Claypaky Xtylos and Scenius shine at the grand opening party for Dubai’s Atlantis The Royal
The new luxury hotel and resort Atlantis The Royal launched in Dubai with a grand opening party with the theme of “This Is it” and a guest list of celebrities, royalty, government ministers, travel influencers and global media. Mark Butts, Founder of Pasadena, California‐based Preset Productions, chose 289 Claypaky Xtylos to outline the rooftops of the property and 35 Claypaky Scenius to act as front lights for the gala private evening that was marked by performances by Beyonce and superstar DJs Swedish House Mafia and a spectacular fireworks display.
Preset Productions was charged with lighting the environment, fountains and architecture at the site as well as the main stage entertainment. PRG’s Dubai office provided the Claypaky fixtures to Butts, who served as Lighting Designer for the project. Butts is a long‐time Claypaky customer and was the first to use the original Mythos fixtures in the US. “We’re always looking for new and unusual gear, and Claypaky consistently delivers for us,” he says. “I’m always confident in their equipment.”
Martin Smit, Lighting Planning Manager for PRG, notes that, “This was a project that pushed all boundaries. Due to the scale of the building and the fact that the hotel was still in a handover phase, over a year of meticulous planning was required in order to execute [creative agency] CNX’s vision, a launch event on the ‘global stage’!” PRG worked closely with the production team and lighting designers, including Volt Lites,.
In total, PRG delivered 1,600 fixtures, five grandMA3 consoles across 30 MA3 NPUs, 28 Luminex Luminode units and 34 Luminex Gigacore switches across the entire property, including 10 rooftops, the hotel façade, the main stage and Skyblaze.
The launch event marked Butts’s first time using Xtylos, and he was eager to try them since “there’s nothing else quite like them in the market. They seemed made for this project that required large‐scale lighting and long throws high in the air. Xtylos were a perfect fit.”
Production Manager Max Lippman determined the fixture placement mounting the Xtylos on the edge of the rooftops and on a pipe system on the glass balconies. The Scenius fixtures were mounted on a 405‐foot FOH gantry and two 200‐foot towers where they acted as FOH followspots and fill lights for the stage.
Dan Norman served as previs programmer in Los Angeles with Vanessa Arciga; Mike Sheck and Arciga moved on site to program everything for the event except Beyonce’s show.
Mark Butts believe he will be using more Xtylos in the future. “I would love to use Xtylos as much as possible for the big events I do outside the US,” he says. “I see them becoming my go‐to product for those large‐scale projects.”
.jpeg)
