We're back at it friends, The Fly Honey Show is in its 10th year of celebrating sex and body positivity through music, dance, poetry, performance art, and everything in between. Performing for 5 weekends, it is a nonstop thrill ride of butts and bass, and it's no secret this is my favorite project of the year.
This is my 5th year with the Fly Honeys, and in my tenure as Lighting Designer I've learned so much. I started on Fly Honey 6 in the Chopin Basement. We had 22 dimmers (2 in the 24-rack didn't work, of course), a sloped ceiling from 7'-9' and zero symmetrical hanging positions. We were lucky back then to have 6 moving lights, 6 scrollers, and a bunch of Inkie Fresnels. The rest of that year is a blur, but somehow I pulled off lighting this big cabaret with such bare bones. I also hung, circuited, focused, and programmed the whole show by myself, which isn't uncommon in the Storefront world, but for such a big show it was utterly exhausting! Having Ellen Willet for a stage manager certainly helped to ease the blow, and in the end all of the hard work was worth it.
After that, I recruited Slick Jorgenson and rented real gear from SLAM Productions. We sweated it out in the Chopin Basement together, troubleshooting the infamous Fly Honey Belt lights and attending every show to make sure our moving light power didn't get kicked out by audience members. What a trip Fly Honey 7 was! But Slick proved themselves indespensable to the process; you really can't do Fly Honey alone.
This year is our third year in the Den Theatre's Heath Mainstage, and what an upgrade it has been for my LIFE. A full pipe grid at 14', 96 beautiful dimmers, and all the Movers and LED units a girl could hope for. The operating budget of the project has more than doubled from when I first joined the project, and it shows; 16 moving lights, over 30 led wash units, belt lights, and very special intelligent fixtures from Portman Lighting in the shape of honeycombs, our trademark. The show continues to grow and evolve, especially with the addition of Eleanor Kahn (scenic design), Robert Hornbostel (sound design), and Madeleine Borg (production manager). The Hive is MIGHTY, and this year is going to be no exception.
For more information about the Honeys and the Hive, follow us @theflyhoneys or check out the website here!
Gear List:
6x Martin MAC Quantum Profile
10x Martin MAC Aura
15x ColorForce 12
11x ColorADO Solo Zoom
6x ColorADO Tri-Tour
4x Portman P1
4x Portman P2
6x ETC Source 4 36deg
6x 4-Channel Belt Light 20' length
11x Music Stand Lights
Console:
ETC Gio @5
Vendor:
SLAM Productions
