UNUSUAL - abnormal, amazing, astonishing, atypical, awe-inspiring, awesome, bizarre, conspicuous, curious, different, distinguished, eminent, exceptional, extraordinary, far out, important, inconceivable, incredible, memorable, noteworthy, odd, outstanding, phenomenal, prodigious, prominent, rare, refreshing, remarkable, significant, singular, something else*, special, strange, surprising, uncommon, unconventional, unexpected, unfamiliar, unique, unparalleled, unwont
Over the past couple of decades, one company in particular stands out when it comes to accepting a baffling array of challenges. The roots of Unusual are in theatre and live music, which is as good as any when ones existence relies on delivering to deadlines. The ‘curtain up’ discipline is totally engrained and second nature. Unusual is not alone. Many companies behind the scenes in the entertainment and presentation industry are interdependent. Unusual is one of the host of companies, which evolved from technical theatre and flourished in the fertile fields of productivity from Cameron Mackintosh, Andrew Lloyd Webber and many others in the 1980’s. 21 years on, the team at Unusual along with many others wish to congratulate Les Miserables on its 21st.
Unusual retains its influence in the theatre with what can only be described as a phenomenal output of work in 2006. Harking back to those extraordinary days in the 80’s, Unusual continues its association with Cats, Starlight Express and Miss Saigon with the touring productions. Such is the scale of these shows, that they don’t quite fit neatly into touring venues, which in many cases were fitted out to stage shows where the scenery was predominantly canvas flats and cloths. Heaven forbid that a show should tour with a truckful of cloths these days! Unusual’s role is one where they find solutions to enable all flying elements to fit into the touring venues. Neither enviable nor easy, the challenges vary from week to week and the substantial team led by Simon Stone on the delivery side and Jeremy Featherstone on the design side manage to shoehorn the shows in to the venues so that the curtain goes up on time. In addition to the hits of the 80’s on tour, Unusual also looks after Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, My Fair Lady and Mamma Mia! which has been touring around the world, treading a path hitherto untrod by British Musical Theatre. Notwithstanding the touring work, Unusual are also presented with the challenge of fitting ever bigger shows with sets on steroids into West End theatres, where the buildings were never designed to accommodate such enormous hanging loads. This year has been a bumper year for musicals and Unusual have played their part in bringing shows such as Sinatra, Avenue Q, Evita, Wicked, the Sound of Music and Porgy and Bess to the stage as well as moving Chicago into the Cambridge Theatre.
Good News though. Theatre owners continue to invest in their property portfolios and there is a steady stream of refurbishment going on across the country. With a solid theatre background, Unusual are much sought after in the world of technical theatre refurbishment. The experience of working with so many different shows in such a wide variety of venues produces a thorough understanding of the needs of both the venue and the touring production manager. Absolutely crucial in any flying system refurbishment is the need to provide the optimum working solution for the venue and to deliver the work on time.
Over the past couple of years, Unusual have completed installation projects at The Empire in Sunderland, The Unicorn in London and both The Playhouse and The Theatre Royal in Newcastle. Other installation projects have been carried out in a range of smaller venues around the country.
The most recent installation project has been the new flying system at The Theatre Royal in Newcastle. Like other similar projects, the general idea is to fit the work into the dark period over the summer. By any standards, the refurbishment programme was massive - virtually gutting the stage area. The project team of Simon Tiernan, Mike Philpott and Chris Johnson scheduled both the removal of existing flying facilities and the new installation with meticulous attention to detail. Time was tight with three weeks to remove the old flying system and only 8 weeks to install the new one. Working around a zillion other contractors, Simon and his installation team put on a virtuoso performance to ensure that the theatre was ready for the arrival of Grease on the 15th October for opening on the 17th. The installation benefits from many simple ideas to make things go a bit smoother - nylon shieves for quiet operation, calibrated and powder coated ladder beams, colour coded slab weights to match the empty bar weight, weights designed with slots so the flyman can’t squish his fingers, a fibre glass grid and so on.
Theatre is not the only area that poses challenges for Unusual. The founder and mercurial leader of Unusual Rigging, Alan Jacobi along with his co-director Robin Elias manage to attract work, which at first glance appears to be virtually impossible (or other adjectives too undiplomatic to print). By way of example, three projects come to mind in 2006.
The first is the new RAF museum in Cosford. Currently under construction and due to open early in 2007, the general idea was to suspend a Hawker Hunter, Canberra, Dakota, Javelin, Victor, Thor Missile, Canadair Sabre 4, Avro Vulcan B2, Gloster Meteor and an English Electric Lightning. Not only will aficionados of aircraft spot that these are not exactly small planes but an eye would certainly be raised at the proposed orientation that was required. A few hundred drawings later, Unusual has realised a group of suspended aircraft on paper and in a structurally sound manner, which is remarkably close to the original model. Never has so much hardware been fitted into one space! Not much more can be said, since the museum is very much under wraps until the opening, but suffice to say that it will be well worth a visit.
The second of the three examples of how work can get totally out of hand in the entertainment technology business is a more extreme example of finding a solution. Imagine someone coming up to you saying: “ I want to bring an Elephant to London. It’s about 12 metres high, seven metres wide, weighs 40 tonnes and needs to go walkies for a weekend. Oh, it’s accompanied by a girl but she is only 8 metres high”. A few more details are imparted followed by a stunned silence. After a year of detailed technical planning, the end result was the visit of Royal De Luxe’s “The Sultan and the Elephant” last May, where the streets were handed over to the people of London for a weekend. Challenges can come with rewards and in this case, the smiling faces of over a million people attending the most spectacular street theatre event staged in this country was unforgettable.
The last of the examples as to how unpredictable life can be leads us to sunny Margate. Once again, it starts with an innocuous seeming proposal - a photograph of a sculpture. On the face of it, no problem. Somewhat sheepishly, we are then informed that the sculpture is by Anthony Gormley, it’s 85 feet high, it’s made of rubbish, it needs building and as soon as it is built, it’s going to be burnt down. There is a golden rule in life - Don’t even ask! A documentary will be out on Channel 4 later this year with a film due out next year.
Life at Unusual truly offers a baffling and exhausting array of challenges. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? Just as is the case with many other people working in the entertainment industry, the challenge is addictive.
