Michael Maag, master electrician for OSF, orchestrates an impressive routine to light these performances, with around two-and-a-half hours between curtain down on one show and house open on the next. The lighting crew changes colour, gobos, and shutter cuts on the rep lights in each theatre. With such a demanding schedule, there are very specific requirements. They needed fixtures that would operate easily and quietly, while still giving excellent colour. Maag chose the Wybron Nexera CMY colour-changing fixtures for two of the three theatres, with plans to purchase additional units next season. "Every piece of lighting equipment is hidden from the audience's view and noise of any kind is unacceptable," says Maag.
Dinna Myers at Musson Theatrical suggested the Nexeras, and Maag did his own comparison and researched all similar products on the market. "When I tested the Nexeras they were virtually silent, and the other units I tested were unacceptably loud," he says, "I don't want my audience looking up in the grid to see who's hammering on the lights every time we change colour."
Currently, he has 46 Nexeras split between the Angus Bowmer and the New Theatre. In the Bowmer, 14 25°-40° profiles are used as downlights and 12 19°-26° Profiles are set on the diagonal (six on each side) in a box boom position (a front/diagonal wash of the stage from each side). "Having the ability to change colours in these lights is great because they are so useful for bringing out colours in costumes or scenery as well as setting mood in conjunction with the down lights," says Maag.
The remaining 20 Nexeras (all 25°-40° profiles) reside in the black box style New Theatre alongside nine VL5B moving lights. "The initial install was 14 Nexeras for last season," he says. "We got 34 more in October that saw heavy use in January. We have them in two theatres now and we will be installing the 19°-26° Profiles in the outdoor Elizabethan Theatre next season. They're perfect for the longer throws in that theatre."
(Lee Baldock)
