With music by Galt MacDermot (best known for Broadway's score of Hair) and based on William Saroyan's novel of the same name, The Human Comedy is a pop folk opera and coming-of-age tale about small-town life in World War II era California. It was presented by Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Theatre and staged at the 360-seat new state-of-the-art proscenium Virginia Wimberly Theatre.
Boston University lighting designer Brandon Bagwell, who is being tutored on the University's Master of Fine Arts Lighting Design programme by Associate Professor (Lighting Design), Mark Stanley - the resident lighting designer for New York City Ballet and former resident LD at New York City Opera, used the Color One 100 LED par to sidelight the set, which included hanging gears, clocks and musical instruments.
"From the moment I turned on the Color One 100 for the first time, I was in awe", says Brandon. "Their lumen output was on par if not exceeding that of, the mostly tungsten rig. This was even true in the most saturated colour produced by the unit. The colour engine in the Color One 100 is outstanding - it presents a designer with such a broad spectrum of colour and value that the combinations are endless. The spectrum even included subtle and elegant pastels which were a beautiful contrast to the vibrant, saturated colours the Chroma-Q line is so well-known for.
"The Color One 100's dimming curve was excellent, there is no stepping in lower intensities and no annoying 'pop' on or off," Brandon continues. "Even with times of thirty seconds or higher, they did an amazing job of dimming."
Brandon also used the Chroma-Q Color Force 72 battens to down light a layered canvas wall upstage.
"The wide array of colour and control I got from the Color Force 72 was amazing," he says. "Running the 72s in 48-channel mode allowed me to paint the cyc with broad or precise lighting brushstrokes. This precise control also allowed me to create more unique transitions between the 82 musical numbers in the production, keeping the visual composition intriguing and evolving with the show. The Color Force units really are my go-to fixtures due to their amazing lumen and colour output."
The Color One 100 and Color Force 72 fixtures were supplied to Boston University for the production by Chroma-Q North American distributor, A.C. Lighting Inc.
The Chroma-Q range of premium performance solutions is designed and built to exacting standards
(Jim Evans)
