The Netherlands - After successfully transitioning from conventional static lighting to dynamically versatile LED fixtures at Rijswijkse Schouwburg Theatre in Rijswijk, Ronald de Blecourt, head of stage technique, reflected on the satisfactory outcome.
“When you know what you’re looking for and you are lucky enough to have a great team, the full trust of your management board, and of course the means, all you have to do is find the right fixtures,” he reflected. “The new LED lighting from Elation has allowed us to create more visually attractive productions and has enhanced the entire theatrical experience.”
The path to finding those ‘right fixtures’ had its own story. Following several not-entirely satisfactory fixture demos, de Blecourt was contacted by Bert Schmeits, key account manager Benelux for Elation Europe, who believed that Elation’s offerings could meet the needs of the Rijswijkse Schouwburg.
Bert arranged a demonstration at the theatre and took along Elation’s Fuze Profile LED framing fixture. As the demo progressed, Ronald de Blecourt and his crew became increasingly enthusiastic.
“After an extensive comparison, they were convinced they were dealing with a serious candidate that could fulfil all their wishes, whereby light quality was the most important factor,” Schmeits recalled. “At Ronald's request, I left the Fuze profile with them, allowing them to get to know the product and also ask visiting companies their opinion.”
After 14 days of extensive testing, de Blecourt and his team agreed that the Fuze Profile was the foundation they wanted to build on. According to Schmeits, the only critique was that in certain instances, from the lighting position on the hall bridge, they wished for a bit more power.
“The beauty of the Fuze series is that in addition to the Fuze Profile with an output of 10,000 lumens, we can also offer its bigger brother, the Fuze Max Profile,” Schmeits commented. “This LED spotlight has the same high-quality light and feature set as the Fuze Profile but with an output of 21,000 lumens.”
The first phase of the project occurred in September 2023 with the installation of 21 Fuze Max Profile and six Fuse Profile fixtures supplied through Elation’s Dutch distributor Rolight. “After six months in operation at front of house, we received 100% satisfied feedback from visiting lighting operators, old-school pros as well as the new generation of Dutch and foreign professionals,” de Blecourt commented, adding that they were especially impressed with the colours and output.
Phase two concerned the installation of 47 Fuze Profile on the manteaus of the portal bridge, and eight Rayzor 760s, a powerful RGBW wash fixture with extremely wide zoom, as stage lights, and was executed in July 2024.
“The project was a lot more ambitious than just making the transition to ‘green’ LED lighting,” de Blecourt said. “A demo of the Rayzor 760 wash fixture convinced us that an additional order would take the transition project to an even higher level.”
The Rijswijkse Schouwburg Theatre will use its new Elation LED lighting system across a diverse programme of 200 performances yearly. “I have seldom seen a chief lighting technician with such a well-thought-out plan that was worked out in such detail, and in which it was known exactly what they had in mind,” Schmeits concluded. “It makes me proud that we were able to fully realise his plan with Elation.”
