In 2022 our world premiere of A Thousand Acres captivated audiences through the use of immersive projection and video design that had never been seen before on our stage. This summer, our new production of Bluebeard’s Castle took our technology game to a whole new level.
Bluebeard’s Castle was brought to life using some of the world’s most advanced real-time 3D creation tools and state-of-the-art visual technology. Most prominent were the 744 LED panels that adorned the set in a multi-layered, multi-level box upstage behind the orchestra pit in addition to panels incorporated into scenic elements within the theatre’s playing circle.
Internationally acclaimed Filmmaker and Digital Image Composer Oyoram along with Director Kristine McIntyre and Scenic Designer Luke Cantarella, spent months imagining and creating the artwork that would be displayed on the panels, drawing on AI systems to help bring the awe-inspiring and terrifying vistas behind each of the seven doors to life while incorporating the production’s Art Nouveau style into each image. Every “look” that was featured in the show sometimes went through hundreds of iterations before the creative team found the one that best represented their artistic vision. Video avatars of Bluebeard’s first three wives were also added into the design by filming live singers and dancers in front of a green screen to be incorporated into the castle’s environment.
Once the “look” for each scene was established, the next task was to transform that 2D image into a 3D virtual environment. Visual image composer Oyoram and his teams in Paris and Montreal worked around the clock to input each image into Unreal Engine—the world’s leading 3D video game development tool that is currently utilized by leading Hollywood studios—adding an extra dimension that would allow the singers to not only open the door and peek through, but to fully step into each room, immersing themselves deeper and deeper into Bluebeard’s foreboding castle.
While Oyoram, McIntyre and Cantarella were finalizing the visual world of Bluebeard’s Castle, members of our production department’s Audio/Video (A/V) Team—including Sound and Video Supervisor Matthew Barnard (pictured, center), video engineer Lili Federico (left), sound engineer SJ Knox (right), and sound and video intern Ellie Perez—were hard at work in the theatre assembling the physical technology that would ultimately display the production’s breathtaking visual elements.
From a distance, the LED panels act seemingly as one; however, assembling the framework for 744 individual 12″x12″ panels was truly a herculean feat of engineering. Behind each of the three LED “walls” is a sea of cabling (over a half-mile of cables, in fact) that connects one panel to the next in a highly choreographed sequence. Every panel needed to be in its own unique and precise position—if one was installed incorrectly, it could lead to hours of reprogramming—so sound and video supervisor Matthew Barnard developed a system to ensure the panels were installed and taken down in the exact same order between every performance. Thankfully, over 600 of the panels could remain in place between performances. Only about 120 of the panels needed to be uninstalled between shows in order to protect them during the scenic transition to either Carmen or The Love for Three Oranges. But still, installing these 120 panels took 5 full hours and involved the entire A/V team in addition to assistance from members of the Stage and Lighting departments.
Once the panels were installed and plugged in, video engineer Lili Federico took over and served as board operator during the performance. Each unique video moment had its own “cue” in time with the music that was called over headset by Stage Manager Annie Wheeler and then operated by Federico. The video elements were designed to be interactive with the singers on stage. In one moment, the character Judith touches the wall of the castle, leaving an eerie, visible handprint. In another scene, Judith touches an enchanting, mysterious flower in Bluebeard’s garden, causing it to bloom at her touch.
The production also featured ethereal vocal effects from members of the 2023 Apprentice Artist Program created by sound engineer SJ Knox. Once the effects were created, Knox operated these cues during each performance, adding an aural element that heightened the drama onstage.
“Bluebeard’s Castle was one of the most challenging yet rewarding projects I’ve worked on. Between the complexity of the technology and the short time frame, it was very intense,” said Federico. “It was a huge learning opportunity for me, and I was lucky enough to have the support and the space to learn as it evolved. It truly took a village to get this show off the ground.”
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