21st Apr 2005 - Frog 2 at the Cardiff International Festival of Musical Theatre

Cardiff International Festival of Musical Theatre plays host to a diverse programme of performances and events encompassing the very best in musical theatre, including full scale musical productions, musicals in concert, opera, jazz, dance, cabaret, exhibitions, films and much more.

Zero 88’s Frog 2 console was chosen to control the lighting for the world premier of a Welsh language musical ‘Popdy’. Popdy was produced by Torpedo Media for BBC Radio Cymru and was performed in the Bute Theatre at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff. The cast of students aged between 12 and 20 were all from local Welsh language schools.

The Frog 2 controlled a mixed rig of moving heads and around 100 generic fixtures.

Talking about the desk, Lighting Designer, programmer & board operator Peter Kirkup explains “The Frog 2 was very easy to use during the performances. The Macros feature in particular meant that I could trigger off complicated chases and have them run over the top of several cues. It was also great to have a fully controllable effects generator, something I used several times to great advantage.

I needed a desk that was buskable as well as the facility to play back traditional theatre stacks. My alternative desks, a Pearl or a 520, primarily either work as one or the other. The Frog 2 met and surpassed all my demands.”

‘Popdy’ will be broadcast on BBC Cymru at 9:45am on Sunday 24th April 2005.


Photo courtesy of Matt Rogerson.