Hugh Jackman

HUGH JACKMAN: THE MAN. THE MUSIC. THE SHOW.

In a production equal parts musical theatre, cabaret, and rock ‘n’ roll, A-list actor, Hugh Jackman, brought his talents to the stage for a world tour documenting his life, bookmarked by songs chaptering the stages of his musical career. TPi’s Stew Hume was on site at Glasgow’s Hydro Arena to find out more…

Opposite: Caption.

When it comes to Hugh Jackman, many have their own individual preconceptions of his persona. I, for one, am more accustomed to seeing him with adamantium claws protruding from his fists than on stage breaking into a musical number. I was intrigued to see what the 50-yearold – yes, 50 – actor could produce with a two-hour set promising insight and entertainment. It was night three of an already extremely well-received tour beginning at The SSE Hydro Arena. As he tap-danced to Thunderstruck, having reprised his role as Jean Valjean from Les Misérables and performed an entire segment as the flamboyant Peter Allen, the extent of this man’s repertoire became evident.

Production Manager, David Wright welcomed TPi to the venue. During an extensive tour of the production and meeting a number of the key members of crew, the gargantuan team effort required to bring this show to fruition was showcased proudly – alongside this true amalgamation of rock ‘n’ roll touring and the diligence of theatre.

Wright was poised at the centre of it all. “I originally got my start in theatre,” he explained, as he discussed bridging the gap between these once disparate worlds. “I’ve also done 32 years of rock ‘n’ roll touring.” Wright was brought into the fold by Tour Director, Dan McGee, and tasked with joining the pieces together from the helm of production. “This show is really the story of Hugh Jackman’s life,” the PM mused. “Hugh has been clear from the beginning this world tour is really something to tick off the bucket list. He had done a similar show in Australia in 2015 but this is a completely different scale under the creative eye of Creative Director, Warren Carlyle.”

Since December, Wright and the creatives in place worked tirelessly to turn the show into a reality. The PM, upon taking on the tour, was rushed to London for a roundtable with Lighting Designer Patrick Woodroffe of Woodroffe Bassett Design, Ray Winkler from Stufish, and Lee Brooks from Brilliant Stages, he recalled. Following the initial months of planning, Wright assembled his roster of suppliers; Solotech provided video and audio, Neg Earth covered lighting, rigging and automation, Brilliant Stages for

staging while Unisson Structures provided video scenic. Finally, supplying a comms solution for the tour was Surfhire. Throughout the entire tour the communication specialists provided the new Mark 5 Print Pod based IT system for backstage along with Hytera walkie talkies. The company also provided global RF licensing for the production.

With a large creative force behind the production, Wright said the key to bringing all the elements together was “a lot of correspondence” with a weekly production group call every single Friday. He elaborated: “As this show’s a hybrid of Broadway and rock ‘n’ roll, we wanted to ensure we had experts in each field every step of the way. The first person on those group calls throughout the whole process was Hugh. He’s so in-tune with the whole process and interested in every aspect of the creation.”

During discussions about collaboration, Wright was eager to praise CAD Technical Designer, Malcolm Birkett, working behind the scenes he was “invaluable,” to Wright and the rest of the production. “He liased with each department to develop designs including rigging, lighting, video and audio to give a complete picture of the show,” stated the PM.

SET DESIGN The stage itself was a wide-open performance area with a truss extending out into the audience. With the band and orchestra situated upstage, there was plenty of room for Jackman and the troupe of dancers to perform. Further upstage, a selection of LED cubes which the production affectionately referred to as the Hollywood Squares, partnered a pair of left and right IMAG screens.

Speaking Stufish involvement with the production was Alicia Tkacz. “It was clear from the very beginning that the stage had to be large enough to accommodate the live orchestra, dancers and guest choirs that would join in each city,” she began discussing the early production meetings with Director, Warren Carlyle. “From the outset we also knew that video would play a big part in the overall visual language of the show. We also discussed that the general aesthetic of the show should be contemporary, but also

that the plan was to have an aboriginal part which in contrast needed to feel more natural and environmental.” Like the other creative involved in the project, Tkacz waxed lyrical about the collaborative process through out creation of the show. “The project was extremely collaborative, and it has been a real pleasure to work with such a talented team. From the beginning, Hugh’s positivity and friendly nature also played a large and important part in ensuring this project, from the initial design to the show itself, was a pleasurable experience for all involved.”

One of the main challenges for Tkacz and the team was to ensure that the stage design could work well with the wide variety of genres that were outlined in the initial scrip from the classical feel of a Broadway musical to the cool contemporary aesthetic of a city and the natural feel of a landscape.

“The Hollywood squares initially came from the notion of the geometries of the old Victorian theatre and the early circus, where the vertical space was divided into boxes for audience to observe the shows,” stated Tkacz while discussing the large upstage video section. It was clear these video squares would reflect the vibrant musical atmosphere and could be used in multiple ways with lights and video content to create various environments for a truly dynamic performance. Our collaboration with the lighting and video teams really enhanced the squares to become a canyon that engulfed ‘The Sun’, an 8m diameter screen in the centre that completed the landscape.”

THE BUILD Brilliant Stages created the stage infrastructure and while the remaining video facade around the Hollywood Square was provided by Unisson Structures.

Discussing Brilliant Stages involvement with the production was Director Ben Brooks and Project Manager Jordan Whittemore. “It’s always great to collaborate with Stufish,” began Brooks, who explained how the Hugh Jackman projected coincide with the development with another collaboration with Take That’s latest arena tour. “In total it was around an eight week build for this one,” commented Brooks. “But we had the added benefit that the production was rehearsing at Production Park so we were able to continue to work on some of the other elements of the set build.” “Scott and Sam who manage the studio studied our extensive needs and

accommodated all of our requirements,” commented Wright. “Also within the infrastructure of LS Live we were supported with additional furnishings, ground transfers and local hotel connections. Hugh particularly enjoyed the location as it lacked distractions and encouraged a focused rehearsal period. And the style of rehearsals was well structured using the 24/7 access afforded and staffed by LS Live to the full.” The PM also noting how “invaluable” it was to have Brilliant Stages’ workshop across the courtyard. “As with many productions there were remedial changes made as we went through rehearsals. Some of the changes were fairly major and Brilliant Stages stepped up and delivered according to our needs and schedule.

Whittemore picked up the story. “In total it was an eight-week build,” he commented. “From a distance it might look quite complex but thankfully we were able to incorporate a lot of our standard kit to make it work.” Both Brooks and Whittemore explained how the production wanted the design to be a wide as possible not to mention with a long thrust that extended out into the audience. But according to Whittemore, the design got even more interesting underneath. “Under the mezzanine there is a fully functional tech area for quick changes for the dancers and a private room for Hugh,” he explained. “All these areas are usually set out behind the stage but having them in the belly of the set meant there were shorter cables runs and kept the set more organised.”

Harlequin Floors were called upon by Brilliant Stages to provided over 1000m 2 of Hi-Shine black vinyl flooring for the set. The company also installed the vinyl onto the decks. The Hi-Shine floor rolled out easily and provided a glossy finish with PET coating, allowing for scratch resistant and very durable surface, perfect for tour that included everything from large prop moves to tap dancing.

Interestingly, as TPi spoke the staging specialist explained that work on the second stage for the tour was nearly complete. “It all came down to cost,” Wright chimed. “We also looked at the cost of shipping one stage across the world but due to the time schedule would have resulted in air freighting the whole show for some of the moves.” Simply put, it was more cost effective for Wright to commission Brilliant to construct another stage to be sent to America while the European stage – after the last date – would be straight on a boat to Australia. All freighting needs for the tour were catered for by Sound Moves.

Dealing with the various stage elements each day was Head Carpenter,

Andy Turner who oversaw the team of eight across two systems. “After the European run this stage will be shipped to Australia with a second going to America.” The carpenter was quick to compliment both Unisson Structures and Brilliant for being able to pull off the challenging build. “The relationship between Brilliant and Unisson has been really good. It’s not the simplest build as a lot of the set elements and curved and at different angles. When it came time to put the mezzanine performance area and the screens together, it fit perfectly. Initially, I was fairly concerned it wouldn’t be possible, the hard work has paid off.”

Elsewhere, handling rigging duties was Jules Grommers. The Head Rigger spoke to TPi about his 105-point show and his daily process. “It’s not so much the size of the show that’s an issue on this one, it’s the design which is relatively complicated,” explained Grommers, before outlining the lack of straight lines and abundance of curves and diagonal trusses. “The result of this from my end is that there is very little flexibility to move things around.” Despite challenges, the Head Rigger said the long rehearsal time provided him with the ideal opportunity to look ahead, enthusing: “I’m almost set all the way up to our New Zealand dates later this year!”

Aiding Grommers each day was his second in command Andy Chapman along with a daily call of 28 local riggers. “It’s a lot of locals, for sure, but my justification is that some of the venues have a lot of bridals,” Grommers reasoned. “During load-in, I need to be on hand to fix anything when it’s happening. The last thing I want to do is slow down the load-in process, especially with some of the earlier starts we have on this run with several matinee performances.” Neg Earth satisfied all rigging needs for the tour, including EXE-Rise Chain Hoists. Meanwhile, automation for the large circular LED screen – dubbed ‘the sun’ by the touring crew – was set into place via a Kinesys system. “I’ve collaborated with Neg on a whole host of shows and our good relationship has certainly been beneficial on this one,” Grommers concluded.

LIGHTING As luck would have it, Lighting Designer, Patrick Woodroffe was on site

at The SSE Hydro while TPi was meeting the crew. He got the design conversation rolling with a little walk down memory lane. This was not Woodroffe’s first encounter with Jackman. The pair worked together on the 2008 production of Boy From OZ and have since kept in touch, reflected Woodroffe, clearly enthused about joining forces once again with the actor.

“This show is very much a hybrid production and the sort of thing we enjoy working on,” commented Woodroffe. “It has the energy of rock ‘n’ roll with the discipline of musical theatre.” The LD then cited the collaborative climate as the secret to such a multimedia show. “This project has been a very satisfactory collaboration with a creative team from very disparate backgrounds and between us all I think we’ve made something quite different. Ultimately what makes the show so viable has been Hugh’s part in it. He’s a charismatic performer but he’s also a considered and intelligent one. He plays out his different personas - opera, tap, comedy, period, highcamp - so convincingly that all the work that we have done to reflect these different genres in the lighting and the video content, becomes perfectly viable and completely believable.” Completing the lighting design team were WBD’s long-time theatrical associate, Robert Casey and Lighting Programmer, Christopher Hirst.

Lighting Operator, Jason Fripp handled the show on the road. From behind an MA Lighting grandMA3 desk at FOH, he discussed some of the technology deployed on the rig, which consisted of Claypaky Scenius Unicos and B-Eye K25s as well as Ayrton Khamsin-Ss and Astera AX5s. Also present were Color Kinetics iW Blast 12TRs and PDS-375s. “One of the highlights has been the Khamsis-S,” commented Fripp. “It’s a phenomenal light. They are super bright, I still can’t believe it’s LED.” The Operator added the Robe 150s on the back wall were able to configure looks and follow Hugh thanks to the zactrack system, which he dubbed “an increasable stable system” before discussing the decision to opt for this particular tracking software. “It’s based on RF which sets it apart. Collectively, there were 14 zactrack, anchors set out on the stage. Receivers were placed on each of Hugh’s shoulders as well as the dancers’ shoulders.” Overseeing

Production Manager, David Wright; Head Carpenter, Andy Turner; Lighting Designer, Patrick Woodroffe; Head Rigger Jules Grommers ; the hard working Video team; FOH Engineer Simon Sayer, Sound Designer Colin Pink and System Tech, Alexandre Bibeau.

the zactrack system was Lighting Technician, Jeroen Depaepe. With his tablet in hand, Depaepe walked TPi through the intricacies of the system. “Originally, we were going to have a lighting desk set up on the stage but after rehearsals we found it was much simpler to just used the tablet to configure the lights to each of the anchor points to give us full coverage of the stage. It means Hugh can go to any point and the lights will still follow him.” In total the production calibrated a jaw-dropping 201 fixtures with the ability to track a performer on stage at any point. “Initially, I was wary of implementing automated tracking,” Woodroffe said, moments before admitting he had been converted to the practice. “It’s only going to be a few short years until we have young people entering the industry who wouldn’t believe we used to send people up a ladder and manually do spots,” he laughed, as conversation turned back to Fripp and his relationship with lighting supplier Neg Earth. “I’ve worked with them a number of times, most recently with the Asian Games. They have provided a great package along with four hardworking crew members.”

VIDEO In video world, TPi was greeted by two familiar faces; Video Director, George Elizondo and Video Crew Chief, Tyler Raphalian. Last time TPi crossed paths with the pair was on the last Red Hot Chili Peppers tour. Despite the divergent setting, Elizondo asserted this tour was a “real pleasure” during the opening night, he was stopped by an usher. Upon discovering the VD was part of the crew, the usher professed that during their six-year long tenure at The SSE Hydro, it was the best production she had ever seen, “clearly all our hard work in rehearsals paid off!”

Interestingly, this was not Elizondo’s first show with Jackman. “I did a small run with him back in 2015 in Australia. That tour was a similar vibe to this one, although on a very different scale. I remember I left wishing it could have been longer so when Warren got in touch to see if I was interested it wasn’t a difficult decision.”

The Video Director went on to outline his role within the show. “My responsibility is to help tell the story,” he stated, matter-of-factly. “With each part of the show, Hugh discusses another period of his career or life. I then try and translate all these elements - from embodying Peter Allen to

telling stories about his wife and kids - onto the screens.” The screens themselves consisted of two Saco products with the rear wall and flanking side screens made of the S9 9mm product and the automated circular screen from the S6 6mm version. LED Technician, Krystena Lee Rice elaborated: “The Saco screen is very sturdy and, so far, we haven’t had any major issues,” she began. “I actually used it on its first official tour with Bruno Mars so have got used to them over the years. In an update they made the product lighter which is useful for us on the road.”

Raphalian further discussed the camera package used on the tour. “We have 2 FOH cameras and 2 in the pit area, both of which are Grass Valley models. Then we have 2 sets of Panasonic 4K robo cameras.” Raphalian also championed the Losmandy Spider Dolly system. Combined with Losmandy FlexTrak, the simple 3-Leg Spider Dolly converts a tripod into an inexpensive, extremely portable, tracking camera dolly. “It’s effectively a rubber hose, so we can flex it into any shape we want and curve it around the truss,” explained Elizondo, palpably excited about avoiding the need for a heavy traditional rail system.

At FOH - with a disguise media server setup - Andréanne Lafrance oversaw 2 gx2s which handled content throughout the performance. Fresh from the recent Justin Timberlake tour, Lafrance is more than familiar with the capabilities of the disguise range. “In the last tour, I used them for projection, but this is my first run using them with LED,” stated the Media Server operator, joking she didn’t miss the daily video mapping. “In terms of the show the side screens are mainly used for IMAG save a few songs. We’ve also used Notch to produce several effects.”

Content for the show, like many other aspects, was a collaborative process. “One of our main contributors was 4U2C,” commented Wright. “We also had Treatment in the UK produce several pieces. But all these elements were carefully overseen by Patrick and our Creative Director Warren Carlyle.”

AUDIO Alongside many of the visual creatives on the scene early doors was Colin Pink, the tour’s Sound Designer. “By the time I came on board, Colin was already in place,” stated Wright. “He was the one who put forward FOH

Playback Technician, Mike Hiratzka; Monitor Engineer, Seamus Fenton; zactrack Operator Jeroen Depaepe and Lighting Operator, Jason Fripp.

Engineer Simon Sayer and Monitor Engineer Seamus Fenton - and for good reason as both of them are excellent. Not only do they both have experience with live orchestras, they understand the discipline of theatre.” Pink took up the story: “Even though most know Hugh as an actor who occasionally worked in musical theatre, the show we have produced really is quite theatrical. It’s been a lot of fun as it’s so diverse. During the evening you hear songs from Carousel to Les Misérables and The Greatest Showman.” That being said, Pink was quick to note plenty of rock ‘n’ roll elements in the show. “You just have to listen to the audience volumes from the last few nights. It peaked at 105dBa!”

To compete with the raucous Jackman fans, Pink and the audio department selected an extensive L-Acoustics system comprising of 16 K2s and 14 K2s per side. For both left and right rear hangs 12 KARAs were deployed along with 6 KS28 flown subs. On the ground, 2 KS28s were placed under the truss with a front fill design consisting of 8 X8s and 8 5XTs. Finally, and when needed, a delay setup was also at the production’s disposal with 3 hangs each of 8 KARAs. A total of 48 LA12X amplifiers were used to power the rig with a drive system made up of 2 P1 processors.

“I’ve always loved L-Acoustics,” Pink nodded, explaining why the PA brand was the ideal choice for the project. “They behave beautifully when they are loud and quiet and due to the dynamic range of this show this was essential.”

Joining Jackman on stage each night was a whole host of musicians, including a full band, featuring strings, brass and woodwind sections. You would be forgiven for thinking one of Pink’s goals would be to direct as much sound away from the stage as possible. However, according to the Sound Designer, it was quite the opposite. “When you think of an orchestra in a traditional sense, the goal is to create an audio bleed with each aspect melding into one another. That’s the aim of the X12s on stage; to bring the sound image down and replicate the blend.”

Overseeing the deployment of the PA each day was System Tech, Alexandre Bibeau. The qualified L-Acoustics KSE Engineer talked to TPi about some of his daily responsibilities. “Well, top of my list is to keep our FOH engineer happy,” he laughed. “Other than that, my main concern is to keep the room sounding constant so there is no more than an 6dB gap between front and back.”

For audio, DiGiCo’s SD7 Quantum was the first choice for both monitors and FOH. Monitor Engineer, Seamus Fenton listed the benefits of the latest upgrade: “Speaking frankly, we wouldn’t be able to do this show with a normal SD7 just in terms of horse power and not being able to deal with these kind of numbers.” This is not the first time Fenton had worked on a show of this ilk, having worked on last year’s Game of Thrones; Live Concert Experience. “Then, I had an SD5 with an SD9 doing a sub mix to oversee the orchestra and the choir. But when it came to this tour, I knew I would need a desk with more power. I’m happy to say, with the Quantum, the desks are so powerful all the inputs and outputs don’t eat into one another like they used to.” Fenton was dealing with 170 inputs with 32 stereo and 45 mono mixes. “Even with these large numbers, the Quantum still has some processing power left over.”

Fenton’s positivity towards the DiGiCo didn’t stop with the processing power. “The control group trim is arguably one of the best monitor engineer buttons. If I fire a snapshot and an input change, I can still ride them all at the same time. This means, for example, I can pull down the bands and emphasise the rhythm section.”

Expanding to his wider control servers, Fenton also made use of Waves C6 Multiband Compressor plugin. Sitting below the console was a new element to Fenton live set up, the Cedar DNS8 Live. “It was recommended by Sam Smith’s monitor engineer,” he explained. Essentially, you put a microphone in the centre of the stage with the PA running and you hold the ‘learn’ button. You can turn down the room at the source on the ears which means reverb works better.”

Also talking about his mixing style was FOH Engineer, Simon Sayer. “My main prerogative is to oversee Hugh’s vocals and make it exciting while following the dynamics of the show,” he commented. “We have a TC Electronic 6000 doing a lot of the reverbs. I’ve also been using a selection of mastering algorithms which have helped in mixing the playback and the live orchestra together.”

For Jackman’s vocal microphone, the audio department decided to go for two different solutions; a Sennheiser HSP 4 headset microphone and a handheld option with the 9235 capsule with a Sennheiser 6000 series. “Due to the variety of performances, we wanted to give him the option for both a handheld and a headset,” stated Pink. “I did a fair deal of research

deciding what would work best for his voice. I landed on the Sennheiser HSP 4 due to their consistency when he’s dancing. The rejection of other noise is astounding. Honestly, I’m not sure if I’ll ever use another headset.”

For an IEM point of view, Jackman was put in Ultimate Ear Lives with a Shure PSM 1000 system. “The show involves many b-stage moments, we wanted to keep everything as tight as possible, meaning IEM were the only real option,” commented Pink.

Elsewhere on the stage, an Aviom D800-Dante A360 system gave some of the musicians more control over their independent mix. “In total we have 32 lines of Aviom,” explained Fenton. “Each personal mixer on stage is unique and take their own line out. I created a basic sub mix with most of the musicians going for my original set up.”

Along with dealing with the myriad of mixes from the stage, Fenton also had “a big old shout system,” to contend with. “Each member of the band has shout mics which goes to me and the backline techs,” outlined Fenton. “They all have push-to-talk foot switches, the mics are not left open. Then our MD also has one where we have one with an Optogate sensor.

“It’s certainty a busy show,” laughed Fenton after listing all the various elements of his elaborate set up. “There are so many cue and mic switches throughout the show and I’m ridding Hugh’s mix constantly dropping in reverb when he’s singing.” Along with dealing with his mix, the Monitor Engineer explained the importance of the actor’s audience mix. “Its very high on my priority list because he loves to interact with the crowd,” commented Fenton. “I’ve littered a selection of microphones along the walkway to give him the best coverage possible.” The microphone in questions was the Audio-Technica AT897. During those moment of audience interplay, Fenton, from his stage left, surveyed the crowd and pushing the relevant macros to the area of the crowd the person was speaking to him.”

PLAYBACK Situated just in front of monitor world was the tour’s Playback Technician, Mike Hiratzka. Another veteran of the Justin Timberlake touring party, Hiratzka spoke of his entry into the Jackman production. “The tour director

on this show was our accountant on JT, and when it was pitched to me it sounded like good fun. I’ve never really done a Broadway style show before, having mostly done pop shows up until now. It’s been a bit of a learning curve but a great experience.”

In terms of Playback elements, one of the main additions was the recorded orchestral tracks that filled out the live orchestra and provides some constancy in the variety of venues the production was due to pass through. Hiratzka and the rest of the audio department opted to use QLab as a control system. “QLab was the ideal choice as it allows you to have the flexibility in terms of timing when dealing with the timecode for the show,” commented Hiratzka.

On top of handling the playback elements, Hiratzka had an additional role of overseeing an autocue that Jackman had for one partially complex element of the show. “When he performs the song, I’ve been everywhere, he resigned a whole list of towns and cities from the country he is currently performing. It really is just a safety net as his memorisation skills are incredible.”

Much like Jackman himself, the worlds of theatre and rock ‘n’ roll touring must battle public preconception. It’s only fitting, then, for an entertainer with such a diverse range, be the talent to bring together these realms in perfect harmony. TPi Photos: Andrew Benge & TPi www.hughjackmantheshow.com www.stufish.com www.brilliantstages.com www.unissonstructures.com www.solotech.com www.colinpinksound.com www.negearth.com www.stagetruck.com www.beatthestreet.net

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