Born of a Dream

This past September, the United States Air Force (USAF) Band premiered its original stage production, Born of a Dream, a musical salute to the Centennial of Flight. Written, produced and performed by members of the Air Force Band, the musical ran for five consecutive performances at the National Theatre in Washington with cast and crew drawn from the band itself.

The 2-hour theatrical production featured a large lighting rig that included Martin moving lights. Baltimore-Washington based lighting provider International Entertainment Production and Meeting Presentation Group (IEP MPG) supplied MAC 2000 Profiles, MAC 2000 Performances and MAC 600 wash lights for the show.

Lighting Designer for the event was David Nevelle with lighting programming by Jonathan Goldstein. Jonathan commented, “The MAC 2000 Performances were positioned on the house rails so that designer David Neville was able to use the shutters to frame set pieces, do precise washes and make a beautiful look on the show curtain which was a 30´ x 40´ blue print of the Wrights’ first airplane the Kitty Hawk.

“The Performances are an amazing fixture because when they are framed off to a set piece or rag you can make them come to life by the use of just color or a combination of gobos and animation discs.” The Performances also aided in the finale of the show in which a near scale model of the Kitty Hawk took flight. By use of a scrim and the Performance units, the plane looked as if it were soaring through the air.

“The MAC 2000 Profiles and MAC 600s were positioned on the over the stage electrics and were a great compliment to the conventional rig,” Jonathan added.

After the show closed to the public, an extra week of shooting took place to gather extra footage for a DVD to be distributed worldwide. The show then moved to the West Coast with performances at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles from November 18-20.

The two-act musical is set in the fictitious town of Wrightsville and follows a ‘big-city’ newspaper reporter as he discovers the history and beauty of flight.

Lighting Designer: David Nevelle
Lighting Programmer: Jonathan Goldstein
Conventional Programmer: Matt Crossman
Board Operators: Matt Crossman/Jonathan Goldstein
Master Electrician: Matt Crossman
Head Electrician: Joel Haffey
1st Electrician: Ryan Rackley
2nd Electrician: Jason Vican

Kodak Theater, LA:
Lighting Designer: David Neville
Programmer: Jonathan Goldstein
Master Electrician: Joel Haffey
1st Electrician: Brett Gross
2nd Electrician: Alex "Potter" Casagrande