Held in the prestigious Royal Theater Carré in Amsterdam, the third annual Amateur Musical Awards featured lighting design by Coen van der Hoeven, who specified a large High End Systems rig for the show, including 16 SolaSpot 2000s, 40 SolaSpot 1000s, six SHAPESHIFTER C1s, 20 UNO and Hog 4 control.

The team’s production time was only one day, so Coen’s challenge was to get a show with 250 performers, 16 piece orchestra and 17 show numbers up and running in just a few hours. The LD also had to reckon with a live television broadcast. He explains, “We put together a group of the best specialists in theatre. V-Productions took care of delivering the equipment, together with AED Group Holland. Their board operator Kaj van Dijk programmed the Hog 4, and we ran the show on WYSIWYG during the dress rehearsal in a sports hall. Our Crew Chief Tijs Winters was stolen from Stage Entertainment Holland!”

Coen says he required a ‘smart lighting rig, not complicated to construct, and with not too many different kinds of spotlights’. “The spots needed to be versatile, reliable and with lots of output. I didn’t want both wash and spot fixtures, but a spot that could do both – this is why I chose the SolaSpots.” The SolaSpot 2000’s were placed right above the stage and on the floor behind the orchestra, along with the 1000’s as side lighting above the orchestra and, most importantly, in and behind the five metre AMA logo. “I really like the vivid, rich colours of the SolaSpots and the very original gobo package. I haven’t seen better colours in LED spots, especially when it comes to lighting people. And the SolaSpots’ quiet operation is a big advantage in theatre.”

An avid user since the Hog 2 days, Coen’s preferred console platform is the Hog 4. “There is no system with a better and more intuitive effects engine, and the way Hog handles timing of literally every parameter is the best. It is fantastic that the whole range communicates and is exchangeable. The Hog 4 flagship model is a very powerful tool on big live shows like the AMAs,where I use a separate page for each song or part of the award ceremony – the motorised faders are a must! And the fact that we kept our spare computer in its case says everything; with the Hog 4 I am confident that there isn’t going to be any trouble.”

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