Floyd Central's new Elation lighting rig, purchased from Phoenix Lighting of Louisville, Kentucky, was part of a recent school lighting renovation and Mary Poppins was the first show to have the new gear available.
Floyd Central High School's director of theatre arts, Robbie Steiner, produced and directed the production and also designed the scenery. Concerned a couple of years ago about the quality of their theatre's lighting, he approached school administrators to see what could be done to begin upgrading their outdated system.
"Our school auditorium was constructed in 1981 and the bulk of the fixtures we were using were from that time period," he says. "Many of our students pursue careers in technical theatre so I was concerned that our antiquated equipment was preventing them from receiving an up-to-date education. Fortunately, our school corporation was able to set into motion a lighting upgrade and we just completed our first round of purchases, including the Elation package. I'm thrilled that our students are now able to work with some of the newest lighting technology out there."
Floyd Central's new Elation lighting package consists of LED-based Arena Q7 Zoom PAR wash lights and Platinum Spot 5R Pro moving heads, along with Colour Chorus 48 LED batten wash lights and white light Cuepix Blinder WW2s.
"Elation provided a high quality product at a price the school could afford," stated industry lighting professional and Floyd Central alumnus Michael Nevitt of Crossfade Design, who served as lighting consultant on the production. "Not only is the Elation gear cost effective but it's well suited to theatre productions and I know from my experience that it is reliable."
Looking back on the first production with the new system, Steiner was very pleased with the performance of the Elation lighting. "The fixtures truly enhanced the look of our show, providing some of the most stimulating visuals that we have ever produced on our stage," he says. "We received a lot of positive feedback from audience members on the lighting and our student lighting designer and master electrician had a great time premiering our new Elation equipment. Michael Nevitt has been an incredible help throughout our process of upgrading our lighting and I'm very grateful to him as well as Elation for helping us provide our students with the best."
(Jim Evans)
