Stunning facade projection for “Bonifatius - The Musical”
Fulda's dome dresses up
Dusk falls over the expansive square, nothing can be heard apart from the ringing bells of Fulda Cathedral, then silence and velvety night take over … very different in summer 2024!
The city of Fulda, spotlight musicals and satis&fy made sure of that. Bombastic sounds and catchy tunes took the place of the carillon. And the cathedral itself? Shone into the night.
Thanks to elaborate projection directly onto the outer façade of the Fulda landmark, the cathedral became an eye-catcher, a stage backdrop, actually part of the ensemble, as spotlight musicals brought the exceptional production “Bonifatius – The Musical” to life for the second time in Fulda. For the annual cathedral square concerts, the people of Fulda have often swapped a contemplative evening atmosphere for rousing sounds, but rarely on the scale of this extravagant cultural event.
FROM OPEN AIR TO GOLDEN PAIR - MUSICAL AND Cathedral ARE A DREAM TEAM
In 2019, spotlight musicals, the city of Fulda, satis&fy and Fulda Cathedral joined forces for the first time to celebrate the city’s 1275th anniversary. The result was so impressive that they didn’t want to wait for the next anniversary to repeat it – only a little better.
30 actors, 40 orchestral musicians and a 100-strong choir also deserved a star in the background. And that’s exactly what the High Cathedral became thanks to an ingenious façade projection that integrated it into the musical as a backdrop. Sometimes shrouded in a bright prism of color, sometimes gloomy and menacing, but always impressive, the magnificent church rounded off the artists’ performance. Four projectors with an output of 40k ANSI lumens were used. Two of them were equipped with special mirror optics for the short distance between the suspension and the projection surface. The flanking LED walls, from satis&fy’s own stock, also became part of the staging. As was an additional show element in the form of a movable stretched truss ring, which could be repositioned during the show thanks to the C1 motor system from Cyberhoist. As a projection surface for a fifth 50k ANSI lumen high-performance projector, it fitted organically into the performance.
AT EYE LEVEL IN FRONT OF THE HIGH CATHEDRAL
Teamwork makes the dream work. To ensure that the audience was enchanted from the very first second, the team behind the scenes of this major project worked hand in hand across all trades and companies. For example, how can you make sure that the illuminated cathedral can be seen as a backdrop even when it towers many meters above the stage? You make the stage roof transparent! Specially manufactured by Megaforce, this stage roof left no visual axis unbroken and no questions unanswered. This also meant that special attention had to be paid to the construction itself. Hiding cables and trusses in the stage roof? Not a chance. Instead, the opportunity to show that the rigging also contributes to the stage design, when symmetries run through to the last spotlight. Minimalist, tidy, impressive.
Smooth cooperation between the crew: satis&fy relied on both internal and external specialists and was on site with a crew of over 100 people for set-up and dismantling as well as for rehearsals and show evenings. The collaboration with partners and the customer built on the success of 2019 and began on a level of absolute trust.
“It was clear that everyone here can rely on everyone else. Internally, externally, other trades, it didn’t matter. We had our experience from 2019, some of the crew members already knew each other from last time and in the end it may have been several individual crews, but it was a team.” – Lena Wingenfeld, Project Manager satis&fy.
And it was precisely this team that gave Bonifatius an outstanding stage for the second time.
BETTER TO THE BEST
The success of 2019 was built upon in both technical and human terms. The projectors were brighter, and the 50k projector was one of the most powerful models on the market. While the LED walls still had to be lowered and secured every evening in 2019, a windbreaker system was used this year and the walls remained up: Time saved, quality maintained, safety enhanced. This motto prevailed:
“It was a huge relief for me to be able to use the files from 2019. My work started at a completely different point and I was able to concentrate more on the details. These are seemingly small things that make a big difference in the end. For me, for the customer and ultimately for the visitors too. A great team where everyone thinks outside the box,” says lighting designer Pia Virolainen.
The sound section had to be rescheduled, but there was a good reason for this too: in 2019, the musical followed a cathedral square concert by the Scorpions. This time, Bonifatius stood on its own. Or rather with 105 loudspeakers from the L-Acoustics portfolio, mostly from satis&fy’s own stock. The result was an immersive sound design that was modeled three-dimensionally and took into account the positions of the actors on stage during playback. Outdoor theater level!
How do we know that an event has been completely convincing? When not only the audience is thrilled, but everyone. When everyone is humming along to the dismantling after the last day of the show. With the guarantee that this show will stay with us for a long time: as an impressive memory – and as a catchy tune.
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