Alexander Allen
Biography
Beauty and the Beast - Panto, The Key Theatre Company & Chris Moreno Ltd, December 2006
Alexander qualified as a Theatre Electrician from City of Westminster College with a City & Guilds 1810 certificate.
Straight after graduation in 1999 he was taken on by Vari-Lite Production Services gaining experience on maintaining varied equipment used for the entertainment market, before working on The Royal Tournament – ‘The Last Run’.
Shortly after the VLPS opportunity, Alexander went onto join The New Rocky Horror Picture Show working as a Touring Electrician.
The ‘calling of the sea’ offered the next set of challenges. Contracts over the next six years provided work on Victoria, Aurora, Oriana, Arcadia and Artemis. Modernisation (via refits) and bringing a new ship on-line (Arcadia) were among the many challenges experienced within the Entertainment Department.
It was in early 2002 that a working relationship was formed between Alexander and Cruising Musicals Consortium (together with Wellington Productions), one of the providers of entertainment shows to P&O Cruises. During the following years he was to advise on the technical specifications for new show ideas and to improve on ways to keep the old traditions alive. A varied input to show operation led to successful and extensive programming of lighting boards with a great flair and finesse for moving light work. This lighting side materialised into full lighting designs for production shows.
During the recurring contracts with P&O Cruises, progression to Production Manager was inevitable and this happened in late February 2002. The step up to Production Manager involved taking on the organisational side of the technical requirements; it is a good job that he is a multi-tasking person! Re-introducing Pyrotechnics to P&O with the new safety standards and setting up Chemical and Environmental Compliance policies for the on-board entertainments department have been some of the noteworthy production manager challenges.
In June 2006 career prospects and planning for the future saw Alexander leave his sea legs behind for a while and start trading as 4Kandles Lighting, offering a Lighting Design and Specification service to the entertainment industry.
2007 brought contacts from far and wide allowing lighting design work on various productions and shows, with the hi-light being the UK tour of Lady Salsa.
2008 saw designs completed for Butlins / Oddpost Entertainment and P&O Cruises (in-house team, Headliners Theatre Company) as well as in-roads to the corporate market being made.
In between designs, Alexander is kept busy with Production Electrician duties on various projects for Event and Production companies all around the UK.
Alexander’s aims and long term goals are to remain in the entertainment business and to keep progressing forward with his lighting designs.
With all the excitement of a professional life in theatre an equally exciting hobby of Gliding aids relaxation, whether it be flying in England, New Zealand or Australia. A truly uplifting experience to go with an uplifting guy!
4Kandles Lighting – Bringing Light to Entertainment.