BIG Live Co is the Southern Hemisphere’s fastest-growing international ballet company. It was founded on a singular, ambitious vision: to make the transformative power of ballet accessible, thrilling, and relevant for audiences worldwide.
Its mission is to challenge public perception of ballet by presenting work that is powerful, authentic, and spectacularly entertaining. They blend the elegance of classical tradition with the bold energy of modern theatre, captivating contemporary audiences. Its repertoire spans from the festive magic of The Nutcracker to the high-impact romance of Romeo and Juliet, the dark drama of Dracula, and now, the glamour of The Great Gatsby.
With so many successful productions behind them, BIG Live decided it was time to purchase its own lighting equipment and Production Manager Locky Young explains why.
“We knew that we were doing more and more shows in bare bones theatres, whereas previously we had prioritised theatres that had all in-house equipment,” he said. “We had a month down in the Princess Theatre in Melbourne last year, and we’ve got three weeks in Sydney Capitol Theatre with The Great Gatsby, and then we’ve got three weeks in Her Majesty’s Theatre in Melbourne to start the year.”
With the rest of the year and their future looking busy, as BIG Live has a variety of shows scheduled in Australia, Locky consulted Show Technology about the best options for the company.
“We really wanted to go with a reputable brand, and the people that supply reputable brands,” he commented. “I’ve got a close relationship with Sam Walter, Show Technology Technical Sales Queensland. Initially, I was interested in the Ayrton Diablo because I wasn’t aware that the Stradale had been released. We found that many of the cities we went to and many of the venues we were in already had either Ayrton Diablos or Mistrals, and we really loved them.”
Once Sam showed Locky the Ayrton Stradale, Locky was sold on it, saying it was the obvious choice. He cites the compact size and light weight as particularly appealing, as well as the gobo set.
“I think the fact that Ayrton kept the gobo stock consistent with the rest of the family is great, as a lot of our shows utilise Ayrton gobos already,” he said. “Having the 360⁰ pan and tilt is a fun feature that we may require one day in a show. It could be used in an effective manner, and our Artistic Director loves pushing the boundaries with every new show.”
Locky notes that having a dual Gobo wheel and an animation wheel is great, and he especially likes the dichroic colour filter.
“That creates an awesome effect, the glass gobo with the dichroic filter, and we’re utilising it to create a stunning sunset on the show. It offers more creative possibilities for our lighting designer.”
For The Great Gatsby, the fourteen Ayrton Stradales are mostly overhead except for two fixtures out front on the circle rail. These are used flexibly as both spots for the aerial artist feature in the show and, with their shutters, as curtain warmers pre- and post-show.
“It means we don’t have to hang Fresnels out there as two Stradales have the punch and zoom to cover the curtains,” Locky added.
BIG Live also added ShowPRO LED Profile VW500 fixtures to its inventory after a demo by Sam, where Locky was very impressed by their punchiness.
“We are a more contemporary ballet company; we’re pushing the boundary with our shows; we need those deep reds and greens that punch hard for shows like The Great Gatsby and Dracula. With the ShowPRO LED Profile VW500, the pure output for the price point was hard to look past.”
An MA Lighting grandMA3 compact console was also on the shopping list, as MA has been the company’s platform of choice since 2023.
“Coming from a more rock and roll as opposed to theatre background, MA was where our old lighting designer and I felt most comfortable,” remarked Locky. “And so, with our new lighting designer, Steven May, we’ve kept it on MA and committed to the hardware. Obviously, not every theatre has MA3, though I think more are moving toward it, so buying a console that was reliable as well as standalone meant the MA3 compact was the perfect choice for us.”
The MA3 compact was the ideal model for the company as they’re not busking rock and roll, and don’t need additional faders. It also weighs under 32 kilos, so it is easy to fly with when required.
