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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. ###