Chassé Theater Breda updates with Zero 88
- Details
The venue is one of the Netherlands’ largest venues, with a total of three auditoriums and three cinema spaces, mostly a receiving house – anything from music and bands to drama and dance plus amateur and semi-pro performances as well as corporate and private events and conferences, so a truly ‘multi-purpose’ space that is also a diverse cultural melting pot.
The Chassé Theater also stages some of its own productions, and a typical (pre-pandemic) year would see around 350 live performances and 3500 plus film screenings across all the different spaces.
Chassé Theater technical manager Jordy ten Bloemendal is proud to have worked there for 12 years, and is responsible for the lighting installations, budgeting and – together with his colleagues – future visions and planning. He co-ordinates with all the various incoming production companies, ensures all their technical needs are met, and on occasion still programmes and operates the lighting console.
This was the combination of a general technical upgrade and the replacement of the previous dimmers which had been in service for 25 years. The new dimmers were supplied via Zero 88’s distributor, AED Group, and chosen as the best and most versatile option for the theatre’s current and future needs.
Jordy explained, “We could no longer source spare parts for the old dimmers, and as theatre lighting going forward is now primarily focussed on getting LED fixtures involved, we needed to purchase dimmers that are suitable for powering these as well as conventional fixed voltage luminaires.”
The new dimmers running in ‘bypass’ fixed voltage mode are also a perfect solution for productions using moving lights.
With this futureproofing topping the required features list, Jordy and his team consulted a host of technicians, gathered their opinions, and then searched for dimming solutions, picking Zero 88.
Chassé Theater had already started working with the same Zero 88 Chilli Pro Bypass dimmers in 2017 which are installed in the middle-sized room Koninklijke Drukkerij EM de Jong Zaal, offering approximately 270 channels.
“I have a very positive impression of the products – they have proved reliable and stable,” states Jordy, adding that the local support and backup from AV specialist AED Group is also hugely important in their choice of brand.
“Having good dimmers improves the general technical facilities and offers greater scope to light shows creatively and imaginatively,” he says.
“Projects like the Chassé confirm the popularity of our solutions for modern and energy-efficient refurbishments of venue dimmer and power systems,” commented Zero 88 key account manager for entertainment lighting, Franck Tiesing. “The Chilli Pro bypass units can be efficiently integrated into existing infrastructures without generating unnecessary installation costs.”
Like many venues worldwide, the Chassé Theater is preparing to re-start productions in the summer after the worldwide pandemic shut down.
