Patrick Woodroffe: Lighting the stars

Patrick Woodroffe is one of the world’s foremost lighting designers. He has lit shows for stars ranging from Michael Jackson to Bob Dylan, from Lady Gaga to Elton John, as well as being creative director of the Rolling Stones live shows since 1982.

In 2013 he was made a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) by the Royal Society of Arts, and he was awarded an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2014, for services to the arts.

We join Patrick while he takes charge of the technical rehearsal period for the Last Domino? Tour, as show director for the sold-out arena tour that sees the remaining original Genesis band members reform for the first time since 2007.

Via a combination of Zoom calls, exclusive access to the fully Covid-19 compliant bubble of the London rehearsal team, actual performance recording, and personal contributions from Genesis founder members Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks, Grammy Award-winning record producer Steve Levine joins Patrick to examine his creative process.

As Steve and Patrick unravel the intimate relationship between sound and vision, they illuminate an artistic canvas that - in this case - is actually a leap of faith in the live events industry.

Not only does the country enter full lockdown during the rehearsal process, but Patrick has to work his lighting magic knowing there’s no guarantee the tour will take place on time… or at all.

Presenter: Steve Levine
Producer: Lewis Borg-Cardona

A Magnum Opus Broadcasting production for BBC World Service