In late 2023, the first show was held in Whitehorse City Council’s new performing arts centre, The Round. The $78m project represents a significant step forward in the City of Whitehorse’s artistic evolution. It is also the new cornerstone of the Council’s commitment to providing a vibrant, diverse, and engaged creative community through arts, culture, and heritage.
The state-of-the-art complex features a 626-seat theatre, a black box studio for 203 with a retractable seating bank, a large public foyer, a function centre, creative spaces and an outdoor amphitheatre.
The new theatre aimed to be highly accessible, flexible, and contemporary, providing an expanded array of arts and cultural opportunities for the entire Whitehorse community to enjoy for generations to come.
The technical aspects of the redevelopment were overseen by Whitehorse technical staff and Schuler Shook theatre consultants. We supplied 14 ShowPRO R3 Washes, 14 Prolights EclCyclorama 050s, 32 Prolights EclProfile CT + units, an MA Lighting grandMA3 light CRV, two Robert Juliat OZ LED fixtures, and two Look Solutions Unique Hazers.
We decided to check in with Nick Warren, Senior Technical Supervisor at The Round, to see how the Show Technology gear has performed over the past few months.
“The Prolights EclProfile CT+ have been fantastic,” he declared. “They’re excellent. We’ve a variety of lenses for them, allowing us to adjust the angles as needed according to our requirements.”
The theatre has recently installed a new holding system for Prolights EclProfile CT+, resulting in a well-equipped house rig that’s suitable for basic use. They host a variety of school shows, along with a good mix of amateur and professional shows. So it’s a good base for people who want to go in and they don’t want to think about it. They may not be familiar with lighting, so this is a good starting point for them to gather everything they need without having to overthink.
“Thus far, the Prolights EclProfile CT+ have been very reliable,” continued Nick. “They do what they’re supposed to do, and they’re an industry standard. We’ve got the 260-watt models, which are great. The shutters are clean and nice, we can stick in the gobos that we want for decals, and it’s easy enough to change the lenses.”
Nick has been equally impressed by the Prolights EclCyclorama 050s, using six of them as downlights along the cyc and the rest for use as either groundrows or for uplighting soft goods as well. They can also move into the studio when required. Nick commented that they’re nice, they work well, and that he has no complaints!”
The ShowPRO R3 Wash was similarly chosen for its reputation for reliability, as well as its small footprint.
“We can hang them up on the lighting bars, or we can have them on the floor, or the stage,” said Nick. “They also have a good beam, so as much as they’re not used for that, we can also use them as a bit of a kind of spot as well. They look good with haze, and they’re versatile enough to be used as a floor wash, or we can put them on the curtains, or we can spin them right around and put them on the walls. Yeah, they’re a nice fixture.”
Two Robert Juliat LED Oz followspots were chosen and are permanently located in the venue’s dome room.
“They’re big and the beams are very nice,” commented Nick. “We can put nice gels in them to colour them. Most of the time, we use them as a regular followspot; however, we can program them if we want to. Not that we do, but we’ve got that option. They’re solid and our operators like them.”
The Look Solutions Unique Hazers are part of the house rig, positioned in the pit gallery from where they run 90% of the time. It’s a reasonably large space with a moderately high grid, but the two of them fill the space well, showcasing the beams of the R3 Washes nicely.
MA Lighting was chosen due to its dominance in technical riders. Nick remarks that he can control it handily from the stage with the app on an iPad. He also likes that he can send out a show file, and clients will come in with their own gig.
“Over the past few months, I’ve discovered that lighting people like the rig as it’s so easy,” added Nick. “We’ve got everything set up nowadays. We’ve several pre-set macros and other settings on the console. So, people can come in, and a lot of the work is already done. Additionally, it’s user-friendly with an easy interface.
“For example, we do quite a lot of calisthenics, so we have the side lights, the decals and the nine dots, and all the stuff ready to go to where we need it. There’s a show file for calisthenics already built, so when an amateur school or a group of kids come in, we’ve already got a show file done for them. They tell us what colours they want, then we can build their show, and we can do it quickly.”
It appears that the crew at The Round has a solid, reliable, and flexible lighting rig, thanks to Show Technology and supplier Clear Systems, and we look forward to many years of well-lit productions!
