ON THE ROAD: Madonna
Below: The video screen, lifts and staging were completely custom built; Eighth Day Sound supplied audio equipment including d&b audiotechnik’s J-Series; The show progressed from a gore spattered Tarantino movie through to Broadway burlesque.
halftime show in February 2012.” Fisher started work on the project in the summer of 2011 when he was in Canada with Berry working on Cirque du Soleil’s Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour. “At that time there was no discussion about the show content because Madonna’s Creative Director, Jamie King, was busy with the MJ show and Show Director, Michel Laprise, had not joined the team. But Jake and I knew that the tour schedule involved a lot of outdoor shows so I designed a new roof to fit the show as I imagined it would be,” added Fisher. The roof he designed was based on the lifting technology that Stageco developed for the U2 360° Claw. “It is a much cleaner and stronger roof and it integrates the I-MAG video, the show stage and the PA into a single composition under a curving fascia with a very large cantilever,” continued Fisher. “This allows an arena show such as MDNA to slide right in and fit with all the over-stage rigging working exactly as it works in an indoor venue. Once I had developed the concept, I met with Stageco and we worked out the details so the roof that is touring with Madonna’s show is a completely new, very high performance design.” Madonna and Laprise - with King in consultation - developed the dramatic arc of the show. Fisher and his design associate at entertainment architects Stufish, Ric Lipson, then worked in unison to develop their ideas. “We all agreed early on that there would be major use of video content throughout the show. Right at the start, Michel and I discussed various ways of layering of video and kinetic elements, which led to the design of the box-lift video matrix floor,” explained Fisher. The show design started in the New Year, with the first ideas exchanged between Laprise, Lipson and Fisher. Together, they developed the stage ideas and then illustrated them, before sharing them with Evans. Once the main stage design had been agreed, Lipson continued to work closely with Laprise and other members of Madonna’s team to explore and develop the large props that featured in many of the songs. “Tiffany Olsen, Rich + Tone, Alison Faulk, 82 • TPi SEPTEMBER 2012
Jason Young and Mike Morobitto - all members of Madonna’s creative and production team - input their knowledge of how Madonna likes to work and then all the props were designed in close consultation with the choreography team,” explained Fisher. INNOVATIVE STAGE SYSTEM Stageco developed, manufactured and supplied an innovative new XL stage system for MDNA, also providing full logistical support throughout the tour. Fulfilling the artist’s desire to entertain her fans, the production included a significant amount of state-of-the-art moving video and LED technology, which required large, clear visual spans within the stage in order to achieve the desired impact. The MDNA tour production team specified that a cantilever roofing system was required, which entertainment architects Stufish incorporated into the stage design. From these designs Stageco developed the system and technical elements for the stage’s curved roof with a central spine giving extended weightloading capability. Stageco was first engaged in September 2011, when CEO Hedwig De Meyer discussed the concept for the new system. Stageco’s Project Director, Dirk De Decker, explained: “No existing stage-roofs on the market served the set-designers requirements with regards to weight loadings across wide spans and I think this new system looks fantastic, offering designers a different canvas for their ideas. The flown PA and video areas are all incorporated within the single stage roof, which spans 57m and 27m deep at the widest central point, removing the need for PA and video wings. In addition to design and engineering factors, we have created this XL system being mindful of economic and environmental considerations, so after the tour finishes we will be able to assimilate the XL Stage into our rental stock in 2013. “We’ve advanced our understanding of larger scale demountable structures since working with U2 on their 360° tour and developing our XL Towers for the Abu Dhabi show last December. It is this heavy duty truss which forms the central
spine of the roof, a continuous beam across the entire width of the roof, which gives the roof additional strength over traditional systems. There is over 60 tonnes suspended in the roof for this MDNA tour.” Stageco were diligent while creating this new stage system with its increased capacities, not only in relation to weight loadings, but also making sure it was logistically practical and safe for crews to work with the heavier steelwork. A cluster tower support infrastructure is another unique element of the XL stage, which uses the company’s hydraulic lifting system to enable an efficient build and de-rig. Another feature of the XL stage is the ingeniously designed flat roof, which minimises wind loading pressures applied to the stage through reducing its horizontal surface areas. Its pressurised air cushion roof panels create an angled roof for water to run off into gulleys, gutters and then hoses to move water away from the stage. With less steel therefore needed in the stage roof, there are also benefits in weight efficiency and subsequent transport savings. Stageco has manufactured four MDNA tour roof systems, each being transported in 20 trucks, with three specialist crews of 16, managed by Patrick Martens, Hendrik Verdeyen and Patrik Vonckx. VIGOROUS VIDEO Belgian Video Director, Stefaan ‘Smasher’ Desmedt, started working in video in ‘92 with U2 and has done all of their tours since, the last one being 360°. After that, PM Jake Berry asked him to be a part of MDNA. He said: “Video is a massive part of the show, the biggest challenge for us, video wise was the cubes, which popped out, the height and movement of which was driven by the video. And mapping the video on those cubes was a big challenge, but it was very exciting as well.” As the video is very time code driven, last minute changes were minimal. Imagery often had Catholic images with the saint / sinner visual dialogue throughout. Madonna and Moment Factory decide together what the content was going to be and she watches everything before