USA-The New Line Cinema film adaptation of the Rock of Ages Broadway musical opened 15 June with a star-studded cast,hits from the 1980s,and High End Systems products in the mix.The rock and roll romance of small town girl Sherrie and city boy Drew,meeting on the Sunset Strip in search of their Hollywood dreams,is told through the music of Journey,Foreigner,Def Leppard,REO Speedwagon and more,much of which is recreated in performances in the film.
LD Mike Baldassari who has designed the theatrical lighting and concert scenes for a number of films including Nine,Joyful Noise,Sex and the City 2 and more,was tasked with handling the live stage performances in this production.In his rig full of assorted lighting,he chose to include four High End Systems Showbeam2.5 automated luminaires.However,to run all the performances,he specified the High End Systems Road Hog Full Boar console for programmer Paul Turner.Larry Thomas at Christie Lites supplied the theatrical lighting equipment for the film.
Baldassari needed to recreate concert lighting from 1987,so although he chose some new technology,such as the Showbeam 2.5s,which were not around then,he hid the fixtures physically from the camera,allowing their beams to shine forth.
"I never turned on the LED ring on the Showbeam 2.5s,"he said."But I used them on the upstage floor in the arena/stadium sequence to make beams come over the back of the backline.The fixture bases are masked by the walls of the Marshall amps stacks.They're featured specifically during the Journey song,Don't Stop Believin."