France - Le Dôme Théâtre, an Italianate building in the heart of the Savoyard town of Albertville, follows the mission statement Art en Territoires (Art in the Territory), which in practical terms means bringing cultural opportunities to the rural communities of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
Pursuing this vision, the Dôme Théâtre touches local life in a variety of ways, not only through its 720-seat theatre, but also with a wide range of educational and community programmes, in conjunction with local partners. Serving rural communities as it does, the theatre strives to be many things to many people. Last season, for example, it put on 35 different shows, including a dozen aimed at young families.
The diversity and volume of its productions and activities requires a lighting system that is flexible and easy to set up. Recently, Le Dôme Théâtre took a significant step in meeting this standard, by installing a new all-LED lighting system anchored by 164 Chauvet Professional fixtures, installed by S Group Équipement.
Supported in part by the Région, the Département and the Agglomération, the lighting upgrade was initiated by the theatre's technical director Manuel Roche. Monitoring during this first season of use was carried out by Sharleen Fort, along with principal stage manager Laurent Deviers Régisseur, as well as Sylvain Roos, general director and Franck Huynh of S Group Équipement.
The new kit has made an immediate difference in the quality of the theatre's lighting in addition to saving time. Speaking of the upgrade, Laurent, who has been with the theatre 32 years, said: "It has really sped up the work in terms of the number of projectors we have to set up. For some shows, it enables us to divide the number of lights by two or even three!
"When we finished all the end-of-the-year functions in December, we had a lot of events lined up," continued Laurent. "Having full LED colour sources definitely streamlined our setups in these cases. There was no need to plan several projectors to create all the different colour schemes. Of course, this also meant I had to up my game in terms of programming, which was great. Our new LED kit has changed the way we approach colour schemes."
Laurent praised the 64 Ovation Rêve E-3 multi-coloured LED ellipsoidal units in the kit for their "exceptional brightness." He also appreciates the 16 Ovation Cyc 1 full colour low-profile figures for the "wonderful job" they do diffusing colours.
The 60 PAR-style fixtures in the kit (40 Ovation P-56FC units and 30 Colorado Solo 3s) have also contributed greatly to the colour rendering prowess of the theatre's lighting system. Particularly helpful in adding versatility is the barn door feature of the Colorado PARs, said Laurent.
As is so often the case with meaningful changes, the lighting upgrade at Le Dôme Théâtre did not happen overnight. "It was quite a process," said Sharleen. “The first studies started in 2019 when Manuel Roche and Laurent Deviers talked to several manufacturers. The Ovation fixtures were demoed in June 2023 by Franck Huynh and Sylvain Roos from S Group Équipement. This is what convinced the team."
Like the rest of the theatre's team, Sharleen is very happy with the decision, noting that the feedback they have received has been uniformly positive. She remarks that with the new kit, "we can now offer modern state-of-the-art solutions to everyone." And in so doing, Le Dôme Théâtre is indeed living up to the words of its mission statement.
