When the London 2012 closing ceremony gets under way this evening, Patrick Woodroffe will be his usual illuminating presence. Just as he was for Danny Boyle’s retina-searing opening pageant, and as he has been at every kind of live extravaganza for about 35 years.
Woodroffe has been the lighting designer of choice for an extraordinary number of global stage happenings since the late 1970s. While his public profile may be in the shadows, his work is anything but. His CV runs from the Rolling Stones to Michael Jackson, the Vanity Fair Oscar parties to the gardens of Highgrove House, Ben Hur to Batman. It’s not only rock’n’roll, but he lights it.
So tonight, Woodroffe, 58, will be where he has been for much of the