Production company Congo Blue Design has bought four Robe StageBanner 50 ATs. These were immediately deployed to suspend four rotating scenic doors on the set of the three-times-a-day live catwalk show at the Spring 2007 Harrogate Lingerie & Swimwear Exhibition.

Ben Teale from Berkshire-based Congo Blue provided lighting, sound, set and full technical production for this section of the show for the eighth season. This year he wanted something different to incorporate into his set design which had to be a versatile effect and fit the budget.

Robe UK’s Ian W Brown had demo’d one of the StageBanner 10 AT fixtures a few months back when Teale was initiating the design for the Spring show. This triggered a creative chain reaction that culminated in Congo Blue buying the heftier StageBanner 50 AT which can suspend loads of up to 50Kg. The fixture is also fully DMX controllable and can be run off a lighting console, giving great lattitude in how the StageBanners can be operated and run.

For the Lingerie Show, they were mounted on the top rail of the rear truss above the runway entrance, Four polycarbonate panels with different sized holes cut into them, were suspended below each StageBanner, painted white on one side and black on the reverse. Small spinning bases were positioned at the bottom of the panels, supporting them on the same axis.

The StageBanners were run off a small DMX controller and the revolving doors proved an incredibly simple but dynamic prop that created plenty of varied drama for the entrances and exits throughout the show. A total of 22 different collections were featured, all of which had to look, sound and feel different.

“We were able to have the doors opening, closing, and rotating in enough of different formats to make all elements look unique” says Teale “Everyone was highly impressed with the results”, including show director Paul Swaby and choreographer Johnny Vukasovic.

Now the StageBanners are in Congo Blue’s stock, Teale can already see many more uses and applications, “They are a great investment” he states.

He also knew their StageBanners would be really reliable as Congo Blue has 12 Robe ColorSpot 250 AT moving lights which are used on all their shows.

Eight ColorSpot 250 ATs were used to great effect on the Lingerie Show. Four were rigged upstage of the doors, lighting the box area behind when the doors were shut and beaming through to provide strong backlight when the doors were open. The other four were on the catwalk truss, providing daylight style front lighting for the models and sometimes washing the front of the doors in rich saturates when the white side was facing the front.

Lighting was designed by Richard Parkes and operated by him using an Avolites Pearl. He did a great job of making the different shows all look varied and individual. Most of the colour and pizzazz was applied for the entrances and exits, while the models and clothing were clearly illuminated as they strutted their stuff up and down the runway.

Robe’s StageBanner 50 AT is a resourceful fixture that will also run in a stand-alone mode, enabled by on-board programming via a 4-digit LED display on the base. Master/slave operation is yet another option. Rotation is possible in both directions at various speeds, including continuous rotation, with 16-bit DMX resolution guaranteeing smooth and precise rotation speed. A virtually silent cooling system makes the fixture ideal for noise-critical situations, and a neat rigging system utilizes two Omega clamps, allowing the StageBanner to be truss mounted in either horizontal or upside-down positions.