The Cowra Civic Centre regularly hosts live performances, cinema screenings, civic events, balls and seminars. The centre has two spaces – the main auditorium seating 335 people and the theatrette seating up to 80 people.
Located on Wiradjuri Country in Central West NSW, the Cowra Civic Centre was officially open December 5, 1969. The first performance took place on 18 March, 1970 – a production of Sweeney Todd, a play performed by the Cowra Musical & Dramatic Society.
In December 2019, the Centre employed a new Manager, Jonathan Llewellyn, who has breathed new life into the venue with upgrades and exciting performances.
The auditorium’s stage, a small proscenium arch with a slight thrust, has received a full lighting upgrade thanks to Allan Brown of Centrestate Sound & Lighting. The aging halogen fixtures have now been replaced by a fully LED rig cutting down the venue’s power bill.
Fourteen ShowPRO LED EProfile HP were chosen for their performance and output along with a variety of lenses. For stage wash, 22 ShowPRO LED PAR Quad-18 deliver a large range of the colour spectrum including quality pastels, whites warm and cool. Particularly suited to this size venue are the 12 ShowPRO LED Fresnel W/W HD Manual Zoom with a zoom range of 10°-60°.
Allan cites brightness, flicker-free dimming, very low power consumption, reliability and competitive pricing as the major drawcards for these products.
“The ShowPRO theatrical fixtures are great,” commented Allan. “We have some in Orange Theatre and they’ve been fine – as have the ones in my hire inventory. There have been no problems and no returns.”
A Look Solutions Unique 2.1 hazer worked beautifully with the light beams on stage. For flexibility, a set of wireless ShowPRO Hercules, along with a WDMX Blackbox Transceiver, was also purchased and soon the Centre will be adding moving head profiles.
Photographed are Bathurst band Ricky’s Breath who supplied the images.
