Dreamgirls

After a break from its 2013 world tour, the Broadway musical tour of Dreamgirls returned to the stage in March of 2016.

The Academy and Tony-Award winning rags to riches story of the 1960s girl singing group is told through songs, dance and sparking costumes. However, replacing the set are Pete’s Big TVs’ 400 digiLED MC15 LED video panels in three screens, which track and fly in different configurations.

Lightswitch’s Howard Werner, media designer of the content and show system, said that no other set exists besides the MC15 LED screens and they appear in 90 percent of the show. They are not used as “virtual scenery” but as a device to direct the story along with signage, scenic images and other plot line enhancers.

“Content is always a storytelling tool,” Werner said. “It sets the location of scenes in stylized ways - the images suggest a backstage or a recording studio and it sets the location for the audience. It is also used to support the timing and energy of the ‘on stage’ production numbers.” Live action also helps create the content, with a live camera feed through the d3 (now known as disguise) system for two numbers in the show.

Pete’s Big TVs’ clients keep the digiLED MC15 LED panels in constant demand because of a most popular feature: no radio frequency interference.