Lighting Up the West End
November 2006
Pride in her work: Tania's electronic skills are of great importance to The Lion King.
The theatres of London’s West End are taking advantage of Lambeth College’s excellent track record in Electronic Installations training in the School of Engineering.
Electronics and lighting technicians from the Lyceum, Prince Edward, Duke of York and Shaftsbury theatres are studying on our Electronic Installations C&G 2330 Level 2 course as day-release students and are already putting into practise their new skills.
Tania Henry, Assistant Electrician at the Lyceum Theatre in Covent Garden, and Chris Davies, Electrician from the Prince Edward Theatre, have been studying on the course since September. Both believe they are equipping themselves with valuable knowledge and qualifications.
Tania, 26, has worked on the production of The Lion King for the past 18 months. She arrived at the theatre from a performing arts (technical) background and loves the work she does for the show. A huge part of her work involves fixing and maintaining theatre lamps and lighting rigs. She says: “The theory and practical elements of this course have given me much more confidence in my work. I am getting a lot of experience in things I knew little about before and didn’t want to dabble in without receiving some advice. Now I am coming across technical problems and faults that I feel confident to fix right away. Once the curtain has gone up during a huge show like the Lion King there is a lot than can go wrong technically and it can be stressful work keeping the stage lit.”
Supercalifragilistic:
Behind the scenes Chris is helping to make it all work so expialidocious.
Chris, 22, is working on the production of Mary Poppins. He started working for the show a year ago as a follow spot operator but has now been promoted to ‘First Daman’. This means he is responsible for dealing with all aspects of electronics on the set, from lighting equipment to general theatre duties such as air conditioning, and fire alarm testing. He says: “Because of my promotion I needed to learn a lot of new electronic skills. This course is covering all the things I hoped it would and I too am gaining more confidence in my own abilities. One of the most important aspects of our training as been in the area of Health & Safety. In a big theatre with thousands of bulbs and wires and a packed audience you simply have to get things right all the time.”
Both Tania and Chris are particularly appreciative to their Tutor, Bill Bowdery, who makes each topic interesting and relevant to their jobs.
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