Nevertheless, the new charity managed to accomplish this feat in stunning fashion with a gala-dance party for young professionals that featured up-and-coming theatrical stars and a snappy DJ booth area energized by PVP S5 LED video panels from Chauvet Professional.
Held at the legendary Canoe Studios in the city's Chelsea section, the event was hosted by a group of young glamorous stars like actress-singer Leighton Meester, AnnaLynne McCord from Dallas and Zachary Levi, who plays Chuck Bartowski in Chuck.
The highlight was the crowded dance floor, which featured performances by the likes of DJ Zeke Thomas, DJ for the NBA All-Star game. Focusing attention on the DJ booth and providing ambient light for the dance floor was a collection of 16 PVP S5 panels provided by Canal Sound and Light (New York).
A 5.2 mm pixel pitch video panel system with 9,216 high output tri-colour RGB LEDs, the PVP S5 panel's sharp contrast and crisp images make it well-suited for close viewing applications. This played a key role in Canal Sound and Light's decision to include the panels in its inventory.
"We added the PVP S5 panel because we had the S7 panels from Chauvet Professional and were very happy with them," said Jeffrey Kwan, vice-president of Canal Sound and Light. "We upgraded to the S5s, because we wanted the tighter pixel pitch. We do quite a few events like this where the guests get pretty close to the panels. The PVP S5 panels give us so many more options, because their brightness, output and clarity are outstanding."
The panels were part of a lightshow created by LD Jason Ayala of Jason Blends (New York), who praised their flexibility and brightness. "There were no moving fixtures in this party, just uplights and the panels," he said. "We relied on the panels to bring the party-like atmosphere to the dance floor and they didn't let us down."
Ayala positioned eight panels in front of the DJ booth and used eight more mounted on truss behind the booth. He programmed graphic images and text on the panels. "The PVP S5s were very easy to work with and their brightness (1,500 nits) really allowed us to do some nice colouring work on the dance floor," he said. "They provided the impact we were looking for without requiring a big budget."
On the subject of money matters, the second annual Many Hopes Gala was a financial success, raising $400,877 for a very worthy cause, thanks to the hard work of volunteers with a little help from a great lightshow.
(Jim Evans)
