The Brolga Theatre in Queensland’s Maryborough is a typical regional venue – its 900 seat proscenium arch theatre hosts an international ballet troupe one night, Jimmy Barnes the next, and a local dance school the day after. Though the venue is just 17 years old, changes in technology mean replacement lamps are no longer available for their wash lights, leading the staff to assess how to upgrade for the future. The future, as they see it, is Elation’s Platinum Seven RGBWAC-UV LED wash.
“We knew we have to move to LED and intelligent fixtures,” said Robert Haigh, Operations Technician at the Brolga. “We could afford to replace our wash, but not our profiles, so it was an easy decision to go to a moving fixture that could provide a wash, and in the case of Elation’s Platinum Seven, work as a profile in many senses.”
Twelve Elation Platinum Sevens have now replaced an amazing 48 fresnels in the Brolga’s rig, leading to big changes in the crew’s workflow. “Since we’ve installed the Platinum Sevens, we haven’t had to focus a profile,” reported Robert. “We can focus the Platinum Sevens down to an 800mm circle on the floor from our wash position, so we can quite happily use them as a drum or lead singer profile. For a rock band, for example, we get all of the benefits of movers from the bling point of view, but when we turn off the wash, we can refocus as a profile.”
The Elation Platinum Seven uses 19 25W LEDs in red, green, blue, white, amber, cyan, and UV to provide lighting techs with incredible flexibility. Its 5 to 50 degree zoom angle and ‘silent mode’ make it a workhorse built for theatres. “Having the amber LED is critical for a good white,” observed Robert. “The market talks about RGB or CYM, but the Platinum Seven is a mix of both; whichever you prefer, you’ve got. The UV is also one of the big selling points. We finally have a good UV wash on stage, and we’ve also been using it to make our colours ‘pop’ a bit more.”
Producing 38,500 Lux at one metre on five degrees minimum zoom, the Brolga’s Platinum Sevens have more than enough power to handle any production thrown at them. “They are, literally, brilliant,” commented Robert. “We now have more brightness on stage than we used to get from our 2K white wash, but we’re getting it across all colours. There’s good coverage with no holes as you walk across stage, and, while it’s not a shuttered fixture, there’s still no spill.”
The Brolga Theatre was introduced to the Elation Platinum Seven by Graeme Hicks of Entertainment Production Supplies, whose regular visits to The Brolga to demonstrate new equipment were often accompanied by staff from Australian Elation distributor Lexair. “Lexair and EPS have been great at keeping us up-to-date on what’s in the market” said Robert. “We have had great technical support from both of them, though we haven’t needed much because the products have been so intuitive and reliable.”
