The strength of Unusual is in the diversity of technical skills that come together to create practical solutions for production companies. In early 1998, Unusual was approached by Apollo Productions to assist in the realisation of Doctor Dolittle at Labatts Apollo Hammersmith. This project was clearly going to test the breadth of the disciplines offered by Unusual, as well as the physical ability to produce the necessary solutions to time. The client’s requirement was to suspend all scenery, lighting and sound equipment. In addition, the brief included the automation of various pieces of scenery and one particular prop. The combination of variety, size and weight of all the equipment was more than one would normally expect for a musical, and inevitably, some creative technical solutions were going to be needed.

The first process was to carry out a detailed survey of the building and match the findings with the production designer’s drawings, using computer aided design software. This would give early indications as to the complexity of the job ahead. The project split into two parts; the first being infrastructure alterations to accommodate the production design and the second being work specifically related to the production itself. The amount of scenery and technical equipment to be flown above the stage was such that the positioning of diverters, pulleys and spotlines on the grid would require work of extreme precision to prevent any unnecessary scenery collision. Over the auditorium, two combination lighting/follow spot platforms were to be suspended. There were also the conventional requirements for hanging lighting truss and speakers. A false proscenium with an integral trap and metre wide walkway across the top of it was to be hung downstage of the original proscenium to gain extra stage space for the production. The weight of this piece was such that custom steelwork was installed to create the hanging points.

The production includes an animated moth ridden by Phillip Schofield, suspended from a vehicle travelling on a monorail with a defined route tracing the side of the building to the back of the upper circle and down to the front of the false proscenium. The vehicle weight would be in the region of 800 kilograms and the track in the region of 2500 kilograms. The combination of the weight of the track and the vehicle would mean that the monorail would have to be suspended from a large number of evenly spaced points. The identification and installation of what turned out to be 150 points in the roof structure above the auditorium was both difficult and time consuming involving the manufacturing of a large number of steels and steel wire bridles. At the back of the dress circle there is a garage and access point for the vehicle via the projection box. The garage is a 20 square metre truss platform. Underneath the monorail construction, the steelwork on the front of the dress circle needed extending to accommodate a walkway, which continues along the side walls of the building, above the stalls exits and down to the forestage.
The venue suffered from insufficient storage space and Unusual subsequently designed, built and installed three steel framed platforms upstage of the scenery above the stage. They are suspended on their front edges and anchored to the back wall of the stage. A pallet lift system was installed to meet the storage platforms for transferring equipment and scenery. A variety of automated solutions were sought for scenery. Iris sliders are driven by underfloor cabling with spades, large graphics panels are rotated by motorised swivels and soft drapes are controlled on motorised tab tracks. Current on encapsulated conductor rails control both the lateral movement of the monorail vehicle as well as the vertical movement of the moth suspended from the vehicle. Unusual has also integrated a radio controlled solution for the moth’s animatronics . Particular attention has been paid to making sure that the control of lateral vehicle movement should include an element of compensation to avoid excessive swing of the moth on starting and stopping. The software to control the movement of all of these pieces was written by Unusual and the production realisation is by one operator on a single PC.

This project has made extensive use of Unusual’s three main disciplines of Rigging, Engineering and Manufacturing. They have been serviced by Unusual’s design department, who have done detailed survey work and produced hundreds of drawings. Unusual’s automation specialists have played a major part in realising the ambitions of the production team and all the steelwork has been fabricated in-house. The installation of all of these technical facilities, as well as many more aspects of the production not within the remit of Unusual, have combined to produce a unique theatrical environment where the audience will be drawn in to the production in an unprecedented way.

PRESS REVIEWS

“The biggest scene-stealer is a giant lunar moth, which swoops Dolittle down from the ceiling in the finale.”
Tony Purnell, Daily Mirror 15/7
“…the Giant Sea Snail and the Lunar Moth slither and fly off with maximum ooh-aah points on the Gasp-o-meter”
Max Bell, Evening Standard 15/7
“Steven Pimlott’s production of Dr. Dolittle is an almost unbelievable success”
David Benedict, Independent 15/7
“As pure spectacle, it’s a triumph”
Robert Gore-Langton, The Express 15/7
“I frequently found myself smiling with childlike, indeed at times downright fatuous, pleasure.”
Charles Spencer, Daily Telegraph 15/7
“…the final descent of Dolittle on a luminescent giant moth that flies over the audience like a flapping, glittering biplane alone is worth seeing.”
Michael Coveney, Daily Mail 15/7
“So good are the animatronics that all disbelief is willingly suspended.”
“Just as you think the show has exhausted all the visual treats, it also manages to trump it’s own ace.”
Michael Billington, Guardian 15/7