It's rare for so much talent, expertise and technology, not to mention money, to be poured into a one-off, 30 minute show, but this was no ordinary concert. With film giant MGM holding the purse strings, intent on closing the 57th Cannes Film Festival with a true spectacle, a feast for the eyes and ears was in store for the rich and beautiful people.

Staged on Saturday 22 May, and preceded by a lavish fireworks display, the concert was a celebration of the music of Cole Porter, featuring several of the stars of De-Lovely, the new Irwin Winkler-directed movie biography of the great composer. Despite the absence of Robbie Williams, who was previously expected to perform, the show excelled with Porter showcases by Alanis Morissette, Sheryl Crow, Natalie Cole, Fame Academy star Lemar, Lara Fabian, Mario Frangoulis, John Barrowman, and the movie's headliners Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd. The most interesting aspect of the event was that the stage was built, literally, in the sea in Cannes Bay, and joined to the beach by an extended walkway which led to an exclusive VIP area and production portacabins. This was the first time in the Festival's history that a show had been staged in this unique way, and credit must go to production manager Mark Ward of Solo Events who, with local production co-ordination from Mike Dolling and Antoine Van De Wiele, brought the ambitious concept to life.

Solo's involvement came as a result of its association with Sex Pistols manager Anita Camarata, whose activities also include sourcing music for MGM projects. Said Ward: "Anita phoned John Giddings to ask who he thought could produce the show, and both John and I believed we should take it on. There was already a French proposal for staging, but we transformed the idea into something very grown up. "From conception through budgeting to on-site event management and talent handling, the MGM team were thoroughly professional and were a true pleasure to deal with."

It was set design company Hangman's visualisations for both the stage and VIP beach areas that helped Ward convince MGM's corporate chiefs that this would be an even more impressive event than they'd hoped for. With the film still heavily under wraps, Hangman designer Alan Chesters (TPi Set Designer of the Year 2004) and project manager Sam Booker were invited to a preview screening in London and devise a visually stunning concept for the show.

Chesters produced a theme that brought the film's 1940s-style Hollywood bright lights and glamour to life. The key was to hide all the modern technology and equipment in order to produce an authentic set while simultaneously utilising as many hireable stock items as possible - although a big show, this was still a one-off.

StageCo started work on building the stage infrastructure three weeks before the event. The crew worked tremendously hard in the face of tidal waves, high winds, rain and cranes breaking down. Ward explained: "The calculations and thought processes involved in putting a stage in the sea were beyond anything I'd experienced before, and [StageCo's] Hedwig de Meyer is an absolute genius. Much in the same way as trees are tethered, the stage was tethered to the rocks over 46 points, each of which was capable of bearing 2.5 tonnes. The engineering achievement was awesome."

Mike Dolling added: "So many people thought we couldn't pull this off and it's been a fight with the authorities all the way, but our confidence shone through. Mark had his vision of what he wanted sitting out in the sea and he wasn't prepared to compromise so we made it happen!"

As the StageCo roof was erected, the set build needed to be masked. This was achieved using a 80ft x 30ft painted gauze inspired directly from a scene in the film that simply stated 'Quiet Please, Rehearsals In Progress'. Chesters specifically chose gauze for this to allow for any unexpected weather - the peril of any outdoor gig!

Behind the reveal drape the set design dramatically evoked a luxury cruise liner, complete with wide, illuminated staircases, polished handrails and a black, hi-gloss stage floor. Hangman worked closely with Chris Bridges from LiteStructures to realise Chesters' design right through from post-concept to bolting together the set on-site. The multi-layered stage was delineated at every level by rope lights that were custom-built into set by LiteStructures. Hired static LED starcloths from Blackout meant the draping was authentically '40s in style. Kabuki rip drapes were a quick and effective way to drop in and out key images from the movie in the form of UV outlines of the Eiffel Tower and the New York skyline. A 24ft-diameter, custom-built fan with pleated silver satin and a printed '40s art deco design provided a visual frame for the orchestra on stage.

Hangman chose to scrim the stage in glittering, red velvet and strategically place tables and chairs around the orchestra to evoke a credible period Hollywood nightclub feel that seemed intimate even on such a big stage. A 6m x 2m 'De-Lovely' neon sign was flown centre stage to achieve all-important branding (reinforced by XL Video's LED screens left and right of the stage) in a style fitting with the period.

Extending the '40s Hollywood theme to the party area and adding weight to the branding, Hangman used 15 pairs of kakemonos (printed banners framed by silver slit drapes) on the 6m vertical lighting trusses that lined the beach. Along with Chesters and Booker, Hangman's on-site team consisted of Steve Price and Martha Turville-Petre. Booker commented: "The main issue we knew we'd face on the day, with the stage effectively out to sea, was wind. We'd expected it to be onshore meaning that, with the StageCo sheeting in place at the back of the stage and the heavy serge starcloths hanging in front of them, the stage itself would be relatively calm. On the day, however, the wind was offshore which meant that a choice of sharkstooth gauze for the reveal paid off, although it still was tricky to run it on and off at 80ft on a tab track!"

LIGHTING & VIDEO
Ace lighting designer Peter Barnes was looking forward to a leisurely weekend at the Monaco Grand Prix when Mark Ward amended his plans. "Mark told me that there was this gig in Cannes the day before, just along the coast, so it all neatly dovetailed!"

With Arpege supplying both sound and lighting, Barnes was handed a list of kit reserved for the show, but he elected to alter the spec according to his own preferences. The resulting fixtures included 20 Martin MAC 2000s, 20 MAC 2000 Washes, six bars of Pars on the front truss, two truss spots, Coemar SuperCycs (for a UV effect on the backdrop) and three Robert Juliat front of house spots.

During daytime rehearsals in the Hotel Martinez ballroom, just along the Croisette, Barnes was making light of set-up time restrictions: "It's a strange gig in many ways and very typical of the fact that so many big one-offs are more about how fast you can work than how good you are. The secret is to squeeze as much of a quality result as possible whilst using the least amount of time for preparation and rehearsal.

"I literally got my first lights working on the desk at 4.00am and the sun came up at 5.30am, so by the time we'd a few of the lights on stage there was only about 20 minutes left in which to program the show! Quite often these days, the amount of time you get to program on these one-offs is less than the duration of the show itself so it's not a new phenomenon."

Commenting on his design, Barnes said: "The whole design is fairly simple, because the theme is Cole Porter and we're trying to create a kitsch 1940s scenario, with a slightly different look for each song. Therefore, it wouldn't do to have too much moving light action. We're leaving that until the DJ comes on!"

Barnes used a Wholehog II for control. "I used the Wholehog III briefly at a gig in Liverpool Docks where Blue and Busted were playing, and Dave Hill was running the lighting. I'm sure the operation is quite similar to the Hog II in many ways, but it's just that the different sequence of button pushes and time in which to learn the desk has prevented me from using it more often. Another thing is, I tend to go with whatever is available whenever I'm working abroad. Cost tends to be the most important factor in virtually every job I do these days."

At each side of the stage, XL Video installed one of the new Barco SLite 10mm LED screens, measuring around 25 square metres. XL's Guido Ruysschaert informed that these screens had been dispatched to the event directly from the Barco factory, and he was delighted with their performance. A total of 100 square metres of SLite 10 has just been added to the XL inventory. Screen imagery was all I-Mag orientated, with a camera package provided by Special Treats, the company behind MGM's 'Making Of...' movie documentaries.

SOUND
Mike Dolling has been resident in the south of France since 1998 and is invariably the first point of contact for English-speaking production managers looking to stage events in the region. His first task in connection with this concert was to co-organise local production, and he enlisted the services of fellow ex-pat Alex Gorman as stage manager.

"It's a multinational crew, with Belgians, French and English people all over the stage, and Alex, being a Scotsman based here, is perfect for the job in hand," Dolling said. "He's also drawn the short straw for the load-out, which is fine by me!"

The event also saw Dolling make a welcome return behind the faders. "Mark asked if I'd mix the show and I was only too happy," he said. The FOH control position for Dolling and Barnes was in between two pavilion tents on the beach - a position determined by the maximum length of the multicore, extended down the walkway. Here, Dolling operated a Yamaha PM1D digital console.

"I haven't touched a PM1D for over 18 months because due to my other commitments I rarely mix these days," said Dolling. "But it is my preferred choice - you just don't 'hear' the PM1D because the sound is so transparent, and its internal facilities are second to none. The only major external processing I find I use is a TC M6000 on vocal reverb."

With Ward insistent upon a line array, Arpege provided an L-Acoustics V-DOSC system, with design and configuration achieved in collaboration with Philippe Barguirdjian, Arpege's technical director. "Philippe and his technicians built the system in my absence and set it up for me," said Dolling. "We have 14 V-DOSC cabinets per side with a negative angle curve on the top, so the line array is concave at the top and convex at the bottom, like an S-shape. It really works! Although we have 20 Meyer subs, they aren't actually being used until the DJ kicks off after the show, because the V-DOSC produces so much low-end force."

The band - a bunch of crack British musicians who appear on the movie soundtrack - were reinforced with a variety of microphone types from Shure, Neumann, DPA and Schoeps. The vocalists were on Shure Beta 58A and 87 mics, and Dolling became instantly converted to the Neumann TLM-103 for percussion, overheads and guitars, after becoming a satisfied first-time user.

When it came to appointing a monitor engineer, both Ward and Dolling agreed that the 2004 TPi award-winning Chris Trimby would be first choice. Explained Dolling: "We wanted someone who is used to working with a lot of artists and has a good rapport with them. Chris had already worked with most of those on this bill, on shows like Top Of The Pops and he was known to them. So it was great when he agreed to do it. I couldn't think of anyone better."

Monitoring was a mix of Meyer UM1s along the front of the stage, UPMs for brass and strings, MSL-4 sidefills, and Shure PSM 600 in-ears for Alanis Morissette and Lemar. Trimby piloted it all on his personal choice of an Innova Son Sy80 desk, and he had the support and back-up of a top Innova Son technician at his disposal.

The show was filmed and recorded for TV and radio broadcast, as well as for MGM's promotional purposes. With this in mind, Dolling assembled a portacabin-based studio facility with a Yamaha DM2000 and DM1000, and 48 tracks of Pro Tools. Philippe Barguirdjian mixed the show for broadcast.

Just along the beach, the Cinema De La Plage ensured that the concert could be seen by those not fortunate enough to have a ticket. Organised by Special Treats, the concert sound and video was relayed by microwave link. Two Barco 80,000 lumen projectors were used for screening and the sound was courtesy of an Arpege-owned dV-DOSC system.

Although the show was over in what seemed like a flash, the evening had only just begun for the lucky VIP guests who took advantage of MGM's hospitality and disco until 3.00am. Then it was down to Alex Gorman and his crew to complete the load-out before 9.00am.

Reflecting on an unforgettable night, Mark Ward summarised: "At the end of the show, I looked back at the stage and thought it was an absolutely breathtaking view. It's not often you can capture the imagination of your crew like we did on this gig, and I am so thankful for their support and incredible dedication to delivering a superb event."

Photography by Carlo Allegri/Getty Images, CF Pix, Sam Booker & Mark Cunningham

Special thanks to Curly Wurly

De-Lovely: The Concert - Key Personnel & Suppliers:

• Production & Event Management: Mark Ward for Solo Events
• Production Assistant: Zoe Duncan
• Local Production: Ar'scene
• Local Production Manager/FOH Engineer: Mike Dolling
• Local Co-Production Manager: Antoine Van De Wiele
• Local Crew/Stage Management: Alex Gorman for Gorman Productions
• Ar'Scene Production Assistant: Amandine Reynolds
• Staging: StageCo Belgium/France
• Stage Set & Beach Party Design/Build: Hangman/LiteStructures
• PA & Lighting: Arpege
• Backline: Music Bank
• LED Screens: XL Video
• Cameras: Colin Burrows/Special Treats
• Lighting Designer/Operator: Peter Barnes
• Monitor Engineer: Chris Trimby
• Video Screen Director: Andy Van Hofflen
• Generators: Aggreko
• Crew Catering: Pavilion Hediard