Spirit - The Seventh Fire

“Spirit – The Seventh Fire” is a unique touring performance that tells the story of a man stepping outside the modern world and rediscovering his Native American roots. It is a highly entertaining and uplifting story that showcases the beauty and talent of Native American people and culture.

The show toured the US from June to November stopping in several major cities for stays of three to four weeks. Its most notable performance took place on the National Mall in Washington DC and tied in with the opening of the Smithsonian’s new National Museum of the American Indian. Currently on a three month hiatus, “Spirit” starts touring again in February.

The show is staged inside a spectacular 750 seat tented theater and features some of the finest Native American dancers, drummers, and singers from around the country. Enhancing the magic are state-of-the-art audio, lighting and projection systems that immerse the audience in breathtaking natural settings and display powerful images as the story evolves.

MAC 550
Lighting designers for the show are David Boser and Christien Methot, who use an abundance of Martin gear for the performance including 22 MAC 550 profile spots. Located on a variety of trusses and in a downstage trough, the 550s play an integral part in creating naturalistic effects. David comments, “About 90% of the play takes place in a outdoor environment so we were trying to create as organic a feel as we could.”

David states that the 550 was actually their fallback fixture when they started cutting the budget. David says, “I had originally speced 2K Profile and Performance fixtures for the show, but I believe we are actually better off now with the 550s. Weight ended up being a major concern on the main truss rig and the 550s allowed us to get more fixtures in the air than using the 2Ks, while still retaining the zoom and animation wheel that are crucial to the show.”

Some of the other key features were ease of gobo replacement and the inclusion of the 3-facet prism. "The prism in the MAC 500 has always been the best out there, and I was thrilled to see it made it´s way into the 550 as well."

The ‘wow’ factor
“I think we ended up with the best of both worlds because I now have a spot fixture with most of the features of a 2K Profile but with the bonus of the 2K Performance animation wheel. The animation wheel ended up playing a couple of major parts in the show and produces the big ‘wow’ factor. In one part called Fire Dance we use the 550’s animation fire effect. It was beautiful for that. For another scene that has the actors running through the woods, we roll the animation wheel and it provides an amazing feel on stage. It really looks like they are running. Nobody out there right now can touch the feature set of the 550, especially at this price point.”

Maxxyz controlled Martin rig
Other Martin gear on the show includes 10 MAC 2000 Wash, 16 MAC 300s and 12 MAC 600E NT spread among down-, mid-, and upstage trusses; 4 Atomic 3000 strobes located on the deck and house entrances; and a Jem Glaciator providing a low lying blanket of fog. David adds, “Although the 550 is my new favorite spot, we were really amazed at how well the MAC 300s held up against the MAC 600 and even the 2K´s!”

Control is from a Martin Maxxyz, “a very user-friendly desk, easy to navigate and has a lot of potential,” David stated. "I´m looking forward to getting Maxedia setup on it after seeing it at LDI." Equipment supplier is Image Technologies, Corp. David also expressed his thanks to Martin’s Matthias Hinrichs, Michael Nevitt and Bruce Lehnus with special thanks to Joe Labbe!

Lighting Designer: David Boser, Christien Methot
Lighting Programmer: Esteban Lima
Board Op / Moving Light Tech: Bill McGarvin