Shanghai Grand Theatre restored to previous splendor with ETC lighting and controls

China's Shanghai Grand Theatre (commonly referred to as SGT), has become one of the world's most state-of-the-art and environmentally-friendly theaters following a recent renovation. The project included a complete overhaul of its lighting, adding a full ETC lighting system.

SGT had been looking at changing its aging stage equipment for more than a decade. "Considering the large number of international troupes who come here to perform each year, a more stable and advanced lighting system that can cater to diverse performing styles is necessary," says Zhihua Wu (Z.H. Wu), manager of the stage engineering department at SGT. The staff was focused on choosing products that offer a high quality of light, color consistency, and ease of installation, while also meeting energy-saving requirements.

The theater, which is home to three halls - the 1,800-seat Lyric Hall, the 600-seat Drama Hall and the 300-seat Studio Hall - chose to update its rig with the energy efficiency of 150 Source Four LED™ Lustr+™ , 48 Selador® Desire® D60 Fire™ and Ice™ , 114 Selador Classic™ Vivid-R™ LED luminaires, and 32 Source Four LED CYC™ adapters. In order to deliver the best possible light, SGT combines the color flexibility and brightness of the LED luminaires with the optics and rich tungsten output of 360 Sour Four® spotlights. "The seamless integration of conventional and LED light greatly reduces energy, while ensuring a high quality of light," says JianWei Wu (J.W. Wu), Technical Director of Hangzhou YiDaShi, ETC's authorized distributor in China.

In order to simplify power for the hybrid lighting rigs, SGT installed 80 Source Four Dimmers™ , which attach to conventional Source Four fixtures to provide distributed dimming. Source Four Dimmers and Source Four LEDs have the same requirements for power and data, and both use simple switched power and reduced cabling to run. "In addition to dimming, the Source Four Dimmer provides 20% more intensity," explains J.W. Wu. SGT also has 14 Sensor3™ power-control racks , which power the remaining conventional and LED fixtures.

Two Gio® control desks and 52 ETCNet3™ Gateways control the lighting. The compact yet powerful Gio is the perfect size for SGT and provides intuitive control for its hybrid rig. Resident designers and programmers use the desk both in house and on tour. Net3™ lets users connect to the network and start controlling the system, which is convenient for touring groups performing at the venue.

"We didn't use ETC equipment before, but decided to try it, because international troupes and guest lighting operators are big fans of it," describes Z.H. Wu. "After using the ETC lighting control system since November, we've found out that ETC's products are indeed at the top of the entertainment technology industry. The flexibility of operation, system interaction and product stability meet our theater's requirements. Moreover, we are very impressed with Hangzhou YiDaShi's excellent technical support, which is very important during load in."

Photo courtesy of Hangzhou YiDaShi