Brigham Young University-Idaho (BYU-I) has taken delivery of Robert Juliat Lancelot 4000W followspots for its three theatres as part of a complement of lighting fixtures.
BYU-I, formerly known as Ricks College, is located in Rexburg, Idaho and offers programmes in liberal arts, including the sciences, engineering, agriculture, management and the performing arts. The university is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
BYU-I’s theatres host theatrical productions and concerts staged by students and visiting artists. BYU-I Center, the largest of the theatres, seats 15,000; the Hart Auditorium is a three-quarters arena that seats 3,700; and the Snow Drama Theater, the smallest venue, seats 400.
The new Lancelot fixtures were acquired from Barbizon Light of the Rockies in Denver as part of the lighting replacement cycle, notes lighting designer with BYU-I’s AV Productions, Braden Howard. Last year the university invested in Robert Juliat Dalis LED front-edge stage lighting; the one-meter units are used by the Center, Hart Auditorium and Snow Drama Theater. Systems integrator with Barbizon, Peter Maurelli, had worked with the university when it was Ricks College and provided the original fixture package for the Center.
Howard was now in the market to replace the Robert Juliat Cyrano followspots, which reside in the Center. “The Cyranos were great but slightly underpowered for the cameras so we made the jump to the higher output of the Lancelots,” Howard says.
The 4,000W HTI-source Lancelots “ticked all the boxes” for Howard with their high output, super-narrow 2°-5° zoom range and electronic power supply for best on-camera performance, says Maurelli: “The trend we’re seeing is higher overall brightness on stage. So having a fixture than can cut through all the ambient light and direct the focus of the audience is important.” The four new Lancelot followspots are dedicated to the Center.
The Lancelot units only recently arrived at BYU-I so they have been deployed only on new student orientation in the Center. But opportunities to use the new fixtures will soon multiply, and rounding out the year will be the annual Christmas concert, featuring 300 student musicians and guest artists, including former Metropolitan Opera star Frederica von Stade and the Sonos handbell ensemble.
Robert Juliat is distributed exclusively in North America by ACT Lighting, Inc. “We appreciate the support that we got from ACT Lighting, regional sales manager Aaron Hubbard and the ACT technical team,” says Maurelli. “We always feel the comfortable knowing that our customers will be well supported by ACT.”
“ACT had been there for us with our previous Robert Juliat purchase,” Howard notes. He adds that ACT will help BYU-I’s technicians learn to service the new fixtures. “We’re in a pretty remote location so we often rely on manufacturer training to help ourselves,” says Howard.
