Chauvet colours NZ drama school shows
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“Colour mixing with LED fixtures is playing an increasingly important role in stage productions, so I think the school felt that adding these lights was essential to helping their students develop the skills needed to prepare for their future careers in theatre,” said MDR Sound & Lighting’s Brodie Noon. “The school received a Lotteries Grant to upgrade the kit in its main Te Whaea Theatre, which had consisted of generic tungsten units, enlivened by a number of Rogue R2 Washes that had been added in 2016.”
Based on its experience with the Rogue units, Toi Whakaari was interested in Chauvet Professional stage lighting. After comparisons were made with competing brands, the school elected to add 20 Ovation E-910FC RGBA-Lime colour-mixing ellipsoidals, 25 Ovation F-915FC RGBA-Lime Fresnels and 10 Ovation F-55FC and Ovation F-55FC 3-inch Fresnel-style units that are used for short throw applications.
“It’s been impressive to see the impact that the new kit is having on the school’s productions,” said Noon. “The light on the stage is much more even, and the colours are more realistic and vivid. Of course colour changes, whether subtle or dramatic, can also be made much more easily and quickly, which enhances the quality of productions.”
This heightened visual quality doesn’t only benefit students who are working the lights, it also enhances the learning experience for those in costume and scenic design as well as the actors themselves. “When the production looks better, everyone involved feels good,” explains Noon. “This serves as a great motivator to keep learning.”
The impact of the new lighting kit was clearly evident in the first two productions lit with the Ovation fixtures: Shakespeare’s The Two Gentlemen of Verona and Once on This Island, a one-act musical by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty.
(Jim Evans)
