The Olivier Awards
Since the first awards ceremony in 1976, the Olivier Awards (then known as the Society of West End Theatre Awards until 1984) have become an eagerly awaited date in the calendar in the Theatre circle (no pun intended!).
It was such a pleasure to be involved and the team at the Olivier Awards were a joy to work with.
Thanks go to Julian Bird, Lee Batty, Tim Leist, Katie Kerry, John Higgins and Tim Johanson, with such a capable group of people on the ground the show went smoothly for us and I hope they will agree that the results were fantastic. Its always a proud moment to sponsor an award and be part of the Olivier community, albeit in a small way.
Blue-i Event Technology
This year marked the 40th anniversary and the hype leading up to the event in April this year was intense as the nominees were announced.
Blue-i Theatre Technology were delighted to supply the AV elements for the show this year, with a team headed up by our own Ed Cooper providing substantial video equipment and technical support across two sites: The Royal Opera House and the Covent Garden Piazza.
For the ceremony at The Royal Opera House we provided a large 22m X 7m LED screen using our Absen A3 Pro LED panels, chosen for their high resolution 3.9mm pitch. The single canvas was split into three PIPS, displaying ITV broadcast content on the central section and vision mixing on the left and right sides. Our new Barco e2 screen management systems formed a key part of the control package and at times a live camera feed from the Piazza was screened for an audience link during the show. We also provided lighting control by way of an MA2 Lighting Console, Catalyst V5 Pro Media Servers (main & backup) and 50 Barco MiStrip – affixed to band risers and controlled by separate Catalyst V5 Pro, triggered by the lighting team.
At the ITV Stage in the Piazza we built two 4.2m X 2.4m LED screens using 7mm pitch outdoor panels. Content was delivered via our Barco mixing control systems with a Blue-Pro Media Hub at the core.
The show was a huge success with the SOLT hailing it as “one of the most spectacular in the history of the West End” on the Awards website.
Congratulations to all who came away with an award and of course to all the nominees!
You can find out more about the Olivier Awards at http://www.olivierawards.com/