Legendary, award-winning composer Hans Zimmer returns to the concert stage with an innovative and dynamic production design created by Derek McLane, Peter Nigrini, and Lightswitch. The show takes audiences on a three-hour thrill ride through some of the greatest music of our time, played sold-out arenas throughout Europe until May of 2022, and is returning in 2023 for more.
Produced and promoted by RCI Global and Semmel Concerts, Hans Zimmer Live is a major arena entertainment spectacular. More than just a concert, the show features Hans, a band, an orchestra made of acclaimed musicians from around the world, and a troupe of dancers and singers — all performing works from Hans’ multi-award winning catalog. The performance features arrangements from many major motion pictures, including the Academy Award-winning films Dune, No Time to Die, and The Lion King, as well as fan favorites The Last Samurai and Interstellar. The show takes the audience on a three-hour thrill ride through some of the greatest music of our time. With ten musicians from the Odessa National Opera Orchestra, the show is also a poignant and moving statement on the power of music, as well as a condemnation of the Ukrainian invasion.
In late 2019, Hans Zimmer and his business partner Steve Kofsky asked Lightswitch to join their team for the planned Hans Zimmer Live 2020 tour. Little did we know what the universe had in store. As the pandemic raged, we joined acclaimed Broadway designers Derek McLane and Peter Nigrini to create a production design team in which everyone collaborated seamlessly, crossing arbitrary departmental boundaries to create a nimble, flexible experience for all. We were empowered by Hans to explore "what if": What if a lighting system could truly be designed and programmed in ways that were more musical than numerical? What if theatrical scenic design could be brought to arena touring, with a real sense of drama and location? What if media design could be woven into lighting, at times with restraint and at others with breathtaking exuberance, to contextualize motion picture music without resorting to the obvious motion picture content?
Choreographer Barry Lather joined the project to direct the choir/chorus: a group of multi-talented singers, dancers, musicians, and aerialists. The comprehensive lighting system was provided by Satis and Fy, and featured 250 MegaPointes (many on Cyber Hoist kinetic trusses with dazzling mirror facias), BMFL Wash Beams (some with RoboSpot control), and the first major tour use of both Terra 1 and Tetra 2 linear LED moving battens — an all Robe rig! Custom fixtures included arrays of incandescent color temperature bulb LED rod fixtures, as well as an 8’ diameter "micro tile" mirror ball.
Just like Hans' music, our design embraces the unexpected. The show opens with a stage-level, 15” high full-width LED screen backing an unexpectedly soft and ethereal overture from Dune, featuring incredible vocalist Loire Colter. The screen then flies away to reveal the band and a company of bagpipers (yes, bagpipers!) for "Arrival of House Arrakis." Moving through Wonder Woman, Man of Steel, Pirates of the Caribbean, the utterly unexpected "Absurdities Suite," The Last Samurai, Dark Phoenix, and The Dark Knight before reaching Interstellar, The Lion King and James Bond, the visual design shifts and transforms with the music to constantly engage, excite, and enthuse the audience. Critics have been effusive in their praise of the tour and its visual design, calling it "bold," "innovative," "precise," and "breathtaking."
The project played sold-out arenas throughout Europe until May of 2022, and is returning in 2023 for more.
photography by Lindsay Cave & Frank Embacher
