Show Development for Themed Entertainment Client
We were asked by one of our major clients to bring to them what we believed was the future of theater.
The Trunk Show was the culmination of the work we've been doing since 2001 in interactive design for live performance. It was also a great opportunity to show our client the type of environment this type of show required. The show was a hybrid of traditional theater and atmospheric entertainment, where the environment was the stage and the performers and guests were inches away from each other. In that close space was where we found the magic.
The project tackled the challenges of personalization (how do we give performers information about who is in their space), performer empowerment (how do we put the control of the show in the hands of the performer to help them shape the experience based on their audience), and guest empowerment (how do we put the magic in the hands of the guests).
The result? Every light, sound, special effect cue and story element was based on actions in the space. We accomplished this through heavily sensored props embedded with LEDs for game play, feedback, and show control, sensors embedded in costumes, and activated set pieces to get the rest of the audience involved.
We also knew where every participant and performer was in the space within a couple inches, and the performers were fed information on the guests such as photos, first name, family affiliation, and home town in an effort to personalize the experience (as well as get a sense of whether or not guests "appreciated" that the performers had access to that information). Our show control software, Diva, not only gave real-time control of live and pre-recorded sound, theatrical and special effect lighting, in-theater special effects (e.g. air blasters), and media content, but it also determined story and show structure based on who was in the space, their actions while there, and the story line the performers wanted them to follow.
The end result was a dynamic show environment that could deliver a unique experience to each guest.
In addition to the technical development, the show was designed and produced by Beaudry Interactive.
