Fixtures, consoles and power control - ETC and High End Systems arrive in force at Théâtre du Châtelet

After more than two years of renovations, the celebrated Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris has recently reopened its doors to the public. With the intention of restoring the venue to its original splendor, the project saw the inclusion of an array of products from ETC and High End Systems.

Christophe Leuba – one of the venue’s two lighting managers who assist lighting director Renaud Corler – recognized the potential of ETC Eos consoles after attending an ETC training session. "I loved the event and as soon as I got back to the Châtelet I arranged an ‘Introduction to Eos’ session for our entire team," says Leuba.

Several other desks were considered, but Eos family consoles emerged as the best solution for the theatre. "Thanks to their simplicity, it’s obvious how to make a patch,” says Leuba. “But it’s the color tool that really stands out. With the level of color control they offer, there is no comparison with other consoles at the moment."

Subsequently, two Eos Ti consoles were installed in the theatre’s control room – one of which is used in the audience during creation phase – and a more compact Ion Xe 20 was chosen for use elsewhere.

Even though decision-making for lighting control and power control was not connected at the outset, the Eos consoles chosen complemented the Sensor3 Power control system selected, with both product families originating from ETC. "It's really convenient to be able to control the dimmers from the consoles," says Bernard Maby, the theatre’s other lighting manager. “In addition, it’s very nice to have the feedback directly on the desks."

The electrical room features seven Sensor3 power control racks fitted with 582 modules, plus 24 modules in an additional rack for lighting. The team opted to work in sACN for communication between consoles, dimmers and fixtures.

Technical solution provider Dushow was appointed to supply the lighting, and began with a demonstration featuring all the key brands of the sector. “The Dushow demo was superb because it was very objective,” says Leuba. “The High End Systems SolaFrame 3000 stood out thanks to its power, but also its color quality and full-frame shutters. This led to an investment in 46 SolaFrame 3000 fixtures.”

The venue already had a dozen Source Four LED Series 2 Lustr luminaires and the team chose to add 60 units of the same model, equipped with 25–50 ° zoom optics. "It's a great fixture with quality tungsten emulation,” says Leuba. “And the color management with Eos is just amazing. It consumes nothing and it makes beautiful color!"

It’s fitting that the 72 ETC fixtures are proving to be a perfect accompaniment to the SolaFrame 3000s for Théâtre du Châtelet’s current production – An American in Paris – which runs until January 1. 

© Photos : Jonathan Grimaux