Entertainment that fits you perfectly
We’ve outlined a recent bespoke creation for a client and worked through the process to give you a better understanding of the detailed work involved and how our imaginations work.
This client has requested a level of privacy over their event details so we aren’t able to name them but the following process gives great insight into the stages we followed along the way.
Consultation and initial idea
If a client wants to celebrate their brand with a small group of invited guests. The first port of call is for us to understand the following:
How do you want them to feel?
Impressed, awed, wowed
What is the lasting impression or message for them to be left with?
Quality, heritage and legacy
What are their age ranges and interests?
Varied but mostly age 30+ and interested in craftsmanship and the pursuit of excellence. Travel, exploration and journeying were other important themes.
How big is the group of guests/audience?
80
Taking travel and exploration as our initial jumping off point and being inspired by the unique nature of the Venue, we created a 3 part narrative inspired by the tales of travel and wonder of Jules Vernes.
He wrote about a number of extraordinary voyages in Around The World in Eighty Days, 20,000 leagues Under The Sea & Journey To The Centre Of The Earth and these tales provided our jumping off point that would help us set the tone for the music, the colour palette of the characters and the inspiration for our storytelling.
One of the opportunities of change is to be able to introduce new aspects to the vision.
Next Steps
Our venue, St Anne’s Cathedral lent itself to our theme with it’s beautiful and original gothic style environment, giving us a large physical footprint to play with in the space which meant we could be dynamic in our staging.
As part of our proposals we have to think about many things:
- Music & Composition
- Lighting
- Staging
- Wardrobe
- Characterisation
We also have to ensure that our entertainment flows seamlessly in and out of your event schedule and that we communicate effectively with all the teams from technical to front of house to make sure that even when plans change, we are all ready to handle them. Our role carries with it near constant levels of large and small problem solving throughout our planning and on the day. We thrive on this problem solving and our own event management team are always on hand to ensure this communication is kept open and clear to bring the very best to your event and support your team in the overall event delivery in this way.
Characterisation
We try to imagine a life for our characters outside of the event, who they were and where they’ve come from to make them feel really 3D and substantial. With the addition of careful costuming, professional make-up and hair and careful attention to detail we crafted these particular performances to feel almost filmic in quality. Our work is often theatrical but the nature of these performances lent themselves to memories of great and iconic films so we wanted it to look like our performers had just stepped out of a beautiful scene.
The clients’ brand colours and our own colour palette, drawn from the world of victoriana, helped shape all of this. We even went as far as different coloured contact lenses in 2 of our performers to create a familial link between them. This is a small detail but for us this is the level we enjoy exploring!
Rehearsal
With everything creatively in place, we then cast our performers to ensure the highest level of talent and skills and then rehearse to get the performances just right.
On the day a thorough technical rehearsal ensures that sound and lighting are all working together to enhance the performances and to help create the atmosphere and environment to make the evening a success.
The Event Unfolds
The Event Unfolds: Part I
To set the scene, a harpist (pictured) played a background set as if from Victorian times. This then led musically into our opening piece of performance once the guests were seated for dinner.
With our Jules Verne character as our guide accompanied by his valet Passpartout, together they entertained in an opening section, setting the scene of the origin of travel. This was about the start of an epic journey where you are excited about what lies ahead. Musically this was told through song and with a dynamic performance on the flute. Musically all screen content was a liaison with the client using their heritage footage and these assets were timed to enhance the storytelling.
The Event Unfolds: Part II
A second performance section moved us towards more modern times and we also enjoyed championing our female explorers with a reference to Amelia Earhart and also submariner travel.
This was a celebration of the achievements of travel through the sea and sky. Musically, The flower Duet (by Delibes) transported the audience to thoughts of flight, travel and escapism through beauty.
The Event Unfolds: Part III
To round off the night’s entertainment we brought travel up to date to the modern era with an Everest expedition. Our mountaineers’ efforts reminded us of the desires for travel and exploration that we continue to relish today. Her determination to succeed was musically the finale of the night with her journey to the summit being watched and by the ghosts of the previous explorers’ performers alongside her, urging her on. This last section spoke of heritage, passed on from generation to generation and the lasting legacy that the drive for excellence can inspire.
This performer actually had two looks, she achieved a transformation as she reached the mountain summit and achieved that pursuit of excellence.
In this moment we wanted her to look contrastingly very expensive to her exploration look, like the face of a premium brand in an advertising campaign. The transformation had to be a quick reveal and to leave behind a final lasting impression for the audience that they’d been allowed to witness a pivotal moment in this person’s life. She had to look epic.
A bucket list moment.
Isn’t this all a bit too deep?
It’s just entertainment!
We don’t think so. For us, it’s this level of detail and investment that makes the entertainment stand out and stand alone as something to be talked about for time to come, to be remembered as something special. A one-off experience for others to be compared against. If that’s a bit too much, then we’ll happily be accused of that.
Remember, we were working to a specific client brief and they wanted for the evening to leave the guests feeling impressed, wowed and awed. Of course, running underneath all this it had to be entertaining, otherwise what’s the point? The theme of this proposal had some grand themes running through it but we still made sure it included fun and a light touch where needed.
Callow Events were the main event organisers for this event and we enjoyed working with them together to bring the event to life with the level of detail befitting the high end client.
Photography: Lee Mitchell
The Reviews Are In
Reaction to the event
This is where we find out if we hit the mark or not.
This event was a great success all round and the curation of this particular entertainment programme brought us a great reaction from our client. This was because we really took the time to listen to their needs and their vision which translated to a standing ovation on the night (how often does that happen at a corporate event?).
This was one of the most rewarding projects we’ve worked on recently. It allowed a level of exploration and detail along with a high finish that made it a pleasure from start to finish. That the client loved it just made all the hard work worthwhile.
Fleur Mellor
Producer & Choreographer, Peter Corry ProductionsIf you’d like to come on this kind of journey with us please get in touch. The initial ideas stage is always exciting, anything is possible.
