The Revolving Stage Company

Dial M for Murder was the touring production put on by West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, and for that they used a 5.4m dia. revolving stage complete with software, which they used with good effect to rotate the stage 180 degrees in 25 minutes to an audience unaware of the stage movement.

“The furniture is arranged on a revolve that glides sickeningly into motion or moves almost imperceptibly, so that the room becomes discreetly and disconcertingly rearranged” was the quote used in The Times review of the show.

The Autumn season has seen many revolves being used in amateur productions, amongst them a 4m dia revolve at Cheadle Hulme School, a 6.5m dia. plus surround and software at Kinsgswood School Bath, a 5.7m dia. at Greycoat School, Westminster, a 6m to 8m double revolving stage and software for the Guildford Grammar School, a 6m dia. revolving stage for the Windsor and Eton Opera Society and for the production of The Railway Children at The Lancaster Grand Theatre, a 6.5m dia. revolve was used.

For exhibiting, a 5.4m dia. revolving stage was used by Peugeot at the MPH shows at Earls Court and the NEC, while at the 2009 Motorcycle Show held at The NEC, our revolving stages were used on Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki stands as well as a 6m dia. revolve built into the Black Horse Stage.

At the Motor Heritage Centre in Gaydon, a 5.7m dia. revolving stage was used to launch the new Alfa Romeo sports car

At the Edinburgh Lyceum Theatre a 8m dia. revolving stage along with surround staging and The Revolvesolve Encoder package was used for their production of Confessions of a Justified Sinner. At Liverpool`s Royal Court Theatre, a 5.7m dia. revolving stage and software was used for their production, The Salon.

In the summer of 09, we built and installed a 3rd ring to the already installed double revolving stage, permanently located at the Halogaland Theatre in Tromso, Norway. The 1.5m wide revolving ring made the now 3 part revolving stage up to a 9m in diameter.

Already using Ethernet to communicate with the stage, the software was further upgraded to allow far more combinations of programming the stages as well as features to toggle between, all stages using independent positioning and combinations being used as a slave drive for when scenery is sitting across more than one ring, and rings have to move as one.

The new features to the software are also beneficial when using multiple single revolves, where automation of movement is key. The new software is available on all revolves in our hire stock range.

Pop Singer Lady GaGa used one of our 1m dia. revolving plinths this summer for her Glastonbury appearance as well as on her European Tour. A 1m dia. revolving plinth was also used by The Irrepressibles for their “Human Music Box” shows.

O n Graham Norton`s Totally Saturday Show, a 5m dia. high speed revolving stage travelling at over 7rpm was used to resemble a record player, in one of the shows “against the clock” contestant gameshows.

A 2.4m dia. revolving stage was also used in the current Royal Mail TV adverts featuring Roger Moore.

Spring 2009 proved to be a busy period for the world of amateur theatre We have always supplied revolving stages to these organisations, but more and more are realising the benefits of using a revolving stage for their productions. As most of these productions are usually held in smaller venues, the revolving stage becomes a usefull tool for being able to change through scenes quickly without the need for storing large scenery items off stage, and most have found that as we can install the revolving stage and the surrounding static stage, plus ramps etc ourselves, it fits within their sometimes limited budget.

Schools and Colleges too see the appeal of the revolving stage and with the programming and operation of the stage software, this gives a good insight for the pupils into this type of stage technology.
Some of the organisations using our revolving stages recently have included-

East Berkshire Operatic Society at The Wilde Theatre, where we installed a 7m dia. revolve plus surround staging and the Revolvesolve Encoder Package and software.
The Trent Valley Acadamy in Gainsborough made use of a 5.7m dia. revolving stage for their in house productions.

Maidenhead Operatic Society used a 5m dia. revolving stage and surround staging and software for their production of The Scarlet Pimpernel in May
Worth School near Crawley used a 6.5m dia. revolving stage, surround staging and software for their in house production in March.

In Dublin at The Gate Theatre, a 7m revolving stage with software was use for their production of The Real Thing, and in Leicestershire at the Kilworth House Open Air Theatre, a 8m – 10m Double Revolving Stage, along with surround staging and independent software control, was installed for the summer season performance of Crazy For You.

The Annual Volksworld event held at Sandown Racecourse displayed two of their star vehicles on 5m revolving stages in March. The stages were finished in chequer vinyl and aluminium trim.

At The Dorchester Hotel in London, we supplied 4 revolving hubs with double sided display panels. We sunk the four hubs into the stage and foamex graphics were attached to the panels. The Revolvsolve Encoder package was used to be able to programme the four panels to accurately rotate 180 degrees forwards and backwards to reveal different graphics.

This winter, amongst others, The Revolving Stage Company installed revolving stages for Toyota at the ExCel Arena, Docklands and Peugeot at The ICC, Birmingham. An 8m diameter revolve was used for Toyota and a 4. 5m diameter with surround stage was built into the set at the ICC.

For a Carte D`Or TV commercial shot at Black Island Studios in London, we supplied a 5m diameter revolving stage that also included a 2m dia. static stage mounted above the centre. The revolving stage was used to rotate a fast frame camera around the static centre, where a model of ice cream was positioned, with a “syrup pour” rigged above. With the revolve motor increased to allow a rotation speed of 8 rpm, the camera was moved 390 degrees around the ice cream as the syrup poured from above. When the film was played back in slow motion, the syrup could be seen hitting the peaks of the ice cream as the camera panned round.

The Revolvesolve Encoder Package was used to control the stage so that identical speed and position was repeated for each shoot and also to trigger the syrup pour in the correct position each time.

Within the Theatre world, winter 2008/09`s involvement included a 6m – 8m dia Double Revolving Stage for the musical Rent at the Birmingham Hippodrome, surround staging was also supplied and the inner and outer revolves were independently controlled using the Revolvesolve Encoder Package.

At the Gaiety Theatre in the Isle of Man, The Douglas Choral Unions production of Les Miserables was much acclaimed, for this we installed a 6m revolving stage and surround stage, and again the stage movement was all programmed and operated via laptop using the Revolvesolve Encoder Package.

A 9m dia. revolving stage and surround staging was used at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool for their production of Slappers and Slapheads..

At the 2009 NME Awards held at Londons O2 Arena, we again installed a 12m diameter revolving stage into the main arena for the Big Gig. With five major acts plying the gig, the revolving stage was used to allow one band to play to the audience while the next band was being set up behind a screen position across the centre of the revolve. As one band finished, we rotated the stage 180 degrees to move the next band and their equipment to the front of the stage.

As ever The Revolving Stage Company has been involved with some exiting and varied array of events this autumn, none more so than the Freize Arts Fair in Regents Park during October.

For this event we installed 6 revolving hubs, sunk into the ground, the hubs supported  6 trees, each 5m high in order to rotate them very slowly during the 4 day event. The revolving trees blended seamlessly with the parks existing trees thus creating an interesting and somewhat eerie effect.

The Mighty Boosh Live Show is on tour in Britain and Ireland between September 08 and January 09. The tour comprises of over 85 shows, for which we have supplied a 3.6m diameter revolving stage.

BBC Television Centre was the venue for the installation of a 4.2m diameter revolving stage, for the “Tonight with Jonathan Ross Show” the stage was used to rotate the host and guest Daniel Craig towards the video screen in a “James Bond” style gag.

At The NEC, Birmingham, we installed a 7m dia. Revolving Stage with Surround Stage, decking and ramps for the feature “Black Horse Stage” at the 2008 Motorcycle Show. Also at the NEC a 2.4m revolve for the Rimmel stand at The Clothes Show Live.

The workshops at The Revolving Stage Company this Autumn have produced a Double Revolving Stage purchased by The Hålogaland Theatre in Norway.

The 4m internal revolve inside a 6m dia. ring revolve was supplied with the Revolvesolve Encoder Package, upgraded to support Ethernet connections, this allows the stage to be programmed and controlled by any computer on the network already installed within the theatre and even controlled by any web connected computer anywhere in the world.

At Lotus Cars in Norwich we installed a 5m diameter revolving stage on a sloping 5m diameter static sub-stage.
We finished both in black carpet and aluminium trim and the revolve was used to showcase the launch of the new Lotus Evora.

As ever, its not just the high profile events that The Revolving Stage Company are involved with, in recent months we have also installed revolving stages and surround staging plus the Revolvesolve Encoder Package for amateur theatre organisations such as Stockport Grammar School, Warwick School, Newcastle College and Millfields Arts Centre, Enfield for their Christmas production of Cinderella.

The Royal Naval College in Greenwich played host to this years ARK Charity Gala where celebrities including Tony Blair, Stevie Wonder  and Bob Geldoff paid up to £100,000 per table to dine at the fundraising event of the year, over 25 million pounds was raised on the night. We supplied 4 revolving stages for this event, in the main marquee, a 6m revolving stage was installed and used for the purpose of changing between a stage area for the speaker and a control area for the music acts.

Outside in the ground of the Royal Naval College, a purpose built podium was used to support a 4.7m dia, revolving stage with a 3.6m dia. revolving stage positioned on top of that. The whole display was a representation of the solar system with acrobats performing within the display. The lower revolve supported 4 arms which rotated the moons in one direction while the main sphere was rotated the opposite direction on the 3.6m revolve. Also in the courtyard a 1.8m dia. revolve was used to rotate a single acrobat.

The Foo Fighters current tour took them to Wembley Stadium in June, where they performed two nights “in the round” to a 90,000 audience. Breaking away from the traditional stage set up, the stage was positioned in the centre of the pitch and the Foos performed on our 17m diameter revolving stage, as the band played they were rotated around 360 degrees for the whole of the Wembley crowd to view, the stage also moved in 90 degree movements as songs were played to the four sides of the terrace.

Liverpool`s Royal Court Theatre staged their production of Misery during June, for this we installed a 9m diameter revolving stage and square surround stage. Operated from a laptop using the Revolvesolve Encoder Package the revolve was programmed to rotated the central set to multiple positions.

At the Playhouse Theatre in Liverpool we installed a double revolving stage for their production of “Once upon a time at the Adelphi”

The 6m dia. internal revolve and 8m dia. external ring was used to rotate independently, scenery positioned on both revolves. On the outer ring a curved staircase was positioned, while on the inner revolve a large ornate door entrance was fixed.

Both inner and outer revolve were controlled by the Revolvesolve Encoder package, this allowed for all of the revolve moves to be plotted into a sequence table, in their running order, meaning only a touch of a button on their laptop, activated each move. The software is simple enough for the Playhouse stage management to edit the moves for speeds, directions and stopping positions throughout the rehearsal period.

The Revolving Stage Company also supplied several revolving stages for this years British Motorshow.

Early 2008 saw car launches the main focus of display. The ICC in Birmingham was the venue where Kia Cars used a 4.5m dia. Revolving stage for their event. Beaumont House in Windsor was where the Vauxhall Executives Meeting was held, for this event we installed a “Double Revolving Stage” with a 4m diameter internal revolve and a 1m wide rotating ring around that. The inner and outer revolve were independently controlled from the Revolvesolve Encoder Package, so that a curved screen set up to mask the car on the outer ring, rotated to the rear of the stage to reveal the car rotating in the opposite direction on the inner revolve. The software was then used to rotate the car in 90 degree increments as the speaker highlighted the car.

At the Forevever Living Products European Ralley in Budapest this February, we installed two 9m diameter revolving stages and one 11m diameter stage. At the 12000 seater Budapest Sports Arena the revolving stages were used to transform the stage from one set to another, bringing on several bands and presenters during two 8 hour long shows. Each of the stages were carpeted and 10m high, 3 sided  towers were erected onto the two 9m revolves either side of the central 11m revolving stage.

At the Henry Ford College in Loughborough, we installed a 5m diameter revolving stage onto a 5m diameter static stage, which was raked from 100mm at the front to 400mm at the back. A Ford Focus was then placed on the revolve with a Telsa Coil hung above the car from an overhead truss. As the car rotated, the Telsa Coil put a bolt of lightning from approx 2 metres away, onto four points mounted on the cars roof. Specially made Brass pads were attached under the revolve, in order to connect the car to an earth through the revolving element of the stage. Against a black background this created a stunning visual effect.

Three 5m diameter revolving stages were used at the Landrover Headquarters in Gaydon during February in an event to show off its latest models and at the Volksworld annual event at Sandown Racecourse, two 4.5m revolving stages were installed to display the best vehicles at the show.

The O2 Arena in London was the venue for this years NME Awards where we installed a 12 metre diameter revolving stage and surround stage. During the evening 5 bands played in the main arena and the revolving stage was used to set up the next act behind the LED screen hanging across the centre of the revolve. As one band finished and the screen was raised, the revolving stage rotated 180 degrees to bring in the next band and their equipment for a quick band changeover.

Within theatre, recent projects have included installing an 11m dia. revolving stage at The Edinburgh Lyceum for  their production of “Living Quarters”. The stage was  supplied with the Revolvesolve Encoder Package which enabled them to control the stage from a laptop computer for precised pre-programmed movement. For The New Vic Theatre in Stoke on Trent’s version of “Wizard of Oz” a 7m dia. ring revolve was supplied again with the Revolvesolve Encoder Package as exact positioning was required to move various items of scenery around the main central stage.

On the exhibition front, recent events included The Clothes Show and The Bike Show at NEC, Birmingham, and also the Boat Show at Excel.

Custom built projects in this period included a revolving dance floor for a new London Nightclub and 2 electronically controlled travelators for a new Saturday morning children’s game show.

Television – a 4.5m revolving stage and surround staging were used to shoot a “Winter Wonderland” commercial for the BBC. Jobs undertaken in this period within the conference world included a 4.5m revolving stage, a circular surround for a Peugeot Event at the ICC in Birmingham and for Coca Cola. A Revolving Audience and 4 revolving display screens were installed for their corporate events in Paris and at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. All of the units were automated for movement using the Revolvesolve Encoder Package.

Live Events – December saw The Revolving Stage Company supply a 10m dia. Revolving stage at the O2 Arena. The revolve was used for a Madness concert played “in the round” to enable the band to slowly rotate for the duration of their set.

For “Slammin Vinyl’s”, New Years Eve party held at the NEC Arena, we supplied a 6.5m revolving stage that was used to make up the Dj podium to create a stunning visual affect of rotating Dj booth and plasma screens.

.
The Revolving Stage Company supplies a 17m diameter revolving stage for the Live Earth concert at Wembley Stadium.

The revolve along with surround staging was built into the Live Earth Stage in order to allow a speedy changeover from one act to another during the busy concert schedule.
.

With one act playing to the Wembley audience, another band was set up behind the giant LED screen on the rear half of the revolving stage. As one act finished, the screen raises and the revolving stage rotates 180 degrees to reveal the next band ready to play, all within a few minutes.

The 17m dia. Revolving stage is the largest portable electronic revolve available to hire in Europe, the single phase stage can be assembled in 5 hours in any venue, with no restrictions on access.

To find out more including prices about our 17m diameter stage visit out products pages.

Click Here