PRG Europe has supplied lighting for the relit Tosca at London’s Royal Albert Hall, which ran until Sunday 9th March. Lit by Andy Bridge, Puccini’s passionate tale of love and betrayal thrilled audiences and critics alike when it was first performed in February 1999.

Andy says: “Although this is a reproduction and relighting, it needed a lot of refining. A lot of the equipment we used nine years ago is no longer in normal use, so we had to go to PRG Europe’s demo studio with the show file and lighting plots, and compare old with new – a mammoth task.”

Andy, who worked with assistant Mike Odam, is using Vari-Lite luminaires, as well as some 200 ETC Source Fours with Wybron colour scrollers, on the show. The moving light programming was by John Harris on a PRG Europe-supplied Wholehog II, while static lighting is by Dan Last on a Strand 520.

“Nine years ago,” continues Andy, “we still preferred not to rely on moving lighting, but now we can be more confident about its abilities. For example, we can now do effective colour mixing, and the luminaires are both brighter and quieter.

“Having only two days to put the package together in the Hall was a real challenge, but having PRG Europe as a supplier was reassuring – people like Peter Marshall and Alan Thomson have the knowledge and theatre heritage; while the company has the infrastructure and backup more usually associated with a rock ’n’ roll supplier.”

The fact that PRG has a large amount of resources to call upon means it still has old luminaires in stock as well as plenty of new models, so Andy could not only put the two side by side but could also be confident that the company would be able to put the kit together at speed.

Peter Marshall, project manager for PRG Europe, says: “With just a couple of days in which to get the lighting up and running, everything had to be just right. Because we have such a large stock of kit, and we double check everything before it leave the premises, we know it’s all going to be working on arrival, maximising the time that Andy and his team have to focus and program.

“It was great to be working with chief electrician Ian Bagshaw, who ran a crew of nine for the event. He’s been involved with all the operas that Raymond Gubbay have put on with PRG Europe at the Royal Albert Hall, so is a real authority on the venue. His knowledge is second to none.”