Panasonic’s RQ35 and RQ25 projectors have been deployed at Paddington: The Musical, the West End production at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane, where they are being used to deliver large-scale scenic imagery across moving and flown set pieces throughout the show.
The production required full scenic video coverage across multiple architectural surfaces while keeping all projection equipment invisible to the audience. A combination of RQ35 and RQ25 series projectors – supplied by Stage Sound Services – was selected for its balance of high-output performance, compact form factor, and quiet operation, enabling units to be positioned front-of-house and above the audience without drawing attention. The projectors were complemented by a dedicated LED display in a hybrid approach that required precise planning and tuning.
Custom acoustic enclosures were used to minimise noise, with projector housings colour-matched to the venue’s Victorian-era architecture. In some locations, projectors were integrated among lighting fixtures to further reduce visual impact. A simplified signal chain using direct fibre connections via SDM slots reduced potential points of failure a particular advantage given that units are housed within acoustic enclosures.
Dan Trenchard, video supervisor for Paddington: The Musical, said: “We want the video content to be the brightest, best-looking we’ve ever had – but it must never look like video. And when the projection is not in use, we don’t want anybody to know there’s projection in the show.”
Ash J Woodward, video design and animation, added: “Video, for me, is always in service of the story. It needs to have narrative importance, but also the capacity to open up the world of the production when scale and spectacle are required.”
The production team noted that Panasonic’s low-noise performance was among the most important factors in the specification decision, and that they are keen to see further noise reduction in future generations of the technology. James Paul, head of video at Stage Sound Services, added: “As soon as a project like this comes up, we already know what we’re going to use.”
You can subscribe to Installation magazine for free here and the daily newsletter here.
