While the renovation restored the historic theatre's façade and interior to their original splendour, the stage has also received attention. Brazilian ETC dealer Telem replaced the outdated lighting system - comprised of products from many different manufacturers - with a complete ETC system including ETC Selador LED fixtures.
Theatro Municipal's 2,361 seat auditorium houses the Rio de Janeiro Symphony Orchestra, the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra and a local ballet troupe, and plays host to a litany of plays, dance performances, concerts and private events every year. Running the lighting for these shows is an ETC Eos lighting control system, with an ETC Ion backing it up. Both Theatro Municipal's in house staff and touring lighting designers use the control system, whose powerful features and ease of programming make quick work of controlling both conventional and moving lights.
The Eos system controls a rig full of ETC fixtures - 48 Source Four spotlights, Source Four PARs and Source Four PARNels; 10 Source Four Revolution automated fixtures; and 25 Selador Vivid-R LED luminaires.
Stage and Acoustics Architect José Augusto Nepomuceno comments, "We were impressed by how the Vivid-Rs can produce bold and saturated colours perfectly. Our lighting staff trusts ETC because of the company's know how, quality and low cost maintenance, as well as the technical support we receive from Telem."
In addition to controls and fixtures, the theatre also commissioned ETC Sensor+ dimming with CEM+ control modules, a Remote Focus Unit (RFU) for the Eos system, ETCNet3 gateways, as well as ETC plug-in stations.
Upcoming shows at Theatro Municipal include the National Ballet of China, Ana Laguna and Mikhail Baryshnikov's Three Solos and a Duet, Itzhak Perlman, and The Barber of Seville.
(Jim Evans)
