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PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JUNE 20, 2006
Contact:
Joan Bolen
Wybron, Inc.
(719) 548-9774
[email protected]
Nexeras at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Wybron Talks with Michael Maag, Master Electrician for OSF
The arsenal of lighting
equipment for the Oregon
Shakespeare Festival (OSF)
is impressive, but the results
are pure magic. OSF
recently began its 71st
season at their three-theatre
location in Ashland, Oregon
operating in true rotating rep,
meaning a different show
plays each afternoon and
evening. Eleven plays are
currently rotating on their
three stages: the 360-seat
Black Box New Theatre, the
600-seat Angus Bowmer
Theatre, and the 1200-seat
outdoor Elizabethan Theatre.
Scene from The Winter's Tale in the Angus Bowmer Theatre.
The character of Time (Greta Oglesby), ushers the story into
the world of Bohemia. Photo: Jenny Graham.
Michael Maag, Master Electrician for OSF, orchestrates an amazing routine to light
these performances on a daily basis. They have approximately two-and-a-half hours
between curtain down on one show and house open on the next. The lighting crew
changes color, gobos, and shutter cuts on the rep lights in each theatre. With such a
demanding schedule, there are very specific requirements. They needed fixtures that
would operate easily and quietly, while still giving excellent color. Michael was kind
enough to talk with Wybron recently about his decision to use Nexeras in two of the
three theatres, with plans to purchase additional units next season.
“The Creative Staff of Oregon Shakespeare Festival are very conscientious about the
artistic direction of the shows. When the curtain goes up, the audience should be
captivated with the performance on stage, not distracted by the technical aspects. Every
piece of lighting equipment is hidden from the audience’s view and noise of any kind is
unacceptable,” he explains.
Dinna Meyer at Musson Theatrical recommended Wybron’s Nexera CMY colorchanging fixtures to Michael. He decided to do his own comparison and researched all
similar products on the market. “When I tested the Nexeras they were virtually silent,
and the other units I tested were unacceptably loud,” he explains, “I don’t want my
audience looking up in the grid to see who’s hammering on the lights every time we
change color.”
Currently, he has 46 Nexeras split between the Angus Bowmer and the New Theatre. In
the Bowmer, fourteen 25º-40º Profiles are used as downlights and twelve 19º-26º
Profiles are set on the diagonal (six on each side) in a box boom position (a
front/diagonal wash of the stage from each side). “Having the ability to change colors in
these lights is great because they are so useful for bringing out colors in costumes or
scenery as well as setting mood in conjunction with the down lights,” says Michael.
An interior view of the New Theatre in arena staging (2002
set of Macbeth). Photo by David Cooper.
The remaining twenty Nexeras (all
25º-40º Profiles) reside in the black
box style New Theatre alongside
nine VL5B moving lights. “The initial
install was 14 Nexeras for last
season,” he says, “We got 34 more
in October that saw heavy use in
January. We have them in two
theatres now and we will be
installing the 19º-26º Profiles in the
outdoor Elizabethan Theatre next
season. They’re perfect for the
longer throws in that theatre.”
“We went with all Profiles for the
simple reason of what they do best:
theatre,” Michael continues, “In rep we have varied stage shapes. Rather than use the
Nexera Wash to flood the stage with color, which would create unacceptable spill light
we use the Nexera Profiles to shutter easily to our various scenic shapes. The fast,
silent, and rich colors of the Nexera help us to focus attention to convey time, place and
mood,” he says. “In addition the units have beautiful transitions between colors, which
adds a whole new dimension to cueing.”
Wybron pushed the development of the Nexera 19º-26º Profile model up on the
production schedule specifically at Michael’s request. Ken Fasen, Vice President of
Engineering at Wybron explains, “Even though we have other products in development,
when we know of a current client with a specific need, we’ll rearrange our priorities to
help them meet their goals. Our business model revolves around making a designer’s
job easier.”
“Believe me, we handle a lot of equipment on each changeover,” says Michael, “The rep
plots alone use a combined 600 conventionals and 24 moving lights, and each show
can have another 120 specials. Anything that makes my job easier while giving me a
perfect result is a blessing.”
Michael finally adds, “Another point about these fixtures that should be mentioned is
that you get both a unit and a color mixing system for just a little more than the
competitors, who just supply a color mixing module. That solution takes a unit out of
your inventory, unless you buy more Source Fours for just this purpose, then the cost is
actually higher than with the Nexeras. I get more lights, and lights that can be any color
at that, a very good deal for me and my designers.”
The results speak for themselves. OSF entertains a combined audience of
approximately 360,000 each year and receives rave reviews. To see a schedule of
current plays, visit www.osfashland.org.
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