Tennessee State University Theatre in Nashville is a 350-seat proscenium theater established in 1939, presenting a wide variety of theatrical and music performances by students, faculty, and professional guest artists. Earlier in the year, theater Technical Manager Mark Collino oversaw a new lighting install of moving fixtures replacing its standard, conventional incandescent lighting. The new fixtures comprised eight Elektralite my575s and ten Pancake RGBW LED units.
“”We’re using the my575s over the stage on our first and second electric for back and front light specials,”” Collino recalls, “”and I placed the Pancakes on the second and with electrics for backlight and full stage color washes. Initially, I took a look at the Elektralite’s on the recommendation of a friend who said they were very cost effective and had a lot of features for the price. I got one as a demo and loved it right off. I really like the strobe feature on the Pancakes, and with the my575s I get great rotation gobo options. It’s also very easy now to provide variety for the shows, as with all moving fixtures, they add far more flexibility and diversity than I could ever hope to get conventionally. The fixtures are smooth to operate, and easy to program; very similar to other more expensive products.””
“”Additionally, only two of our 5 electrics are flown. All the others are dead hung. So using the my575s means I have the freedom to focus over the larger sets with no need for a personnel lift.””
TSU’s first production of “”The Fantasticks”” utilizing the upgraded lighting package proved to be a huge success. “”During the show, several department heads, the Dean of Liberal Arts, and our President all commented on the variety of effects I was able to create. Indeed, it was a huge hit!””