Technical director Kieran Hayes has been the driving force behind the Regal project over the last three years, which has seen the Grade II listed former cinema, opened in 1927, restored to its original Art-Deco splendour, and enjoying a new lease of life as an entertainment hub. Situated on Oxford's vibrant Cowley Road, the venue is already hosting a variety of dance nights, tours and live bands.
When it came to lighting, Hayes consulted Dave Parry of Most Technical and asked if he could help them with spec'ing and procuring a cost effective lighting rig that would give the requisite quality and dynamics.
Parry suggested that flexible control was a key element in accommodating the Regal's lighting production requirements, and spec'd an Avolites Pearl Expert for the task. "It was a case of it being absolutely the most appropriate console for the job," says Parry.
It was the first time that Hayes - who operates lights on several of the five nights a week The Regal is currently open - has used an Avo product, but he's very pleased with the results. "Dave gave me some basic training," he explains, "After which I picked it up extremely quickly. I've still only scratched the surface in terms of its power and capacity, but I am looking forward to getting to know it a lot better."
Currently the main room's lighting is arranged on a box truss around the dancefloor and on a goal post truss over the stage, offering a decent 10m of headroom. The Pearl is controlling 12 High End Systems Cyberlights, six Martin Professional MAC 250s, 40 PARs, four Robe LED Blinders, eight ETC Source Fours and three Martin Atomic strobes.
Most of the generics are concentrated around the stage, while the moving lights are used for swooping across the dancefloor and also for highlighting some of the room's very cool architectural features.
(Jim Evans)
