8th Dec 2004 - Bull Frog and Chilli's for new Performance Academy

Newcastle College Performance Academy has chosen Zero 88 for all its new lighting control requirements in their recently opened £21 million facility.

The new building houses 3 new performance spaces, and Zero 88 has supplied the 356 channels of dimming for all 3 spaces. A Bull Frog lighting console was also supplied for the Music Venue.

In the Main Theatre (the largest of the three venues) there are 208 channels of dimming, comprising 8 x Chilli Pro 2410i dimmers and 1 x custom built Chilli pro 1610i dimmer. The house lighting is controlled via 1 x Chilli Pro 410HF dimmer and a 2 x 5 button Chilli Pro control panels. The Studio Theatre has a further 48 channels of dimming from 2 x Chilli Pro 2410i dimmers.

The Music Venue has a Bull Frog controlling the 96 channels of Chilli pro dimmers . The Bull Frog also has the capability of controlling 24 moving heads.

Technical Manager Dave Cook was involved in the lighting control equipment specification. When it came to the dimmers Dave already had the Zero 88 Chilli Pro range in mind. Having specified them on other installations and after confirming their reliability with other theatres who use them, he knew they were the only choice.

“At the end of the day dimmers need to dim!.” explained Dave. “The Chilli Pro dimmers have a good reputation, do what they are supposed to, are low maintenance and are highly competitive on price. They do what they say and that’s what I need!”

When it came to a new desk for the Live Music Venue, the college were looking for something that was flexible and easy to use on the fly. Stuart Archibold at Lighting specialists Northern Light recommended a Bull Frog as the right console to fit their feature set and budget requirements.

The technicians took a while to get used to the Zero 88 Frog philosophy, being used to existing Strand consoles at the college. However, after a short training session from Zero 88’s Grant Bales-Smith, they quickly picked up the basics and are impressed with what the console allows them to achieve.

Course Director Tim Poolan comments, ” I’m delighted with the Bull Frog. It is much better suited to live performances than our existing Strand consoles. We now have the equipment to enhances our music events, giving the both the operators and performers a more stimulating lighting experience. The students have found it really easy to learn and operate, and have taken to it instantly.”

As a testament to its ease of use, students from the college’s Stage Management and Technical Production Foundation Course used the Bull Frog on the new buildings opening night (held 19TH November this year) to control 12 Varilite 1000’s in their Main Theatre. Without ever operating the console or moving lights before the students were able to use the Bull Frog’s full feature set of effects, fans and palettes to produce a stunning lighting display for the ceremony.

All lighting equipment was supplied and installed by Northern Light, Edinburgh.

Photo courtesy of Mark Savage.