{"id":624136,"date":"2025-12-10T11:58:32","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T11:58:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/624136\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T11:58:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T11:58:32","slug":"tom-hanks-takes-you-to-the-moon-vogue-takes-you-to-the-runway-and-david-hockney-invites-you-into-his-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/624136\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Hanks takes you to the moon, Vogue takes you to the runway, and David Hockney invites you into his mind"},"content":{"rendered":"

– Advertisement –\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When Richard Slaney talks about Lightroom, he doesn\u2019t talk about technology, prestige, or even the huge names involved. He talks about intimacy.<\/p>\n

Which is an odd word, perhaps, for a format that towers 11 metres high, wraps 360 degrees around its audience, flooding the vast Warehouse space at Aviva Studios<\/a>, the landmark home of Factory International, with visuals so engulfing they feel almost cinematic.<\/p>\n

Why you should immerse yourself in the world of Lightroom<\/p>\n

But for Richard, producer, CEO of Lightroom, and the executive mind behind three major immersive shows landing in Manchester this winter, intimacy is the secret ingredient.<\/p>\n

\u201cLightroom gives you the perspective of someone who really knows their subject,\u201d he explained. \u201cAnd they\u2019re not only narrating something we wrote, but they\u2019re talking directly to you. It\u2019s huge and immersive and dramatic, but somehow still feels like someone is sitting on your shoulder, telling you about something they love.\u201d<\/p>\n

This winter, Aviva Studios becomes Lightroom\u2019s second home as three blockbuster experiences arrive in the city: David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away), VOGUE: Inventing the Runway, and The Moonwalkers: A Journey with Tom Hanks. Together, they form what feels like a sort of residency, a chance for audiences to step inside the imaginations of three very different creative worlds, guided by the people who know them most intimately.<\/p>\n

And if Slaney has his way, these won\u2019t just be shows people attend. They\u2019ll be shows people feel.<\/p>\n

Tom Hanks and Moonwalkers<\/p>\n

\"Moonwalkers<\/p>\n

The story of Moonwalkers begins, improbably, with a chance encounter. The week the Hockney show opened at Lightroom in London, David Hockney himself arrived with a small group of friends. Among them: Tom Hanks. No biggie.<\/p>\n

And as the actor stood inside the towering projection space, taking in Hockney\u2019s world from the inside out, something clicked.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe turned to us and said, \u2018You could make anything in this space. You could walk on the moon in here.\u2019\u201d Slaney said. \u201cAnd I said, \u2018Alright then, would you want to make it?\u2019\u201d
Hanks didn\u2019t just say yes. He wrote the first treatment for the Lightroom team.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=w5r1d77moU8<\/p>\n

Far from being a celebrity voiceover added at the end, Moonwalkers is Tom Hanks\u2019 own story, a deeply personal reflection on being 12 years old during the Apollo launches, on watching history unfold in real time, and on how the moon landings shaped him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s coming directly from his brain to you,\u201d Slaney said. \u201cHe\u2019s not performing a script we handed him. He\u2019s talking about how it felt. And because of that, the show becomes something very emotional.\u201d Audiences, he said, often leave in tears.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey expect rockets. They expect moon rocks. And instead, they get this powerful story about what happens when 400,000 people pull together for a single shared goal. It becomes a show about humanity, not just space.\u201d<\/p>\n

A sweeping orchestral score from film composer Anne Nikitin (Hijack, One Day) deepens the emotional pull, all delivered through Aviva\u2019s crystalline sound system. (It really is that good). <\/p>\n

The result, Slaney said, is a \u201cshivers up the spine\u201d experience that blends IMAX-level spectacle with podcast-level intimacy. \u201cHow often,\u201d he asks, \u201cdo you get Tom Hanks, essentially, giving you a private lecture?\u201d<\/p>\n

VOGUE: Inventing the Runway <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

If Moonwalkers takes you to the moon, VOGUE: Inventing the Runway takes you somewhere arguably just as inaccessible: the front row of high fashion.
And again, the story begins with David Hockney.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnna Wintour came as a guest of David,\u201d Slaney said, laughing at the coincidence. \u201cThere\u2019s actually a whole section in Hockney\u2019s show about a Vogue issue he contributed to in the early \u201980s, so she wanted to see how we handled his work.\u201d<\/p>\n

What struck Wintour wasn\u2019t just the art, but the format.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s incredibly funny, incredibly warm, and unbelievably decisive,\u201d Slaney said. \u201cAnd she immediately focused us in on the idea of a show about the history of runway shows. Not fashion in general, runway. Because she understood that\u2019s a world the public rarely gets to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is where Lightroom comes into its own. Runway shows are famously closed environments, exclusive, highly pressurised, and invite only. But with projection and scale, Lightroom can place the audience inside spaces normally reserved for celebrities and editors.<\/p>\n

\u201cFashion shows are becoming more public through livestreams and social media, but the truth is, very few people get to feel what it\u2019s like to be there,\u201d Slaney said. \u201cWe\u2019re not trying to recreate a fashion show, but to reveal what they mean, how they evolved, why certain shows changed the culture, why others set the tone for a decade.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wintour and the wider Vogue team, Slaney said, were remarkably open.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve been to every show for decades. They know this world more intimately than anyone. And that\u2019s what people will get: an insider\u2019s perspective. The sense that Vogue is taking you by the hand and saying: Come with us. Let us show you something you\u2019ve never seen before.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Hockney returns: bigger, closer, and even more personal<\/p>\n

\"\" Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away)<\/p>\n

The trilogy of shows is anchored by the return of Lightroom\u2019s original blockbuster: David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away).<\/p>\n

If Moonwalkers is emotional, and Vogue is glamorous, Hockney\u2019s show is pure creative generosity. It feels like being invited into the artist\u2019s studio, or even taking a front row in his mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cHockney guides you through his philosophy, his life, his work, in his own voice,\u201d Slaney said. \u201cHe shows you how he sees the world. And inside Lightroom, you\u2019re not looking at his work, you\u2019re inside it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The result is a show that works equally well for people who\u2019ve known Hockney for decades and people who have never seen his paintings before.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people ask, \u2018Why not just go see real Hockneys in a gallery?\u2019\u201d Slaney said. \u201cAnd the answer is: you absolutely should. Within an hour of Manchester, there are incredible Hockney works you can see for real. But this is a gateway, a way in. It\u2019s not either-or. It\u2019s both.\u201d Hockney\u2019s enthusiasm for the format helped define Lightroom\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s intimate, open, but informal,\u201d Slaney said. \u201cYou can talk to the person next to you. You can take photos. Kids can point at the walls and ask questions. It\u2019s not rigid or hushed. And yet it\u2019s still deeply thoughtful.\u201d<\/p>\n

A format built for families, friends, and anyone curious about\u2026 anything<\/p>\n

Slaney is firm that Lightroom isn\u2019t about dumbing anything down, it\u2019s about opening things up.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s accessible without losing any depth,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can sit and absorb it quietly, or you can go with your kids and talk the whole way through. You\u2019re not going to get shushed.\u201d Multi-generational groups, he said, are the true heart of the audience.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll get a grandparent, a parent, and a child all experiencing something together, all taking different things from it. And that\u2019s really special.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are also access performances: including with BSL and audio description \u2013 as well as \u2018After Dark\u2019 adults-only slots programmed in the evenings for those who want to unwind and absorb every last detail.<\/p>\n

And this year, with three shows running side by side, he expects people to pick the ones they feel drawn to, but also hopes some may venture outside their usual interests.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s okay to like the moon, and fashion, and David Hockney, and dinosaurs,\u201d he smiled. <\/p>\n

\u201cLightroom is meant to be plural. You don\u2019t have to pick a niche. You\u2019re allowed to explore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aviva Studios is also offering BSL and audio-described screenings, \u2018After Dark\u2019 adults-only slots programmed in the evenings for those who want to unwind and absorb every last detail, and the return of their popular dog-friendly slots for David Hockney and VOGUE: Inventing the Runway, allowing dog owners to enjoy the experiences with their furry friends.<\/p>\n

The technology disappears, and that\u2019s the point<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

All this intimacy depends on technology that most venues could only dream of. Giant-volume projection. Precision-calibrated sound. Vast seamless walls of imagery.
But Slaney insists: the tech is not the star.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the most important, and least important, part of the experience,\u201d he said. \u201cIt has to work flawlessly so that people forget it exists. If they\u2019re thinking about the projection, we\u2019ve failed. We want them thinking about the story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the moment he steps into Aviva Studios, even after years of building shows inside Lightroom, he sometimes catches himself stopping and staring.<\/p>\n

\u201cEleven-metre-high imagery wrapping entirely around you\u2026 it just doesn\u2019t get old. It\u2019s a huge space, and it still feels magical.\u201d<\/p>\n

So why should people come to Lightroom?<\/p>\n

\u201cHow often,\u201d he said, \u201cdo you get a show where the best person in the world on a subject takes you by the hand and says, \u201clet me show you why I love this?\u201d<\/p>\n

Moonwalkers gives you Tom Hanks, sharing the moment the world changed. Vogue gives you Anna Wintour and the Vogue team, guiding you through a world most will never enter. Hockney gives you David himself, explaining not just what he creates, but why.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like the intimacy of a great podcast,\u201d Slaney said, \u201ccombined with the scale of an IMAX film. That\u2019s the magic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Or, as he puts it more simply: \u201cThese shows unlock something. They illuminate things we thought we understood, and show them to us differently.\u201d<\/p>\n

This winter, at Aviva Studios, you can step into three extraordinary worlds. And they\u2019re ready to welcome you: bigger, closer, and brighter than ever.<\/p>\n

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