If the Vancouver Canucks — who are away on a six-day road trip — were to see GM Place today, they probably wouldn’t recognize it.
A giant stage sits where the ice should be, there’s a maze of lighting hanging from the rafters, and by Sunday — when the Juno Awards take place — giant Alice In Wonderland-like foliage will fill the space.
Workers are four days in to an eight-day-long process to transform the hockey arena into the set of Canada’s biggest annual music awards show.
Peter Faragher, production designer for the event, said erecting the set is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle.
“The big shows that you see in an arena like this — those bands that have sets that are built to break down and set up really quickly,” Faragher said.
“This is 10 bands, it has to be very versatile … and we have to light it (well) because it’s being watched on TV.”
Faragher said producers came up with the design for the show in July.
“Every venue has a different vibe. We made lists about what Vancouver is … looked at history and geography, and then we tried to distill it down into one idea.
“What we came up with this year was this sort of gleaming, architectural, simple zen-like set,” he said, adding that the stage will be framed with 13-foot leaves in psychedelic colours.
