Massimo Tomasino Creates Big Looks on Small Stage for Antonello Venditti with Chauvet Professional

	Antonello Venditti in concert

Built in 1910, the rustic Alpine-style Volkshaus concert hall provides a stark contrast to the many sleek glass and steel structures that dot the trendy western section of Switzerland's largest city. The hall's restaurant, which serves classics like "Hacktätschli," a traditional minced meat dish, also harkens back to an earlier era. Its old-style aura notwithstanding, Volkshaus also offers excellent acoustics, which explains why so many internationally renowned bands representing every music genre have performed at the venerable venue.

For all its charm and other attractive qualities, though, the Volkshaus' small stage can present a challenge for a lighting designer seeking to create big majestic looks for a legendary client. Massimo Tomasino overcame this issue in stunning fashion in early May for two sold-out shows by the iconic Antonello Venditti, thanks to some help from Chauvet Professional Maverick fixtures, supplied by Fumasoli Audio & Lights Rental.

Tomasino used 14 Maverick MK2 Spots and 12 MK2 Wash units in his floor package. He arranged six of the spot fixtures across the downstage deck and positioned the remaining units on midstage and upstage risers.

Supported by the Fumasoli crew, which included technical leader Federico Seguri, as well as electricians Diego Gasbarre and Patrick Ivarone, Tomasino relied on the rig's fixtures to perform a variety of functions. Throughout the concert, he used them to create aerial and crossing patterns of light over the stage. At other times, vividly colored light from the Maverick MK2 Spot was shot straight in the air, creating a wall of light that accented the various songs that Venditti performed from different periods in his stellar 50-year career.

To connect the singer/songwriter/actor to the sold-out crowd, the spot fixtures were used for audience light. The spot units also worked in tandem with the Maverick MK2 Wash fixtures, which were hung on downstage and midstage truss. With the spot fixtures directing light upward and the washes sending it downward, an engaging latticework of brightness and color was created over the stage, giving it the look of a spacious arena setting.

"This was a very gratifying project," said Tomasino. "Our aim was to create a refined and elegant show that reflected the important place that our client occupies in European music. The fun part was that we made a show with only lights. No video, lasers, or other special effects were used. We just allowed the lights to display the best of their possibilities."

It was by letting his fixtures flourish, says Tomasino, that he was able to immerse the audience in a light show that defied the spatial limitations of its stage.