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Robert Juliat’s Arthur LT selected for “My Favourite Broadway”

When South African lighting designer Oliver Hauser worked on Jonathan Roxmouth’s “My Favourite Broadway” last year, he incorporated two manually operated Robert Juliat Arthur 1014LT followspots. The show, produced by Howard Events with event technical supplied by Multi-Media, ran from July 25 to August 3, 2025, at Johannesburg’s Teatro at Montecasino.

“My Favourite Broadway” featured songs from some of the world’s best-loved musicals, including “The Phantom of the Opera”, “Les Misérables”, “Evita” and “My Fair Lady”. Actor and singer Roxmouth was backed by the 32-piece Egoli Symphonic Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Adam Howard, delivering a large-scale, live musical theatre experience.

Multi-Media supplied the technical solutions for the show, with everything from L-Acoustics L-ISA Hyperreal technology and a fully integrated production with audio, lighting and video all tracking the artist in sync using Modulo Pi KineMotion. When it came to considering the followspot system, Roxmouth preferred a manual approach instead of an automated system for the production. Having worked as a followspot operator himself, Hauser understands the demands of the role. “A good followspotter needs control, timing and awareness”, he says. “It’s a skilled job, and it carries a lot of responsibility.” 

Hauser explains that the decision to go with a manually operated followspot came down to a few practical and creative reasons. “Neither of us had used a fully automated followspot system as the main key light before, and we were cautious about relying on sensors for something so critical”, he says. “There was also the question of style. Jonathan’s blocking can be quite fluid, and human-operated followspots respond more naturally to that.”

Another factor was the operator’s ability to adapt in real time. “A skilled followspotter can adjust instantly if something changes - whether it’s movement, timing or emotion. That flexibility is hard to replace.” Speed and accuracy were also part of the discussion, as well as the desire to keep people involved in the process. “At the end of the day, we didn’t want to replace a human operator”, Hauser adds. “For this show, having someone behind the light made sense.”

(Photos: Lauge Sorensen)

www.robertjuliat.com

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