastran inExcel.”

The smallest amount of powerneeded to make the gantry lift workas desired was “just less than a loco-motive,” says McLaren. After calculat-ing all the trade-offs and determiningthe maximum move velocities, theresulting KÀ hydraulic power plantwas designed for 1,250 HP continu-ous from electric pumps, and,according to McLaren, about 6,000HP

stored as hydraulic pressure in giantaccumulators for peak usage duringhigh-power cues. “The hydraulicpower plant,” explains JamesTomlinson, the head of automation forKÀ, “will fully pressurize the accumu-lators (approximately 1,700 gallons) inabout five minutes. The accumulatorbank is reminiscent of the missiletube scene from [the 1990 film] TheHunt for Red October.”

The Gantry Lift mechanism itselftracks on two enormous 4’ diametersteel tubes that run from the lowestfloor of the building to the roof, made,along with the rest of the “static”steel, by Fabriweld, of Salt Lake City,Utah, a company whose primary busi-ness is roller coasters and other enor-mous structures. McLarenEngineering was initially told thatthese tubes could be connected tothe massive existing structure of theMGM’s roof, but, partway through thedesign process, compliance with seis-

mic regulations resulted in a newanswer of no. Therefore, the team hadto come up with an enormous bracingstructure for the tubes, creating a sortof freestanding 75’ tall “building withinthe building,” according to StephenSywak of McLaren. Many details wereconsidered; the enormous verticaltubes are even fitted with acousticaldampers to keep them from actinglike “pipe organ tubes.”

A massive 6’ diameter cross tube,called the “torque tube, connects the

two ‘hammerheads,’” says Tomlinson,“which are guided by 75- and 150-toncapacity Hilman rollers traveling onsteel wear plates on the columns.”The rollers, made by the Hilman com-pany of Marlboro, New Jersey, aregenerally used to move massiveloads, like oil rigs components, entirebuildings, and bridges.Perpendicularly attached to the centerof the torque tube is an arm whichgoes out, towards the audience, to apivot joint called the “wrist,” which,according to Tomlinson, “includes a10’ diameter Rotek bearing typicallyused in tower cranes,” and connectsto the Sand Cliff Deck itself. The mov-ing parts of the Gantry Lift were madeby Timberland Industries fromWoodstock, Canada, a companywhose primary business is offshoreand timber harvesting equipment,giant winches and other huge mecha-nisms. The whole torque tube assem-bly and arm gets lifted, says McLaren,

www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • April 2005

THEY DO THAT?projection, and show control systems in KÀ




“by what we understand to be thelongest cylinders ever produced inNorth America—a 70’ stroke. Whenthey are fully extended, the cylindersare 145’ long.” The cylinders are somassive that they must only ever bein tension—if put under a compres-sive load, they might buckle.Thecylinders were made by Parker, ofCleveland, Ohio and supplied (withthe rest of the hydraulic system) byAtlantic Industrial Technologies, ofIslandia, New York, working in con-junction with GS-Hydro U.S. Inc., ofLeague City, Texas. Even getting thecylinders to the site proved a chal-lenge. “We had to get special trussesfabricated,” says McLaren’s integra-tion project manager, Jay Reichgott,“just to support the 75’ hydrauliccylinders during transit.”

The Sand Cliff DeckThe 80,000lb. Sand Cliff Deck wasmanufactured by Tomcat USA inMidland, Texas. Longue Vue Sceniqueof Montreal, according to Tomlinson,“supervised the artistic treatment ofthe playing surface by Tomcat staff.”The deck is over 6’ thick, and,according to William Gorlin, McLarenEngineering VP, consists of, “a steelprimary truss structure that bolts tothe slew ring. Mounted to that steelstructure is an aluminum outer struc-ture and deck system; it’s configuredso that you can have techniciansinside to service all the pieces.”During one part of the show, addsTomlinson, “an 8 x 16’ ‘refuge’ plat-form flies in from the grid and attach-es to one end of the vertical SandCliff Deck, then moves with the SandCliff Deck as it rotates, tilts, anddescends to the basement. It has atrap door for access to and from theSand Cliff catwalk system.”

In addition to lifts and other fea-tures of the deck, there are 80 pegs,each roughly 2’ long, manufacturedby Microtrol of Montreal, that canshoot out at 8’ per second. At thatvelocity, the pegs appear to the audi-ence in a quarter second, which is

surprisingly fast since they are run byelectric linear actuators. These pegswere designed so that performers canslide, swing between, and catch themwhen the Sand Cliff Deck is vertical.Many performers slide more than 60’from this platform to their “deaths,”where they land on an enormous,hydraulically tensioned safety net inthe pit, out of sight of the audience.Some falls are so extreme that airbags are placed on top of safety netsto break the performer’s fall.

In one stunning scene, the SandCliff Deck is covered with “sand;”then the deck is raised before oureyes and the sand pours off. Realsand was originally considered butabandoned, due to weight and dustissues. The team considered walnut

shells and Santoprene, but eventuallychose cork. The material is containedon the edges of the deck by 3” “flip-pers,” run by 18 electrical actuators,which are retracted when the materialis dumped.

The Tatami DeckThe 30 x 30’, 75,000lb. Tatami deck isan amazing feat of engineering andconstruction, but it’s actually the“small” piece on the show. The deckwas named, according to Tomlinson,“because the opening scene withTatami mats was to play there,” butthat scene was later moved to theSand Cliff Deck. The Tatami deck is

supported by a giant, 65’ long, two-stage “drawer slide” mechanism,which is tilted at a 4° rake towardsthe audience from its anchorageupstage, with 45’-6” of cantilever.The Tatami deck and mechanism isactuated by 75 and 150 HP electricmotors, and was built by Show-Canada in Montreal, with scenic treat-ment again by Longue Vue Scenique.

Scenic Automation ControlControlling all this scenic automa-

tion equipment was the dauntingchallenge taken up by StageTechnologies, which has offices inLondon and Las Vegas. The compa-ny’s Nomad system for KÀ controlsover 40 arbor winches; 16 high-speedwinches for the performers in the bat-tle scenes, each axis with individualradio control; five lifts controlled by 26motors; a giant bird flown over theaudience, controlled via five 2,200lbwinches with wings flapped by per-formers; the 80 pegs in the Sand Cliffdeck; three small pod lifts [called“sand traps,” according to Tomlinson];12 winches for the forest scene; 18hydraulic safety net winches in thepit; and 16 actuators for the SandCliff deck’s edges.

Control is highly distributedthroughout the system. “We have 17nodes in the theatre, each controllingup to 40 axes,” explains Kevin Taylor,Stage Technologies’ director of elec-trical engineering. “The desk sendscommands to the nodes, and thenodes do the housekeeping, whilstthe axes deal with actual positioncontrol. There are the Delta Tau[hydraulic control] nodes, 12 SiemensS7_400 PLCs, and the entire safetyEstop [emergency stop] system isdone using a Siemens safety PLC. Inaddition, we have two extra proces-sors, one for the interlock system andthe other to run the 3D flying of thebird. The consoles are connectedover the primary command network,which is Ethernet, and the MaxisIDinternally positioning drives connectto the node PLCs over ProfiBus. A

“No one wanted to be

the one to flip the

switch the first time.

The system was so

expensive and massive

that there was no room

for error.”

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separate high-speed deterministicnetwork is used for synchronization.The crew uses four desks during theshow, with a fifth backup in the eventof a failure, and, happily, we have hadno desk failures to date. In addition,we provide a local backup networkwith a completely independent pathfor controlling axes via a hand heldHMI in a crisis. In the worst case, dur-ing the climb scene using the pegs,we could be running 90 axes at once.The majority of the time, we are run-ning 20-25 axes at once. In the eventof a motor failure, we can continue torun the lifts right down until only twoare left. The lifts are the show, sothere is a huge amount of redundancythere.”

Hydraulic ControlWhile the Stage Technologies systemprovides overall control of thescenery, the hydraulics control is han-dled by Tisfoon Ulterior Systems, ofRaleigh, North Carolina, using a DeltaTau motion-control system as a basis.“We provided Tisfoon with a spec atthe beginning of the project,” explainsTaylor, “to enable us to make it mimicstandard axes [in the Nomad controlsystem]. The operator can instruct theaxes to move to a different dead [tar-get position] at a different speed forevery cue as he so wishes.” TheTisfoon system takes it from there,and also provides a local controller sothat the hydraulic systems can be runindependently of the Nomad. To pro-tect the cylinders, the Tisfoon systemprovides “a closed loop ‘charge-up’of the rod side of the cylinder beforereleasing the brakes,” explains thecompany’s president and chief soft-ware engineer Amir Pirzadeh. “Thisinsures that the valves are operationaland that there is oil in the rod sidebefore the brakes are released. Theload balancing is a closed-loop sys-tem on top of the regular positioningloop. This system uses the load cellinformation from the four cylinders tolead or lag an upstage axis (relative todownstage) for proper load balanc-

ing.” The Tisfoon system incorporatesa “VCR” feature, where all data relat-ed to the hydraulic systems is loggedevery 100ms continuously for 24hours; if a problem develops, preciseinformation is later available for trou-bleshooting. “No one wanted to bethe one to flip the switch the firsttime,” says Pirzadeh, only partly injest. “The system was so expensiveand massive that there was no roomfor error. I was not only the developer,but became the de-facto operator, aswell.”

Performer WinchesSome of the most incredible scenesin KÀ are the “vertical battles,” whereperformers appear to defy gravitywhile battling on the Sand Cliff Deckin an almost vertical position. In fact,they are supported on high-speedwinches supplied by StageTechnologies. Each of the 16 perform-ers controls his own movementthrough a radio control, with the

transmitter in his costume, using ahandset controller. “The winches”,explains Stage Technologies’ Taylor,“are capable of running at up to 14’per second, and accelerating anddecelerating in .75 seconds. The radiounits are a standard component sup-plied from Germany, meet the veryhighest standards, and, in the eventof [interference], shut down to preventunauthorized movement.”

Malcolm McLaren, summing up theteam’s experience on KÀ, says,“When the Ford Motor Companyreleases a new car, they design it, testit, crash it, run it around the track afew thousand times, tweak it, alter it,and value-engineer it. We have tobuild one prototype and it has towork, with time and budget con-straints. It’s not easy, and the tricksjust keep getting bigger and bigger.”

In this work light shot, the massive SandCliff deck is at about mid-height, with theTatami deck retracted upstage.

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ProjectionsOne of the most groundbreakingaspects of KÀ is Holger Förterer’sinteractive projection design. “Iattempt to express poetry, emotion,and content in the language of math-ematics and algorithms,” he explains.“This is my artistic language, and theresult on-stage is referred to ‘aug-mented reality.’ We do not use anyreal video footage in the imagery ofthe production—all images are gener-ated on-the-fly by the projection com-puter in real time using physical orartificial simulation. Water, stone,clouds, air are all completely synthe-sized by the image computer—at thesame instant they are shown—andreact to the action on stage.” This is

the hallmark of Förterer and histeam’s work on KÀ—the performersare actually controlling the imagerythat surrounds them in a fully interac-tive and meaningful way. While, ofcourse, there is a tight structure andsome general predictability to the per-formers’ motions for story and safetyreasons, Förterer says, “We give theperformers the freedom to improviseand follow the set wherever it moves.” Tracking the PerformersThe freedom to which Förterer refersis quite apparent when you see theshow. In one example, a scene called“The Deep”—a giant ship full of per-formers is raised, and performers falloff and “drown,” descending almostthe entire stage space, followed by atrail of bubbles. Förterer is trackingthe performers, creating the bubbleimages in real time and projectingthem onto the scrim. “Here, we are

using camera tracking,” explainsFörterer. “We are lighting the actorswith invisible infrared LED light. TheIR camera acquires their movementthrough a scrim onto which we proj-ect the bubbles. The use of infraredlight is necessary to avoid feedbackof the projected image into the cam-era and be able to light the scenebrightly without the audience noticinganything. My tracker picks up move-ment in the scene and generates bub-bles based on the size and motion ofthe objects causing it. This is one ofthe scenes where projection helps intelling the story.”

Scenic InteractionsIn “The Climb”, “The Blizzard,” and—the most astonishing scene of theshow—“The Battle,” Förterer not onlytracks the performers themselves, butcan sense how they are interactingwith the scenery. For example, underthe Taraflex performance surface ofthe Sand Cliff Deck, are sensing tilesmanufactured by Les AteliersNumériques of Montreal, which turnthe entire deck into (to overly simplifyfor the purposes of explanation) agiant touchscreen. Förterer uses thisinformation to create graphical wavesand other images that radiate outfrom where the performers’ feet con-tact the deck, or to create interactivefalling “rocks” that they must dodge.“The system of sensors in the deckwas specifically created for this showby the interface designer and inventorPhilippe Jean from Montreal,”explains Förterer. “It works on a tech-nology comparable to the musicalinstrument theremin, which allowsmusicians to control electronic instru-ments by moving their hands in theair. The deck is literally able to ‘sense’the proximity and presence of theartists to and on the surface. Themaximum sensor depth is approxi-mately 4”. So it makes a difference ifyou are very close to the surface, tip-toeing, or sliding across it at a certaindistance.” JT Tomlinson, Cirque’shead of automation, adds, “The sens-

McLaren's schematic view of the GantryCrane mechanism and bracing structure.

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ing tiles system detects performerlocations on a 6” grid pattern allacross the deck and can simultane-ously report every one of those coor-dinates, at 60Hz, via Ethernet.”

With all that imagery created inreal time, Förterer then projects itonto real, physical, three-dimension-al, moving scenery, and the approachis so effective that many in the audi-ence won’t even realize they arelooking at projections. To accomplishthis, Förterer must track the move-ments of the scenery exactly. Theprojection system “listens to posi-tions that multicast out through theNomad system,” explains KevinTaylor, Stage Technologies director ofelectrical engineering. “The positionsfrom this system are sent every50msec, and because of the size ofthe pieces a lot of the data is sent in1,000th or 10,000th of a degree reso-lution.” To cope with the latency ofthe various systems, and potentialencoder error, Förterer says, “Weactually use an adaptive physicalmodel that predicts the position ofthe stage into the future and smoothsthose values correctly to avoid bothlag and jitter, so we’re always on. Iwas surprised myself to see this worksmoothly after punching in the mathsfor a month, but I think we masteredsomething you could never pre-cueor plan, since every show will notonly be slightly different on the artis-tic, but also on the technical side.”

Projecting it AllThree converged Barco Director R18DLP projectors are used to give the

required brightness and project fromthe back of the auditorium to createa canvas across a large part of theperformance area. “Theoretically, wecould project onto any moving sur-face within the show,” explainsFörterer. “We are using different con-vergence files [which call up differentprojector settings] to take care of thedepth ranges. We are also usingdousers in the drowning scene toavoid hard edges of video blackresulting of the coupling, and to beable to kill all projection in an emer-gency.” All projections on the mainmoving stage use 3D modeling, “butwe use a technique [similar to] thebubbles in the drowning scene tomatch the position of the actors one-by-one,”says Förterer. “A two-dimen-sional distort[ed] image would nothave hit the main stage without caus-ing warping on the close or faredge.”

InfrastructureFörterer needed a lot of computerhorsepower and I/O for this project,and also had to ensure that the sys-tem can be maintained and updatedover the projected 10-year run of theshow. “We are using dual-processorPCs,” he explains, “to ensure fastcalculations and display of all virtualsimulation and imagery. We keptaway from most proprietary pack-ages. Windows-dependency wasreduced to a minimum; we are usingOpenGL, and we skipped using theIntel Performance Libraries, since Istrived for minimum dependency onthe platform or processors used. Not

too many portions of the code wouldhave to be rewritten if the [IT] marketwent berserk for whatever reason.”

With projections so critical to theshow, Förterer had to also ensurethat there was sufficient redundancyin the system. “We have a backupPC for all vital systems,” he explains.“Switching to backup systems ispartly automated. On a crash of themain computer, the backup computerwould automatically take over withina maximum of two seconds, causingthe Barco projectors to smoothlyfade into the new system’s video out-put. This would be much faster thanthe operator could diagnose theproblem and react by himself.”

The front end for the system isactually a lighting desk, and, saysFörterer, “we are not connected tothe rest of lighting, to avoid both sys-tems going down at the same time.Luc Lafortune prepared backup light-ing if projections should fail—and if acertain part of lighting should, we arestill ready to go.”

Show ControlAs a show control guy who has seenand enjoyed almost every Cirqueproduction since 1991, it has alwaysbothered me that some of the cuetimings across and between depart-ments were not as tight as theycould have been. This is not thecase on KÀ, and this is partlybecause of the use of show controlfor certain aspects of the show. Awidely misused and misunderstoodterm, show control simply meansinterconnecting more than one pro-

McLaren: “When the Ford Motor Company releases a new car, they design

it, test it, crash it, run it around the track a few thousand times, tweak it, alter

it, and value-engineer it. We have to build one prototype and it has

to work with time and budget constraints. It’s not easy, and the tricks just

keep getting bigger and bigger.”


48 • April 2005 • Lighting&Sound AmericaApril 2005 • Lighting&Sound America


duction element control system (scenery, projections,sound, etc.), and on KÀ, says Förterer, “our system isnetworked to quite a few systems in the theatre.” Theprojection system receives positional data from thescenic automation systems as detailed above, and thenalso communicates via Ethernet to sound. “We get datafrom projections,” explains sound designer JonathanDeans, “and then convert it (via MAX MSP [software]) toMIDI to trigger our effects.” In some scenes, this struc-ture allows performers to not only generate imageryinteractively, but trigger sound effects as well. Cirquehas recently been implementing show control systemson its cruise ship projects. However, for the more tradi-tional shows, KÀ is “the first attempt for two depart-ments to link,” according to Deans, who has worked onmany Cirque productions for more than 10 years.

Rigid, time-based control is what most peoplethink of when they think of show control, and thisapproach has become routine in many shows today.However, the distributed and interactive interconnec-tion seen on KÀ and other recent projects is an evenmore interesting and powerful way forward, and isone that I hope we will see more of in the future fromCirque and others.

Everyone I know is tiring of me talking about thisshow, but I have to say that KÀ is now Mecca foranyone interested in the intersection of art and tech-nology for live performance. You should make the pil-grimage yourself, and it’s worth plopping down $150for the ticket, as I did. KÀ sets a new standard inartistic use of technology, raising the bar so high I’mnot sure who will have the imagination and resourcesto exceed it.

(John Huntington is an Associate Professor ofEntertainment Technology at NYC College ofTechnology, and is author of the first book on enter-tainment and show control: Control Systems for LiveEntertainment. He can be reached through his con-sulting company at http://www.zircondesigns.com/.)

Förterer: “I attempt to express poetry,

emotion, and content in the language

of mathematics and algorithms. This

is my artistic language, and the result

on-stage is referred to ‘augmented

reality.’”

Förterer's projections can be seen clearly in this photo, althoughto fully appreciate them you have to see them in motion.

Two screen captures from the StageTechnologies Nomad scenic automation sys-tem showing some of the show’s systems.

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The theatre that houses KÀ has beendescribed here as a unique space; itsmost extraordinary aspect may bethat it was achieved within the con-fines of an existing building. The for-mer home of EFX was reduced to ashell and a completely new theatreand lobby put in its place, accommo-dating the design and productionrequirements of Cirque du Soleil.

Although Mark Fisher is thedesigner of the theatre, its executionwas an ensemble effort, involvingarchitect Marnell Corrao Associates,theatre consultant Auerbach PollockFriedlander, acousticians PeltonMarsh Kinsella, production manager

Stéphane Mongeau, technical direc-tors Paul Bates and Matthew Whelan,vice-president/production LucPlamondon, assistant vice president,production Gabriel Pinkstone, andsenior supervisor/theatre projectsDon MacLean, among others. In addi-tion, architectural lighting wasdesigned and specified by AuerbachGlasow. The two Auerbach firms willbe familiar to readers of this maga-zine—their many credits include theJudy and Arthur Zankel Hall atCarnegie Hall, the Borgata HotelCasino and Spa in Atlantic City, andthe theatre for Zumanity, anotherCirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas.

Pelton Marsh Kinsella has providedservices for numerous theatres andperforming arts centers across thecountry as well as venues such as theGolden Moon Hotel and Casino inChoctaw, Mississippi Marnell Corraohas worked for such hotel/casinoplayers as Harrah’s, MGM/Mirage,and Wynn Design and Development.

As has already been stated, per-haps the most unique aspect of thetheatre is that it lacks a traditionalstage. Instead, the show takes placewithin a 50’ deep cavity filled withmoving scenic elements. (Accordingto Michael McMakin, project manag-er, a basement was already in place


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INSIDE THE THEATREHow a Vegas showroom was remade into the home of KÀBy David Barbour

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from the building’s previous life, but,he adds, “A fair bit of excavation wasrequired for the gantry liftingcolumns.”) Because the performanceextends into the audience, theboundaries are blurred between showand spectators, a unity that couldprobably only be achieved in a situa-tion where the theatre and set design-ers are the same person.

First, the floor area of the stagewas removed, creating an abysshousing the five stage lifts, resultingin a total of 4,950 sq. ft. of flexiblestaging area. In addition, the theatreconfiguration was altered, from acabaret space filled with booths,tables, and chairs, to a theatre thatseats 1,951 audience members. Inaddition, a new set of catwalks andgrid decking over the seating areawas added for performer access andlighting and technical systems in thefront-of-house area. The controlbooth was reconfigured to allowspace for the production’s extensivelighting, audio, projection, andautomation controls. The control suitefeatures 2,850 sq. ft. of booth spaceand 170 linear feet of glass; it offers aview of the entire performance area.

Meanwhile, the building’s infra-structure had to be totally reworkedto accommodate the production’sextensive technical needs. All spaces,including rehearsals halls, technicaloffices, training rooms, dressingrooms, shoe and costume mainte-nance areas, green rooms, and a newannex (housing Cirque du Soleiloffices, support facilities, and arehearsal room with a full-span over-head gridiron) were interconnectedwith sound, video, and communica-tions from the stage area. New struc-tural supports were added for theextensive automated rigging system,including an 82’ long hoist-supportstructure in the arbor pit, as well as a37’ long “battle-hoist” structure on

the grid. A series of new companyswitches and equipment power weredistributed throughout the theatre, forchain hoists, special effects, and spe-cialty equipment. And a new multi-tiered rigging system was developedat the grid level to allow for sophisti-cated stage automation systems.(Jaque Paquin conceptualized anddesigned, with Pierre Mase the the-atre’s rigging and acrobatic systems;project manager Jeremy Hodgson,working with Tom Neville ofAuerbach, developed the system).

Also, three high-speed data andcommunications networks wereinstalled in the space. These inde-pendent systems are set up to ensurethat the automation, lighting, andhydraulic systems can function sepa-rately and also be synchronized. Eachsystem is provided with a minimumRAID-1 shared-drive array to helpensure system redundancy.

In order to achieve many of thestaging effects discussed in the previ-ous articles, Auerbach PollockFriedlander developed an infrastruc-ture for the stage machinery toCirque’s criteria. This included a num-ber of elements, such as the fivestage lifts previously referred to. Also,40 individual counterweight-assistautomated hoists were mounted inthe newly configured arbor pit area.These hoists automate the operationof lighting pipes, special effects, cur-tains, and scenic elements. Five1,000kg specialty hoists weredesigned for flying human scenery ina circular path over the audience andback into the stage area and six1,000kg specialty hoists weredesigned for large scenic transitions.

An additional 16 high-speed hoistsare used for flying human scenery fora dynamic encounter sequenceinvolving several performers. Here isanother instance in which the per-formers control the technology: eachof them controls his or her own hoistvia a wireless controller integratedinto his or her costume. Using thissystem, one can travel up or down

at a maximum of 4’ per second.There are also 18 high-speed mooringhoists to enable the rapid deploymentof the safety nets used in the battlesequence. These hydraulic hoists candeploy the safety nets in less than 10seconds. Then there are the 80 high-speed scenic pegs, mentioned earlier,which are actuated from within theSand Cliff Deck.

The implementation of the Gantryand Sand Cliff Deck was also a groupeffort. Jay Reichgott, the systemsintegrator of McLaren Engineering,coordinated the installation, tuning,and acceptance-test procedures ofthe Gantry. Jeremy Hodgson,Cirque's automation project managerkept an eye on the project. Projectmanager David Prior coordinated thefabrication, installation, and integra-tion of the Sand Cliff Deck, workingwith Tomcat. During the acceptancetest procedures, Tom Neville ofAuerbach, served as facilitator. TheSand Cliff Deck system, the largestever installed in a theatre, makes itpossible to move a 280,000lb. scenicelement at 2’ per second.

There were extensive rigging andautomation issues to be addressed,as well. The theatre’s fly tower wasre-rigged with manual and counter-weight-assist linesets. The workingareas over the stage and audiencewere equipped to support motorizedspot winches.

Working together, the lighting staffat Cirque du Soleil, including lightingdesigner Luc Lafortune and lightingdirector Jeanette Farmer, andAuerbach Pollock Friedlander devel-oped one of the largest and mostcomplex theatrical lighting networksever designed for a single venue. Acompletely new dimmer system wasinstalled, consisting of 24 Strand SLDseries dimmer racks in three dimmerrooms. Two thousand twenty-six 20Adimmers and forty-five 50A dimmersare network-controlled. All dimmersare status-reporting, with local PCsrunning Reporter Pro for this purposein each dimmer room. In addition to


Mark Fisher’s stunning picture of the the-atre reveals many key characteristics,including the Post and Beam structure.



THE STORY OF KÀ, PART III

the main dimmer racks, two remotedimmer packs are located in theSand/Cliff Deck and are controlled viawireless Ethernet.

There is extensive distribution of20A and 50A dimmed circuits, utiliz-ing custom-fabricated plug boxes. Awide-ranging system of cable trayswas installed throughout to allowmulti-cable distribution from thesecircuit boxes to virtually any light fix-ture hanging in the theatre.Emergency power transfer to selectedarchitectural circuits is handled withsix 24-circuit, UL 1008-compliantemergency transfer panels. All net-worked power circuits for consoles,PCs, and other sensitive computer-grade components are on dedicatedcentralized UPS circuits. A large sys-tem of switched loads of 120V single-phase and 280V single-phase are dis-tributed throughout the theatre andare under network control.

Lighting control is provided by twoStrand 550i 54-submaster consoles,each with 6,000 channels and quadvideo displays; four Strand 520i 24-submaster consoles with 6,000 chan-nels and dual video displays; twoStrand 510i rack-mount consoles with6,000 channels, and two High EndSystems Wholehog II consoles withStrand ShowNet network nodes.Forty universes of DMX can be mixedand matched to any of the 100 dou-ble-network taps distributed through-out the theatre. Sixty portable SN 110nodes are available, all using powerover Ethernet ports. There are fivewireless data access points allowinguse of handheld wireless remotes,and/or a remote wireless notebookfor console video displays anywherein the theatre. (Michael Lay was proj-ect manager for Strand).

All network equipment is housed innine racks interconnected with threefully redundant fiber-optic backbones.All network switches/hubs are man-aged and patch bays are included forall taps and nodes. AMX-based cardracks are also located in the racks foruse of touch screens for network,

house, and work light controls, andnetwork video distribution electronicsfor touch screen feeds. In addition,the racks include space for systemfile servers and rack-mount consoles.Remote AMX-driven color touchscreens, in both fixed and portableconfigurations, are located throughoutthe theatre for use by stage managersand lighting technicians to control cuelights, rehearsal lights (featuring digi-tal virtual sliders) and to view remotestage video feeds.

Beyond lighting, extensive sound,video, and production communica-tions systems were designed for thespace in close cooperation withCirque du Soleil’s audio staff andJonathan Deans. The Level ControlSystems (LCS) computer-controlledaudio matrix and processing systemis in three sections: front-of-house,stage monitoring, and VRAS. Thefront of house system controls 144sources in 184 matrix outputs. LCS isalso used to control the stage moni-toring system with a 112 x 80 matrix.Modular Cue Console control sur-faces are used for sophisticated livemixing and routing control of micro-phones and other musical instru-ments and effects sources. The LCSVirtual Room Acoustics System(VRAS), as has been previously dis-cussed, is used to enhance and aug-ment room acoustics, providing real-time ability to alter reverberation timeand delay characteristics as needed,using a 40 x 128 routing matrix andspecial DSP processors.

Much more gear was specified forthe production. Eighty-eight channelsof Aphex remote-controlled micro-phone preamplifiers are provided.More than 90 primary and surroundloudspeaker systems by MeyerSound (MILO, CQ, and UPA series)Nexo (PS series), and EAW are locat-ed throughout the stage and auditori-um. Effect processors are by t.c.electronic, Presonus, dbx, KlarkTeknik, and Aphex. Sennheiser pro-vided 16 wireless mic channels.

In terms of communications sys-tems, a 72-port Clear-Com Matrix-Plus-3 digital intercom system isinterconnected with a Clear-Com72x8 analog matrix and 24 channelsof Telex wireless intercom. More than16 channels of in-ear monitors and 10IFB monitor channels feed 100receivers. Backstage monitoring isprovided by a BSS Soundweb com-puter-controlled monitoring and pag-ing system. The lobby playback sys-tems use Tascam 2424 hard-driveplayers and BSS Soundweb comput-er control and routing systems, whichfeed Electro-Voice special effectsloudspeakers. Custom theatre seatingwas supplied by Irwin Seating; asLeonard Auerbach himself notes,“The customized chairs were criticalto the integration of a stereo pair ofloudspeakers for each patron con-cealed in the back of each seat.”

Also, more than 25 production

In Fisher’s design, even though the the-atre is quite large, it retains a notablesense of intimacy.

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fixed-focus and remote-controllablecolor video cameras are routedthrough a modulated video system formonitoring performers, musicians,and critical backstage systems. AnFM assisted-listening system for thehearing-impaired is provided.

The theatre is designed to providelighting that will begin transportingaudience members to the magicalworld of KÀ as soon as they enter thetheatre. Guests enter from the casinointo a dark, low-ceiling space withlights the color of glowing embers.Large tree trunks, banded with light,marks the edge of the main lobby,where the ceiling soars to expose thefull height of a wall, which appears tobe an inverted ancient ship’s hull.Colored light plays on the surface ofthe vessel wall. Before the perform-ance, musicians located in the treesplay the strings of a giant harp.

The main lobby theatrical lighting,designed and project-managed byFarmer (drawing inspiration fromFisher and Lafortune) is provided byETC units, using color and patternprojectors to light the floors, metalmesh wall curtains, and stringedharp. ETC Source Four Zooms lightthe vessel wall. Other Source FourZooms with gels light the lengths ofthe harp strings. Mole-RichardsonNooklites mounted to the exposedstructural beams are inspired by thePost and Beam design. Surface-mounted MR16 monopoints, by BKLighting, are recessed into the floor toreinforce the shape of the curvedglass wall and uplight the glass fins.

Openings in the vessel wall led tothe concession counters and publicrest rooms. These spaces have anindustrial feel, with metallic paintedfinishes and glow acrylic panels in

the ceiling, walls, and the fronts ofthe counters. Fluorescent strips withdimming ballast and T8 lamps aremounted so as to be visible behindthe acrylic panels. Prescoliterecessed adjustable MR16 down-lights with colored lenses light thecounters. Compact Shaper Lightingfluorescent sconces with dimmingballast create a sense of glowingportholes leading to the rest rooms.

Entering the audience chamberfrom the lobby, one passes through asheet of saturated blue light into aglowing blue entry vestibule. Theblue light is created by a fiber-opticnarrow beam wall-grazer by GlassIlluminations mounted in the ceilingbehind the first set of doors.Mounted on the ceiling line at theside walls are Color KineticsColorBlaze fixtures with blue LEDs tofill the void with blue light. RecessedPrescolite adjustable MR16 units withblue glass filters provide pools oflight at the entry doors.

In the audience chamber, the rampis lit with Architectural Area LightingOcculus fixtures above the entrydoors. Architectural MR16 and PARlamp fixtures are integrated into thePost and Beam structures. Thehouse lighting system uses KurtVersen fixtures mounted halogendownlights, each customized with ayoke and top relamping feature. Thefixtures are mounted to the technicalcatwalks above the house and havenarrow or medium distributionsbased on throw distances. ETCSource Four PARs mounted to thePost and Beam structure andPrescolite recessed adjustable down-lights under the control booths sup-plement the catwalk fixtures to pro-vide uniform lighting. Bega low-volt-

age halogen step lights are recessedinto the walls for egress lighting.Tivoli warm white LED seat lighting,on dimmers, provides egress lightingduring the performance. (Again, divi-sion of labor was key; Auerbach’shouse lighting system, with theexception of the Occulus fixtures anda few others, is mostly used as worklight; Lafortune designed the pre-show lighting).

All this happened in a very short12-month schedule. It’s another caseof typical Cirque magic, with a littlehelp from their friends.

An early Fisher sketch shows the absenceof a stage with one of the deck’s rising up,bearing performers and scenery.

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the design the technology the architecture€¦ · the design the technology the architecture...

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