Dubbo Regional Theatre and Convention Centre features the Joyce Schneider Auditorium, a 500-seat theatre with state-of-the-art facilities including a comprehensive, computerised sound and lighting control room, box office, hydraulic orchestra pit, fly tower, dressing rooms, ‘green room’ and refreshment bar.
The theatre has recently been upgraded with 45 x Ayrton Diablos, 42 x Prolights EclProfile CT+, 20 x Prolights EclFresnel TW and a zactrack system, thanks to funding from Create NSW.
“With incandescent lamps getting difficult and expensive to find and parts not made any longer, the upgrade was something that had been on the cards for some while,” commented David Brown, Technical Coordinator at the venue. “When COVID hit, we used the opportunity to get lots of gear out here because of course we weren’t able to do shows. I decided we’d do a big shootout with gear and put together a concise report for the council as to what we thought needed to happen.”
David and his team put the report together and only a couple of weeks after it had been submitted, he saw the Create NSW grant applications were opening.
“The opportunity to just turn over a lighting rig in one fell swoop is not something I ever thought I was going to have the opportunity to do but that’s in fact what we’ve achieved!” said David.
The team looked at a wide variety of moving lights before settling on the Ayrton Diablo, mainly because it can do a facsimile of a wash.
“They were certainly better than any of the others at being a Profile, then running it out of focus a bit and having a shutter in to pretend to be a bit of a Fresnel,” explained David. “The thought was that nothing that needs to be accessed, to be focused, would be rigged overhead.”
A total of 34 x Diablos sit above the stage with the rest out in the auditorium obviating the need to dedicate a pair of lanterns as a curtain wash, for example.
“That gives us an enormous amount of versatility,” remarked David. “The Diablos are doing everything and anything and have been very reliable. The guys have found them easy to use. I guess what stands out is nothing particularly stands out because they just do what you want them to do!”
David also cites Diablo’s optics, amazing gobos, brightness and small footprint as outstanding selling points!
David says that the tungsten emulation offered by the Prolights EclProfile CT+ is exceptionally good which is important as some of the touring shows simply want to use them as a conventional lantern with a colour in them. They are positioned on the bridges for easy access and from where they can do their traditional thing.
“They are an excellent fixture, as are the 20 x Prolights EclFresnel TW, and, like the Diablos, they’ve just fitted in and done the job,” said David. “I like their bright, clean output as well as their natural whites and saturated, vivid colours and of course, they match the Prolights EclFresnel TW fixtures.”
A zactrack system was also purchased although David says they have not yet found the time to familiarise themselves with the technology.
David notes that dealing with Gareth Mealing at Show Technology was great as was Glenn Richardson from Audio Plus who supplied the gear.
“Glenn at Audio Plus and Gareth at Show Technology just did it all for us,” he added. “They were fabulous as were their respective teams behind the scenes.”
