Unusual Rigging Brings Technical Ingenuity to Jamie Lloyd's Evita

	To support the camera and allow safe rigging access without stepping onto the venue's delicate glass canopy, Unusual devised a folding cantilever arm built from a steel beam, ballast weighting (150kg) and tensioned wire rope.

When production manager Martyn Sands needed creative rigging and automation solutions for Jamie Lloyd's Evita at The London Palladium, he turned to Unusual Rigging. Running for just 12 weeks over the summer and closing to rave reviews on September 6, the show's aesthetic demanded bespoke engineering across both front-of-house and over stage areas -- much of it installed in a Grade II listed venue with strict constraints and no room for error.

"As soon as I get the designs from lighting, sound and set, I give Unusual a call," says Martyn. "What we're trying to create on stage doesn't always line up with what's already in the building -- and even if the infrastructure is there, it might not have the load capacity. Jamie's productions always have weight to them, visually and physically, so we need to get ahead of that early."

Unusual's design engineer, Luke MacBride, visited the site to assess the feasibility of rigging on the building's protected facade. Due to heritage restrictions and visual impact, no equipment could sit on the floor, and no permanent marks could be left behind. The solution involved two discreet truss sections mounted high within the balcony arches, carefully measured and bracketed inside the columns so they'd remain invisible from the street. These supported PA and cantilevered lighting positions, fixed with a view to being completely removed post-run, leaving just eight bolt holes to patch.

To support the camera and allow safe rigging access without stepping onto the venue's delicate glass canopy, Unusual devised a folding cantilever arm built from a steel beam, ballast weighting (150kg) and tensioned wire rope. The result: a clean, reversible system that allowed the team to rig from the balcony itself before lowering into position.

"It worked, looked clean, and more importantly, meant nobody ever had to climb out over the front. It is hidden quite nicely - and once we take it out, you'd never know it had been there," says MacBride.

The concept was designed and fabricated -- and the full rig built and ready by the time the main production loaded in just a week. Over stage, Unusual supported a range of bespoke lighting and automation elements, including truss for six of the twelve LX bars, additional front-of-house trussing, and a triple-stacked truss structure (LX12) positioned beyond the band to support extended lighting effects. They also provided automated hoists for the video wall, opting for a Kinesys Apex system, part of Unusual's recent investment, praised for its quiet operation and full compliance with updated safety standards, the company says.

With years of experience working in The London Palladium, the Unusual team says they are familiar with the quirks of the building, including how angled roof beams become difficult near the final meter so they opted to use like existing high-friction flange clamps from earlier shows to attach new brackets without delay.

"Unusual are my go-to people," says Martyn. "They know the Palladium inside out. And across the board, my creative team trusts Unusual -- they either solve the problem or explain clearly why something won't work. It's never just a no. It's: 'We can do it, but we'll need to do A, B, and C.' That approach makes all the difference."