Vanemuine Theatre – Estonia’s oldest and first native language theatre – celebrated its 152nd season with an elaborate gala event staged in Tartu’s main square with a Robe-heavy lighting design, created by Tõnis Järs.
The event’s main stage included a vibrant array of ballet and operetta pieces, culminating with an orchestral concert, showcasing a unique collaboration between the Vanemuine Symphony Orchestra and Estonian electro-pop artist, NOËP.
Järs specified Robe lighting fixtures as the core luminaires on the event lighting design. However, with all three venues in use for daily performances, rental company E&T stepped in to provide any shortfall in fixtures from the theatre’s in-house arsenal.
The Robe-heavy lighting rig boasted 22 Pointes, eight Spiiders, 14 LEDBeam 150s, eight LEDWash 1200s, 12 LEDWash 800s, four 600E Spots and four LEDWash 600s.
A front, two rear and two side lighting trusses – all part of the stage and roof system – were filled with the moving lights, with a few fixtures on the deck for additional dynamics. As most of the stage space was taken up with the symphony orchestra, fitting lighting around this scenario, according to Järs, was “challenging”.
Pointes, Spiiders and LEDBeam150 units were used for producing multiple effects, with LEDWash 1200s selected for solid back and contra light, LEDWash 800s for front light, while the 600E Spots proved great for specials like spotting and keying the conductor or picking out and highlighting solos.
Järs dubbed Pointes and Spiiders as the stars of the show. “They are excellent, workhorse fixtures capable of very impressive effects,” he stated, having programmed and operated the show on a ChamSys MagicQ MQ80 console. “Equally, all Robe lighting fixtures can be counted on to do a good and reliable job.”
