New ETC Gio™ lighting control console on UK Dirty Dancing tour

Cologne Opera tour, Shanghai, China

At LDI 2011 in Orlando, ETC will be showing their latest lighting control console-Gio. Recently tested on the first leg of the UK Dirty Dancing tour, the Gio got off on a great foot. The newest of ETC's Eos®-line consoles, Gio had its first-ever use on that show, with programmer Andi Davis at the helm. The Dirty Dancing production opened on September 1st, at the Bristol Hippodrome, with an extensively revised lighting design by original lighting designer Tim Mitchell.

Says Davis, "We'd already specified an Eos system for the show, so we jumped at the chance to use a Gio. We initially intended to use it just for pre-visualization, but the opportunity to see how the all-new hardware performed in a real-world environment was too good to miss. We had an Eos on standby-but Gio's amazing speed and stability meant the Eos was unused. Given the production's tight schedule and extensive rig, introducing a new desk into the equation was ambitious - but Gio was faultless ."

Gio fills the mid-range position in the Eos-console family, between the Eos and Ion®. "With touring in mind, we were impressed by Gio's portability," adds Davis. "It has the power of Eos, but its smaller, lighter footprint and fold-flat displays make it an easy one-person lift."

The Gio console was made to simplify complex lighting work-with innovative features like backlit buttons (to make working in the dark much easier on the programmer's eyes), articulating multi-touch screens, and the power of Eos software. This rich combination of functionality, sophistication, and size are already appealing particularly to mobile productions. Davis says, "UK touring shows have frequently been programmed on Eos but transferred to ETC's Ion for portability on the road. Gio's balance of power and size should prove the perfect touring solution. I'll definitely specify Gio-based systems for future touring shows."

Eos Product Line Manager Anne Valentino commented, "The interest in Gio has been tremendous, and we are happy to report that subsequent shows were equally successful. In addition to the richness of the software, Gio offers a highly sophisticated electrical/mechanical design, and we have certainly seen people respond positively to this, even if they weren't quite sure why they felt compelled to keep touching the desk."

The Gio was also recently employed on the Fela! US national tour. Off the road, Gio has controlled lighting for the production of 13 at the National's Olivier Theatre and Backbeat at the Duke of York Theatre, both in London's West End. Gio was also recently enlisted to handle special-events lighting at the Latter Day Saints Conference Center, in Salt Lake City, Utah.