Since the theatre’s conversion from a cinema to a live theatre in 1977 the Regal has become Perth’s most popular theatre with well over two million people having attended the wide variety of entertainment offered. The Regal Theatre is ideally suited to all forms of theatrical productions including stage shows, concerts, comedies, operas, film festivals and rock shows.
For years the theatre has been getting by with a fairly old dimmer system and control desk – 140 channels of Strand JTM Dimmers (120 channels of 2.5K and 20 channels of 5k) and a Strand Encore. Not surprisingly the theatre’s Technical Manager Barry Brody was keen to upgrade!
“I have known Tony Davies from Chameleon Touring Systems for over twenty years and we got together at the Entech tradeshow earlier this year,” commented Barry. “I had been intending to upgrade systems at the Regal Theatre for some time, years in fact, which I had shared with Tony. He was able to introduce me to the guys from Jands who all gave me great advice and help with the project so I would like to thank Tony in the first place.”
Barry further comments that Sam Bertolini, Jand’s Account Manager for Western Australia, was another great guy to deal with.
“Being an independent theatre my budget was non-existent and I was literally watching every cent,” he said. “Sam was very understanding with how many times I changed my mind and with the fact that I had to keep going to management with all details to nut out what was best for us. I have to say that the Regal Theatre Management, John Thornton and Stan Bird have been nothing but supportive and encouraging of the upgrade and they made it easy by trusting my decisions”
Today the theatre proudly boasts seventeen Jands HPX 12 AZ 100 2.5K Dimmers which give full cover of all five lighting bars on stage and the front of house positions. They also give three racks that can be placed into any of those areas or be used on the stage deck.
“Our intent was to become more flexible with where our dimmers could be placed and to get rid of some of the old patch bay areas,” added Barry. “The upgrade included the purchase of two Jands DD6 for DMX distribution and we also did some DMX patching around the stage area and on the first landing, again giving us some more flexibility and efficiency.
The old Strand console was replaced with the ETC Congo JR with a wireless remote and two 20-channel fader wings.
“I had some long conversations with Tim Kennard from Jands regarding my choice of console,” said Barry. “As anyone would know that has bought one, especially for other people to use, there are a thousand miles of opinion! In the end I went with a console that had the flexibility that we require, was easy to use, familiar to touring companies and shows and which fit into my non-existent budget. My LX crew has been excitedly pouring over it since it arrived!”
www.jands.com.au
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