Sadly, I missed last year’s inaugural mega animation using Queen’s Hotel in City Square as a screen, so was excited to be at the launch of the 2024 version. The weather was drizzly but good enough for the gathered crowd to enjoy the spectacle in reasonable comfort, especially the people ambling round the Christmas market stalls, totally oblivious to what was to come, until the burst of light and blast of noise took their mind off what to buy Aunty Betty for Christmas.
Andrew Cooper, CEO of LeedsBID waiting for the show to begin.
The event was organised by the amazing people at LeedsBID, which is a not-for-profit, non-political venture set up to encourage awareness, footfall, and thus spending, in the City. The MONOPOLY event over the summer, showed that they don’t mess about, as it attracted in excess of half a million people to the place. Indeed, last year’s animation in City Square was watched by an estimated 200,000 during its run, which, this year is from 12th – 22nd December. The show lasts for 8 minutes and repeats every quarter of an hour from 4.30pm until 8.30pm. The admission charge is every Yorkshire person’s dream – nowt!
The show was written by the Leeds legend that is Lisa Holdsworth, playwright and television scriptwriter, responsible for many episodes of shows such as Emmerdale, Call The Midwife, Waterloo Road and New Tricks as well as numerous others. She also wrote one of the best plays I have ever seen, Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile, a stage adaptation of Adelle Stripe’s novel about Andrea Dunbar, the Bradford woman who wrote Rita, Sue and Bob Too. I was delighted to hear that it will soon be going on tour after being stymied by Covid.
Ms Holdsworth said that she had been working in conjunction with the other creatives and come up with the story of Gingerbread Man, a hotel porter, who is given a mission to decorate the Queen’s Hotel’s huge Christmas Tree. She has incorporated the ideas of the Twelve days of Christmas and an advent calendar in order to do this, utilising characters and items found in the former, which are hidden in the latter. It certainly makes for a whirlwind of a story, in more ways than one.
Richard Armitage, best known for his appearances in Hannibal, Spooks and the films in The Hobbit franchise – although to gamers, it will probably be Warhammer III – is the narrator of the piece. He brings Gingerbread Man alive by using a fairly natural voice rather than a cartoon character overstated one, meaning that you can both identify and empathise with him in his last-minute Christmas rush to get the tree up. Note to self………….!
Nuria, Jordi and Berta from Onionlab. Three nicer people you couldn’t wish to meet – apart from Andrew Cooper and Lisa Holdsworth, of course! Do you think I got away with that one?
The animation was executed by Onionlab, a Barcelona-based organisation who specialise in light shows, projection mapping, VR, audio visual content for festivals, exhibitions, music and visual displays – in other words – anything spectacular! Jordi took me through the process of turning the idea into reality – or fantasy – by making a computer model of the Queen’s Hotel, using a series of dots projected onto the facade as reference points. This enables them to achieve a 3D effect in the finished article. They worked closely with LeedsBID and Lisa Holdsworth to get everything just right, before moving all of the equipment on site. This comprises the projection tower and a separate control tower. There was no margin of error, as the first time they had a run through was the previous day. Being consummate professionals, everything went perfectly. The only thing they hadn’t accounted for was one numpty in the hotel who decided to open the curtains of his room, thus slightly spoiling the effect. He didn’t keep them open for long as the intensity of the beams probably singed his eyebrows. The subsequent showings went without external interference.
Gingerbread Man sizes up the task in hand.
The whole thing was eight minutes of pure magic, from the partridge in a pear tree right through to the lords a leaping. I found the most spectacular part to be the five gold rings, which turned into an incredible display. I was also taken by Gingerbread Man zip wiring from the top floor down to the first, with the unintended consequence of appearing to land on a street light, due to where I was positioned. It was still cool when I watched it again later from a different perspective.
Five Gold Rings – and then some.
Job Done!
So, if you have a few minutes to spare and you are in Leeds between 4.30pm and 8.30pm before 22nd December, why not pop along to City Square for a look at the show and a stroll round the Christmas Market. If you aren’t in Leeds, why the heck not!
For more information about those connected with the project please go to: https://www.leedsbid.co.uk https://www.onionlab.com/ https://www.pasystems.co.uk https://www.thequeensleeds.co.uk/about-us/ https://www.victorialeeds.co.uk/ https://welcometoleeds.co.uk https://chapter81.co.uk/
Feature image, exterior shots and Richard Armitage portrait supplied by Chapter81. Others by Stan Graham.
Tyke It To The Limit 