Al Habtoor City Theatre La Perle Rigging

McLaren Engineering Group provided engineering services on various theatre and show elements for the 2017 debut production of “La Perle” at the Al-Habtoor City Theatre in Dubai, UAE. McLaren prepared fabrication drawings of the theatre’s rigging infrastructure to allow for an 8,000-pound rotating steel ‘Globe of Death’ to hang above the audience as a first-of-its-kind special effect to be used during the show.

The McLaren Difference: Applied Ingenuity

McLaren’s entertainment engineers utilized its in-depth expertise of theatrical rigging systems, stage machinery, theatrical effects, and theatre infrastructure to provide a full evaluation of the newly constructed roof structure, rigging steel and gridiron for the continually evolving production needs as the show La Perle was created, rehearsed, and performed. Conducting a full on-site observation, rigging load tables were developed for each of the four potential overhead steel levels to allow for maximum design flexibility.

The McLaren team ensured the safety of theatre workers, performers and audience members by engineering a rigging system to support the ‘Globe of Death’, a steel spherically shaped scenic element supporting multiple motorcycle stuntmen. This custom system included multiple diversion sheave blocks and cribbing beams that support five different winches used for the globe. To keep the globe stable during the live performance, McLaren used steel wire cables to connect it to the stage with multiple support winches, that are capable of providing substantial amounts of pretension for both the rigging lines and cables.