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 25 July to 3 August 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.
While Multi-Media excelled with the innovative 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.
Hauser has worked with Robert Juliat equipment for many years and says reliability and usability were key factors. “The light quality and optics have always been excellent,” he explained. “Just as important is how the fixtures are designed to operate. If followspotoperators are comfortable, the result on stage is simply better.”
Having worked as a followspot operator himself, Hauser understands the demands of the role. “A good followspotter needs control, timing and awareness. It’s a skilled job, and it carries a lot of responsibility. Ease of use really matters — if you’re not fighting the fixture, you can focus on the performance. The Arthur 1014 allows you to do that.”
Arthur 1014LT is the long-throw version of the original Arthur followspot, designed with a tighter beam for longer distances. With a 4°–10° zoom range, it delivers output stronger than a 2500W HMI Aramis, producing 2000 lux at 50 metres. It also offers excellent colour quality (CRI >94), ensuring performers are shown in their best light. Thanks to multiple ventilation modes, Arthur runs far quieter than traditional discharge followspots, making it suitable for everything from opera houses to concerts and large arenas.
Hauser explained 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 said. “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 added. “For this show, having someone behind the light made sense.”
For My Favourite Broadway, the choice of traditional followspots supported the performance without drawing attention to the technology, allowing the focus to remain where it belonged, on the music and the artist.
