NEW ORLEANS, LA – The National World War II Museum's new 70,000-square-foot $60-million complex, which includes the Solomon Victory Theater, Stage Door Canteen and The American Sector restaurant, opened recently as part of the museum's overall $300-million expansion. All three venues depend on ETC lighting and control gear to provide a compelling guest experience. The 250-seat Victory Theater presents a preprogrammed, 40-minute, 4-D cinematic experience entitled Beyond All Boundaries, which uses an ETC Ion control console, ETC Net3 data distribution, ETC dimming, and some 400 Source Four fixtures. The Ion also connects with more gear via serial RS232. The ETC system integrator was Bandit Lites, working to specifications by Visual Terrain.
Timing and sequencing are key to making Beyond All Boundaries unfold with precision. In-theater effects include choreographed searchlight sequences using fixtures with gobo rotators tied to custom profiles, a simulated nuclear explosion created with sound and strobes and weather effects including snow and wind.
"This show is a fusion of theatrical design and themed entertainment," said Michael Mahlum, senior designer with Visual Terrain. "We were looking for well-rounded programming ability and quick adjustments. The Ion can handle the conventional fixtures as well as the sophisticated automated gear."
"We try to bring ETC along whenever it makes sense on a project," said Lisa Passamonte Green, principal of Visual Terrain. "We turn to them because of their excellent support, service, and of course, their technology."
The Ion console does double duty in the museum's Stage Door Canteen, a smaller, versatile dinner theater that hosts a variety of live and pre-recorded entertainment. The canteen is styled after the 1940s venues that entertained the troops in American cities during the war.
"It had to be a flexible space in that there were canned shows as well as rental situations," said project designer Ted Mather, managing principal of lighting-design firm Available Light, New York.
"We needed a system that could handle all the show control needs, and if somebody rented the hall, have a console that a local designer could easily work with. The Ion is simple and straightforward but also has the power to do lighting color changes and automated fixtures. And the museum staff only needs to know the one console."
Mather added that the availability of technical service was a factor in deciding which gear to use. "I knew that in New Orleans they would be able to get support for the ETC products," he said. "So far, I have never come across a place where you couldn't get local ETC support."
The theater lighting package uses numerous ETC Source Four fixtures, with Net3 control. An ETC Unison Paradigm architectural lighting system interfaces with all the control stations and house lighting in the Stage Door Canteen. Unison also handles the American Sector Restaurant in the same building.
The National World War II Museum recently reported that since the November opening of the Victory Theater, attendance has grown to almost triple the museum's numbers for the same period a year earlier.
For more information, please visit www.etcconnect.com and www.nationalww2museum.org
Photos courtesy National WWII Museum, New Orleans
