WALLINGFORD, CT – The University of California at Berkeley and Ithaca College (NY) have added Robert Juliat fixtures to their theatrical lighting inventories. UC Berkeley purchased four Robert Juliat Cyrano followspots from Musson Theatrical. “The user interface is great, all the controls are centralized, and there is pre-focused lamp control. So they’re easy for the operators to work with day in, day out,” said techician Jeremy Little. Meanwhile, Ithaca College acquired four Buxie followspots from BMI Supply for its Clark Theater. The fixtures fit on their catwalk, and they liked their optical clarity.
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WALLINGFORD, CT – The University of California at Berkeley and Ithaca College (NY) have added Robert Juliat Cyrano and Buxie followspots, respectively, to their theatrical lighting inventories.
UC Berkeley has invested in four Cyrano followspots purchased from Musson Theatrical. “They asked for several demos and were excited about the Cyranos,” says Musson Theatrical’s Dinna Myers. “Robert Juliat is known for high-quality optics in the followspot market – they’re rapidly becoming the leader in that sector.”
Jeremy Little is an ETCP-certified electrician and master electrician with Cal Performances, the UC Berkeley-based presenting, commissioning and producing organization for world-class music, dance and theater. He recalls working with Cyranos when he toured as a followspot operator. “They were fun to drive,” he says. “The user interface is great, all the controls are centralized, and there is pre-focused lamp control. So they’re easy for the operators to work with day in, day out.” When the university needed four matched followspots for its Zellerbach Auditorium, Cyranos were the logical choice.
“We just completed our training for the Cyranos with Robert Juliat,” Little reports. “Our big show this season is ‘Einstein On The Beach,’ which calls for all four followspots. It will put the Cyranos to the test all at once.”
Cyrano is a compact and efficient 2500-watt HMI followspot with a high-performance quartz condenser optical system. It features a 100 percent iris closing in a removable cassette; 100 percent closing dimmer; B-size gobo holder; dichroic color correction, variable frost, and 6-way boomerang color changer with removable filter frames.
Ithaca College acquired four Buxie followspots from BMI Supply for its Clark Theater, the school’s smaller performance space. “We were really excited to get Adam Klein at Ithaca College what he needed. He sent detailed specs of what he was looking for: Two followspots with tripods and two without,” reports Steve Michalek, at BMI Supply.
Ithaca College is no stranger to Robert Juliat fixtures. “We already have two Super Korrigans (1200-watt HMI followspots) in our inventory, our design faculty was happy with them and we wanted to stay with Juliat,” Klein says. “Size and optics were factors in our choice. We were looking for HID followspots with a small form factor for our smaller performance space – they had to fit on our catwalk. We saw the Buxies at USITT, and they looked great. No other followspots matched the optical clarity that the Buxies had.”
The followspots will primarily be used for a full round or three-quarter thrust space hosting dramas and musicals. “This year we are presenting ‘Spring Awakening’ and will definitely use the Buxies on that show,” says Klein. “We can also use them as supplemental followspots in our larger performance space.”
He notes, “One of the nice things about the Buxies is that we won’t just use them on tripod stands; we can also hang them yoke up off of a pipe. They were far more affordable than we originally planned, too, so that allowed us to get a lot of accessories. Optics, output, HID, price – we’re really happy with our purchase!”
Buxie is a compact 575-watt MSD followspot with high-performance double-condenser optical system, 100 percent closing and removable iris, 100 percent closing mechanical dimmer, A-size gobo holder and 6-way color changer.
