As Platinum Sponsor, Conference Audio Visual is proud to have been behind the lighting, projections and QLab for Leongatha Lyric Theatre’s production of Billy Elliot the Musical, one of the most demanding shows a community theatre can take on. Leading the design was CAV’s own Trev Wyhoon, whose lighting shaped every scene from the picket line to the final leap. The community turned out in force, with 7 of the 13 performances selling out completely.
Billy Elliot is a story of two worlds. There is the cold, grey reality of a mining town in the middle of a strike, and there is the warm, impossible world of a boy who just wants to dance. Lighting has to tell both those stories at once, and that is exactly the kind of challenge Conference Audio Visual loves to take on. The picket lines and kitchen scenes sat under hard, honest light that made the town feel like it was holding its breath. Then Billy started to move, the colour warmed, and suddenly there was somewhere to escape to.
Numbers like “Electricity” and the show’s soaring dream sequence are where the rig really earned its keep. The lighting was built to move with the choreography and the music, note by note, so that the audience felt the shift before they had worked it out in their heads. Behind it all sat QLab, keeping lighting, projections and sound cues locked together with split-second precision, while large-scale projections helped conjure the mining town and the wider world beyond the stage. When it all landed together with the cast on stage, it was the sort of moment that makes a night at the theatre unforgettable.
The audiences felt it. As one theatregoer put it: “I just got home from tonight’s performance and I’m buzzing, it was absolutely brilliant. The variety of the stage setup, the outstanding quality of the singing, dancing and acting, the live music and the incredible talent of Billy, it was just phenomenal. Years ago I saw Billy Elliot in London, but I reckon Leongatha tops it.” Another simply called it “the most amazing production ever,” while others spoke of tears, of a show that was “completely moving and beautifully performed,” and of a night that was “outstanding” from the first scene to the final bow, the band included.
Delivering that on a community theatre stage takes the right gear and the right people, and Conference Audio Visual brought both. Working alongside the cast, crew and creative team at Leongatha Lyric, Trev and the CAV team had a simple goal: give this production the polish it deserved and let a hugely talented local company shine. Seven sold-out houses out of thirteen, and a foyer full of people already asking about next year, say it worked.
Congratulations to everyone at Leongatha Lyric Theatre on a truly magical season of Billy Elliot. As Platinum Sponsor, Conference Audio Visual was honoured to help light the way, putting the light exactly where the story needed it and watching the whole stage lift the moment Billy danced.
