White Light Presents Mrs. Henderson in World PremiereLast month, the brand-new musical Mrs. Henderson Presents received its world premiere at the Theatre Royal Bath and has just completed what was an incredibly successful run. Based on the hit 2005 film which starred Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins, it tells the story of eccentric widow Laura Henderson who, unsure how to spend her inherited fortune, buys the decaying Windmill Theatre. After introducing nude female dance acts, it suddenly becomes the most popular venue in all of London. Yet when the Blitz hits the capital, it also acts as a refuge to escape the horrors of the outside world. The musical starred Olivier Award winner Tracie Bennett and was praised by critics as "charming and uplifting" (The Stage), "improves on the original movie" (The Guardian), and "the best British Musical since Matilda" (British Theatre). Not only did White Light provide the lighting support on the show, but it also invested in the ETC Source Four LED CYC Adapter specifically for this production. Mrs. Henderson Presents was lit by lighting designer Ben Ormerod and the equipment provided by White Light included Martin Professional MAC Aura XBs, Clay Paky Alpha Washes, Martin MAC TW1s, ETC Source Four Revolutions, and ETC Source Four LED CYC Adapters. Dave Isherwood, White Light's technical director, comments: "The CYC Adapter has highly-tuned optics and provides evenly-distributed, smooth coverage. As it simply utilizes the already popular Source Four LED light engine, it gives the designer a familiar color pallet to work with that is common across the rig. While it was first used on Mrs. Henderson Presents, we can now offer this state-of-the-art equipment to any of our clients." The purchase of the ETC Source Four LED CYC Adapter is another example of White Light investing in the very latest technology to help enhance the projects that it works on. The company recently added the Prolyte S36PRA Flexable Truss to its rigging collection, which has already been used on the one-off 50 Cent concert at London's O2 Arena as well as the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular UK tour. White Light also recently made the first purchase of the brand new M-C12 and M-C15 speakers from EM Acoustics which are already being utilized for the Rugby World Cup at Twickenham. Yet, the lighting equipment was not all that White Light supplied on Mrs. Henderson Presents. The show's production electrician John Tapster comments: "As a lot of the story took place in the backstage area of the Windmill Theatre, White Light and Jim Laws were kind enough to provide some antique-looking equipment to be used as part of the show. So in that sense they were providing the lighting support both on and off stage!" Mrs. Henderson Presents concluded its extremely successful run at the Theatre Royal Bath last Saturday. Tapster comments: "I have worked with White Light for several years now and it is always a pleasure; as it was once again on this production." With White Light continuing to be the leading lighting supplier on both West End and UK touring theatre productions, the next few months are going to be particularly busy for the complete production solution specialist. Isherwood adds: "We are currently working on The Shawshank Redemption UK tour and will soon be supporting the UK tours of The Full Monty, Handbagged, and Rebecca. We are committed to providing the best service to theatre productions of all sizes and, with our vast range of equipment, can ensure that we help to create a spectacular show every time." ![](/std_images/blank.gif)
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