Celebrating a decade of Sensor dimming, the 6000th ETC dimming channel in central London was installed at the Central School of Speech and Drama this winter, as part of the complete refurbishment of its Embassy Theatre. To commemorate the opening of the new facility at the end of April, students of the school staged a performance of Sweeney Todd.

Founded in 1906, the school moved to its current NW3 location in 1956. The site, which was formally the Hampstead Music Conservatoire, included a fine proscenium-arch theatre - the Embassy Theatre. Central to the school's ethos is keeping abreast with contemporary developments and it is committed to extending the high educational standards already on offer. As such, the school embarked on an extensive building programme during the 1990s, culminating in the recent refurbishment of the Embassy Theatre.

Head of the school's Lighting Department Mike Seignior acted as consultant and project manager on the refurbishment and specified three racks of 72-channel Sensor dimmers to be at the heart of the new stage lighting infrastructure. Two racks are used solely for the stage lighting and the third for house lights, worklights and non-dim facilities. The dimmers were supplied and installed by ETC dealer Stage Electrics, supervised by project manager Jonathan Porter-Goff. Commenting on this milestone, ETC’s Mark White said: "We are very pleased to have helped Central School and to have reached 6000 ETC dimming channels in central London despite having had 2500 removed from the Millennium Dome."

(Ruth Rossington)


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