Claypaky Scenius spots illuminate Macbeth
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The Conservatory, based in Webster Groves, Missouri, stages six student-designed and student-produced shows and a dance theatre each season at the Lorreto Hilton Centre. A classical version of Macbeth was directed by Bruce Longworth and played seven performances before Thanksgiving.
Student lighting designer, Josh Murphy, expressed an interest in “beefing up” the school’s lighting rig for Macbeth, so consulting lighting designer Seth Jackson called A.C.T Lighting, Inc. with whom he’s had a 20-year relationship dating from his concert touring work.
“We have our own lighting inventory, but Josh wanted more tools than we had on hand,” says Jackson, head of the concert design program and assistant professor of theatrical design. “The winners of a student competition to attend LDI had seen the Scenius fixtures at the convention and were eager to try them. A.C.T Lighting provided the opportunity for our students to put Scenius to work.”
Jackson emphasizes that the Conservatory differs from many other college theatrical programmes in its goal of “training professionals from day one. We run with Equity rules and like to have technology fresh out of the gate for the students.” The student productions at the Lorreto Hilton Centre share space with the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, whose season overlaps that of the school, and the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, which plays a summer season. “A lot of our students also work on those productions,” Jackson explains.
The stage is a three-quarter thrust with an expansive overhead grid. The four Scenius spots hung in the grid where Murphy and his team “used pretty much every attribute of the light, including the strobe for lighting effects,” says Jackson. The Scenius fixtures were also used to give a lot of texture and treatments to surfaces.
Francesco Romagnoli, Claypaky area manager for North and Latin America, added, “I’m glad to see our top fixtures used by up and coming student designers. We thank Mr. Jackson for specifying the Scenius.”
(Jim Evans)
