MadonnaTribe meets Bruce Rodgers – Part Two
Today we are proud to present our readers part two of our exclusive interview to Bruce Rodgers, the creator of the Drowned World Tour stage. In this interview, in which we can show you for the first time ever the costruction drawings of the tour stage courtesy of Tribe Inc, we also discussed Madonna‘s performace of “Music” at the 2001 Grammy Awards:
MadonnaTribe: The Music” performance at the 2001 Grammy Awards featuring that fantastic limousine and that backdrop projection that I’ve always considered a sort of “visual resume” of Madonna. “Music” in the Drowned World Tour had a similar footage, but the limousine was not there anymore. Was it ever considered to be part of the show? It would have fit the act’s theme perfectly…
Bruce Rodgers: No, it was only meant to be used for the Grammy performance. The real story behind the limo for the Grammy”s is a funny one.
We knew we needed a real limo because there was no time to build one from scratch. We also knew the Grammy stage could not support the weight of a real limo which is about 9000lbs. Madonna”s production manager Chris Lamb located a limousine from a family in east LA that had the limo in their family funeral home for years and years. He paid them $10k for the limo. Little did they know that as soon as it arrived at the set shop it was gutted down to 2500lb.s, reinforced for dancers, cut into three rolling elements for easy install, and skinned in holographic vinyl mirror tiles.
Bruce also explained to us the concepts of “Hell” and “Heaven“, that he incorporated into the stage:
MadonnaTribe: The Drowned World Tour set also includes a series of components with a strong sculptural presence, the metal tree, the spanish chair, the temple walls, while basically all the rest is suspended from the ceiling.
Not only the spaceship, but big and small screens, as well as the entire sound system that was incorporated into the design were flying above. Was that a part of the design strategy to separate heavier and so-to-speak “naturalistic” elements from lighter and more technolody-related ones?
Bruce Rodgers: It”s nice to be interviewed by someone who recognizes space and movement. It was my goal in this design to have everything that isn”t light source seems to come from the ground or below ground: from “hell”. Even the softgoods are quick lifted up! by way of cable hoists.
The lighting for the most part was from above, from “God”.
To read the full exclusive interview to Bruce, which is part of the new “issue” of our Idol magazine, simply click HERE.
