But while it's steeped in Old South tradition, the General Jackson has gone strictly 21st century in its theatrical lighting. A new package of intelligent fixtures from Elation Professional was recently installed in the boat's Victorian Theatre, a majestic two-story dinner theatre where the main stage shows are held.
The room's lighting had previously consisted primarily of conventional par cans and Ellipsoid fixtures, but the boat's entertainment and design staff felt it was time to upgrade. "They wanted to move 100% into intelligent lighting," said Peter Vaque of Springtree Media Group, which performed the installation upgrade. "They were seeking a cooler, hipper look with greater control."
To illuminate the theatre's large open space, the boat's lighting designer, Han Henze, had spec-ed an ensemble of three 575-watt Elation units, consisting of: 16 Design Spot 575Es, a moving head spot/wash hybrid; 10 CMY Zoom-575s, a CMY colour mixing fixture; and 18 Power Wash 575Es, a moving head wash.
The Design Spot 575E was chosen because, with a total of 12 interchangeable gobos on two wheels and a Gobo Overlay effect, it "lets them create a lot of moving gobo designs," said Vaque. The Power Wash 575E fixtures are used to colour-wash portions of the stage, while the CMY Zoom-575s provide backlighting.
All three fixtures feature true CMY colour mixing - a major reason why they were selected. "With everything being a true colour, the stage directors can coordinate all the lights in the same colour, and they can change colours gradually," said Vaque. "You get a million colour variations with these intelligent fixtures, lower power consumption and low heat generation, something that cannot be accomplished with conventional fixtures."
Vaque says that another reason he advocated Elation products is because of their value for the dollar. "Moving head spots in the Design Spot 575E's price range don't typically have CMY mixing," he noted.
(Jim Evans)
