Lights the ship for rocking ‘90s

STROBES, LASERS changing colour and smoke were among the effects deployed by lighting director José Lorenzo to recreate the 1990s party scene for Electric Sunsets: Cruise Back to the 90s on the Marella Explorer cruise ship.

Sailing from Newcastle to Southampton, the vessel carries up to 1,900 passengers and hosted performances by ‘90s artistes including B*Witched, 5ive and S Club Party (two members of S Club 7).

“I was too young to be clubbing in the 1990s,” says Lorenzo, whose company José Lorenzo Lighting Design supplied event organiser The Entertainment Department (TED). “But in my research, all the videos looked smoky and involved those effects. This is what I tried to recreate, but with modern technology.”

He placed eight Maverick Storm 1 Wash fixtures by Chauvet Professional on T-trusses around the pool deck performance area and another four on the back truss behind the main stage.

“They are fast moving units,” he says. “Playing with the LED rings helped create nice-looking colour changes. Also, the beam angles from the zoom range gave me the chance to play with very narrow beams to complement the effect of my spots and lasers.

“Lighting on a cruise ship deck has its challenges, especially given the exposure to the elements,” he says. “So, the TED AV team and I were attracted by the Maverick’s IP rating, as well as its compact size.”