LIVE
Get an overview of all live events hosted by our zactrack systems and
stay up to date for the latest shows!
CURRENT zactrack SHOWS
Event | Location | Country | System |
|---|---|---|---|
ZUMBA - JOANNE GREEN | STUDIO 2 | ||
BALLET - KAREN KING | STUDIO 1 | ||
HIP HOP - RON JAKE | STUDIO 2 | ||
JAZZ - ACE SILVERSTEIN | STUDIO 1 |
Notable installations with various ongoing shows
Location | Country | System |
|---|---|---|
STUDIO 2 | ||
STUDIO 1 | ||
STUDIO 2 | ||
STUDIO 1 |
FUTURE zactrack SHOWS
Event | Location | Country | System | Start Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
ZUMBA - JOANNE GREEN | STUDIO 2 | |||
BALLET - KAREN KING | STUDIO 1 | |||
HIP HOP - RON JAKE | STUDIO 2 | |||
JAZZ - ACE SILVERSTEIN | STUDIO 1 |
PAST zactrack SHOWS
(2022 - 2024)
Event | Location | Country | System | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
ZUMBA - JOANNE GREEN | STUDIO 2 | |||
BALLET - KAREN KING | STUDIO 1 | |||
HIP HOP - RON JAKE | STUDIO 2 | |||
JAZZ - ACE SILVERSTEIN | STUDIO 1 |
SHOW DETAILS & SUMMARIES
● Awakening, Las Vegas, USA (PRO) - November 2022 to present day
Both lighting and video using zactrack on a very technically complex and busy show, 400+ fixtures used with a large cast constantly changing and a lot of sets, props and people in amongst the tracking area. There were 11 anchors and there are 50 trackers total but only 12-14 are active at once. They wanted a really high refresh rate out of the system which is why they kept the tracker count so low.
Lighting Designer - Peggy Eisenhaur & Jules Fisher
● Back to the Future, London (SMART) - May 2021 to present day
● Back to the Future, Broadway (SMART) - June 2023 to present day
Specifically used to highlight groups of performers – chorus, dancers, etc. – with several moving lights dotted all over the rig. Rather than having light coming only from one angle or dimension as in ‘traditional’ follow spotting. This produces a beautiful, sculpted layer of lighting that makes the performers absolutely pop against the backgrounds and scenic elements, also adding depth and dimension to the stage space and overall visual picture, creating a unique lighting aesthetic. Using multiple fixtures enables faces and bodies to be covered by the zactrack controlled lights, freeing up other fixtures on the rig for other tasks.
For the iconic final scene at the Town Hall, a front gauze flies in for projections, so traditional FOH follow spots / positions could not have been used to highlight the two main protagonists during this critical time.
Lighting Designer - Tim Lutkin (Lion King, Marvel Super Heroes United, Back to the Future, Life of Pi)
● Cabaret, London (SMART) - November 2021 to present day
An in-the-round musical that has taken over a West End Theatre. The budget restrictions meant more than 2 spots were needed and zactrack was the solution for this. The system means we have 5 performers, these are 2 on the shoulders mainly with some individual trackers in performers wigs. The rig is made up of Martin Ultra, Martin Encore CLD and Martin Quantum Wash. The system must vary from hard edged spots in the club environment through to subtle wash lights following performers in the internal scenes.
Lighting Designer - Isabella Byrd
Associate Lighting Designer - Rob Casey (Hugh Jackman tour, Mamma Mia! The Party, Guys & Dolls)
● Cavalluna Tour, Europe (PRO) - November 2022 to present day
This is a large Equestrian show that will travel to 34 European cities up until June and play all the big arenas. Arguably (to my knowledge) the largest touring setup of Zactrack in terms of talent to follow.
56 Trackers and 17 Anchors, with the new software we switch between trackers to keep the refresh rate above 20 Hz, up to 20 actors are tracked simultaneously. The "Switching" is something that was previously not possible and helps massively. 60 Sharpy wash assigned in various configurations to the artists (actors, dancers, riders, horses).
● Cinderella, London (PRO) - August 2021 to May 2022
● Bad Cinderella, Broadway (PRO) - March 2023 to May 2023
Both shows use lighting and audio on a revolving stage, so audience and the cast positions are often swapped or changed. For audio - a total of 34 Trackers are used for a cast of 30 actors - Only the main actor gets two transmitters, because in one scene he's being surrounded by a lot of people at once and we want to be on the safe side that nothing goes wrong.
Lighting Designer - Bruno Poet (UAE National Day)
Sound Designer - Gareth Owen (MJ the Musical)
● Disney Newsies, London (SMART) - November 2022 to present day
It is played in a old film studio, the whole space is used with little to no show masking. The main acting area is large thrust stage with audience on 3 sides. This was one of the main reasons for going with ZT as to light the actors efficiently they needed a minimum of 2 light sources from opposite angles on them so everyone watching was getting the same over all look. The lighting rig is made up of Sharpy Washes, Vipers Performance's, VL 3000 washes, Mac Quantum Washes, S4 Pars, S4’s and S4 Lustrs, on multiple truss spread out across the whole building, all controlled with an ETC EOS. ZT is using 1 server, 10 Anchors and 10 trackers, 6 paired on 3 actors and the other 4 are used as single trackers on 4 more cast members. The trackers are positioned in lots of different places but mainly higher up around the chest area, one of the cast has hers in her wig.
Lighting Designer - Mark Henderson (The Bodyguard, To Kill a Mockingbird)
Associate Light Designer - Stuart 'Stacy' Cross (The Bodyguard, To Kill a Mockingbird)
● Disney 100, The Concert, Touring Europe (SMART) - April 2023 to June 2023
An extensive tour that changes venue most days. 11 Anchors are used with 15 Active Trackers with
5 Actors having one Tracker and 5 other principle Actors have 2 Trackers. The stage is 20m x13m.
● Ghost, European World Tour (2 x SMART) - May 2023 to present day
They tour with 2 systems, one being used whilst the other gets installed at the next venue.
Lighting Designer - Erich Bertti
● Guys & Dolls, London (PRO) - March 2022 to present day
This is a promenade performance at The Bridge Theatre in London. The action happens over the whole space with the audience in and around every performer. zactrack is used here for both lighting and sound (d&b Soundscape system) to help the sound positioning but also allow us to followspot from the 4 corners of the room (as well as 2 dedicated units in the centre of the space). The rig is made up of Ultra Performances, Encore CLD, GLP X5. There are 60 tags on the show, in 2 sets of 30 with every member of the cast being tagged with either 1 or 2 depending on their location.
Lighting Designer - Paule Constable (The Devil Wears Prada)
Associate Lighting Designer - Rob Casey (Cabaret, Mamma Mia! The Party, Hugh Jackman tour)
Sound Designer - Paul Arditti
Associate Sound Designer - Charlie Smith
● Hale Centre Theatre, USA (SMART) - Installed
The venue puts on a range of traditional Broadway and off Broadway plays and musical theatre shows – around 10 per season – staged in two venues under one roof.
The larger auditorium, the Young Living Centre Stage, has a capacity of 911 for its dynamic in-the-round format and has SMART with 20 Trackers. They have an impressive Tait flying system installed so zactrack is heavily used for Aerial and flying performers. A Disguise media server also makes use of PSN outputs to have video effects with tracking.
● Hugh Jackman, world tour (PRO) - May 2019 to October 2019
The Show was a multi date arena tour. Zactrack was used here on Hugh Jackman (2 trackers, one in each shoulder) and one other featured singer. The system replaced all followspots on this tour. This meant the 2 front lights and upto 160 backlights were following Hugh during the show. We calibrated the entire rig which allowed multiple effects from overhead and behind him to use him as the centre of the effect whilst remaining solid tracking from his 2 front lights. The rig was Ayrton Khamsin, Robe LED Beam 150, Scenius Unico and K25 Washes.
Lighting Designer - Patrick Woodroffe (Mamma Mia! The Party)
Associate Lighting Designer - Rob Casey (Cabaret, Mamma Mia! The Party, Guys & Dolls)
● Janet Jackson, USA tour (SMART) - April 2023 to June 2023
Show / Tour Director - Eric Wade
Lighting Designer - Brandon Wade
Ayrton Perseo Profiles are on the downstage truss; primarily all they do is zactrack. zactrack is used for all the followspots on the show. There were two FOH house spots primarily just as backup.
● Kan Yama Kan, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (PRO) - February 2022
zactrack PRO, 2 servers, 14 Anchors, 27 trackers active in the show – with a full set in reserve. 170+ fixtures used with tracking. Tracking actors, fast moving dancers, flying track aerial performers and even Aladdin’s lamp. Lots of variety in the Z axis with the set structures and for the aerial work.
High Energy theatrical show with dance movement and aerial, gauze bleed-throughs, moving set pieces etc, audience on nearly all sides, very wide-traverse layout.
Tracking designed into the show very early on – avoiding washing out projected floors, lighting from up to 3 or 4 points per performer in a 360 degree perspective. Old school followspots wouldn’t have been able to deliver the same looks, cover the same number of performers – plus language barriers with operators from the region etc.
Lighting Designer - Natasha Chivers
Associate Lighting Designer - Andi Purves
● Life of Pi, Broadway (SMART) - March 2023 to present day
Features a plethora of atmospheric, intricate and beautiful projections on the floor and set. One of the major lighting challenges has been not flattening these elements which bring a lot of depth and texturing to the picture, whilst highlighting the characters and accentuating the action onstage.
Nine Martin Mac Aura PXLs are utilized as the main follow spots, all rigged on advanced bars above the audience, together with some additional overhead and back Mac Ultras are integrated into the zactrack system. This offers the scenario where Pi, all his family and all the puppet characters in the show can be tracked and highlighted throughout the performance.
The set up enables subtle effects to be created like the rear following fixtures flashing and bumping colors on Pi whilst in the boat, and the turtle puppet is tracked with great precision and cool water effects created using the gobos and animation wheels of the Ultras. Another moment when Pi has 16 pristine, chiseled beams of back light following him and making a dramatic statement.
Previously, working with two standard follow spots, "We simply would not have had the capacity to easily do more complex visuals like this" he explained, adding that it’s also the first time he has used Mac Ultras on a zactrack system.
Uses 11 Trackers in total. Apart from the three on Pi, these all live in different character costumes. The Tiger has two trackers, and the other puppets have one each.
With video and lighting inextricably linked in this production, there are also a few cool video tricks that have been prompted by zactrack.
A point he illustrated with examples of how new tweaks to the show like adding ripples in the video as Pi plunges into the sea, and extinguishing tracking lights at exactly the right times as he disappears over the horizon have all added to the richness of the performance’s visual and emotional journey.
Lighting Designer - Tim Lutkin (Lion King, Marvel Super Heroes United, Back to the Future)
Video Designer – Andrzej Goulding
● Mamma Mia! The Party, London (PRO) - August 2019 to present day
The system is used here for an installation in the 02. A hyper realistic greek taverna has been created where no followspot positions were available. The ceiling is covered in trees, festoon and nets of fairy lights. It also has a minimal height for any potential operators. Zactrack was therefore used on the 5 main characters (2 tags per person, on the shoulders) to allow the entire rig to subtly follow the characters around the dining experience. The rig is made up of GLP X4L’s, GLP S-350 and GLP X4S.
Lighting Designer - Patrick Woodroffe (Hugh Jackman tour)
Associate Lighting Designer - Rob Casey (Cabaret, Hugh Jackman tour, Guys & Dolls)
● MJ the Musical, Broadway (SMART) - February 2022 to present day
Audio only paired with a d&b Soundscape system, every cast member is tracked using 28 active trackers. Six cast members wear two trackers each. They are all singers and dancers, so they are constantly in motion.
Sound Designer - Gareth Owen (Cinderella, Bad Cinderella)
● Starlight Express, Germany (PRO) - Spring 2018 to present day
A busy, high-energy show with rollerskaters tracking over a large looping track 40m x 42m x 12m height.16 Anchors, strategically placed to cover the tunnels. With 53 Trackers (20 actors double tagged, plus some others). All are active all the time, this was before the feature of active/inactive trackers.
● Superbowl LVII, USA (PRO) - February 2023
The two servers were used to track the 7 moving platforms and 2 Nav cams on the show. There were no physical Anchors or Trackers due to the highly regulated RF space, and the system was only needed to track the moving elements from TAIT’s Navigator system. Instead of Anchors, various points were measured with the Leica. The origin and X axis also measured on the floor and then lights were aligned to calibration points. The show is highly scripted from a camera perspective and since we had the Navigator platform also driving two cameras focused on top of the platforms giving us these million-dollar shots zactrack provided a unique opportunity for us to be able to put that same Navigator data into zactrack and assign fixtures to the cameras to allow us to get a perfect focus. On one of the last shots in the last song, "Diamonds", Rihanna on the platform and there are about 200 lights on the rail behind her, all perfectly pointed into the camera. Perfect. And when the camera moved along its profile all of those lights stayed focused directly into the lens. The camera paths were pretty dynamic and without zactrack this would have taken so much time.
Lighting Designer - Al Gurdon
Lighting Programming - Eric Marchwinski
● Tampere Workers Theatre (SMART) - Installed
Lighting and Audio tracking working with a L-Acoustics L-ISA system. The venue had L-ISA installed, it soon became apparent that accurate, good quality tracking was essential to take full advantage of its dynamics, directionality and creative potential … without embroiling sound designers and engineers in substantial amounts of programming time.
Controlling the sound inputs manually, especially for some of the large-scale musicals staged at TTT, was not a practical option, but getting the right tracking system onboard was a viable solution, so they started looking at options.
L-ISA takes into account elements like distance shifts as actors move upstage / downstage, so the sound is properly perceived as nearer / further away, and with this detailed 3D aural experience central to the L-ISA concept, tracking that offers full localization plays a vital role in optimization.
● The Bodyguard, UK Touring (SMART) - January 2023 to present day
A traditional touring show with show pros and portals, moving every week. The fit-up schedule is quite tight, loading in on day 1 and opening in the evening of the 2nd day. This was the main reason for adding zactrack, as on previous tours we had 1 member of the touring crew teaching the in house spots ops for the first few days. As the units we use to followspot are on the advance truss they recalibrate the system each move and then the programming takes over for the show.
The lighting rig is made up of Mac Encore Colds, Mac Aura XB’s, Sharpy Washes, Ayrton Magic Dots, GLP X4 bars and S4 Lustr again all controlled through ETC EOS. ZT is using 1 server, 10 Anchors and 10 trackers, all 10 are paired on 5 actors. The trackers for the 2 leading ladies are worn in the wig caps. The 3 male actors have them fitted to vests on their backs as this looked the best when in costume.
Lighting Designer - Mark Henderson (Disney Newsies, To Kill a Mockingbird)
Associate Light Designer - Stuart 'Stacy' Cross (Disney Newsies, To Kill a Mockingbird)
● The Lehman Trilogy, London (SMART) - January 2023 to May 2023
Audio only working with d&b Soundscape. The three actors are contained in a revolving glass box on stage - glass of course not being the best friend of UWB radio. The roof of the box contains the lighting, so lots of metal. A large arcing LED wall is also upstage of the box. All these factors make Anchor placement a challenge and a crucial part of the planning & installation.
Sound Designer - Nick Powell
Co-Sound Designer - Dominic Bilkey
● To Kill a Mockingbird, London (SMART) - March 2022 to May 2023
Lighting Designer - Jennifer Tipton
Associate Lighting Designer - Trui Malten
Programmer - Stuart 'Stacy' Cross (Disney Newsies, The Bodyguard)
● UAE Project (PRO) - December 2022
The National Day celebration show featuring a 100m x 17m tracking area in the form of a parade of people, vehicles, floats and even cyclists! It was lighting (436 Fixtures), audio (Midi used to trigger) and video (both vYv and Disguise servers) tracking all at once. Using 75 active Trackers on performers or vehicles and 19 Anchors to map out the venue. 180 universes of DMX, with zactrack fixtures on 120 of those. Elation Proteus and Robe Forte fixtures used.
Lighting Designer - Bruno Poet (Cinderella, Bad Cinderella)
Associate Light Designer - Max Narula (Cinderella)