SINGAPORE — The Star Performing Arts Centre (The Star PAC), which opened in November 2012, includes a 5,000-seat theater, a multipurpose hall, an outdoor amphitheater, rooftop reception areas, and supporting spaces of varying sizes. ETC’s lighting control systems and fixtures can be found throughout the complex.
More details from ETC (www.etcconnect.com):
Singapore’s star is shining bright. The country boasts recent major architectural achievements, including The Star Performing Arts Centre (The Star PAC), opened in November 2012.
Located above The Star Vista, the performing arts center spans from level 3 to level 11 and consists of Singapore’s only 5,000-seat theater, a multipurpose hall, an outdoor amphitheater, rooftop reception areas, and supporting spaces of varying sizes, outfitted with the latest ETC lighting control systems and fixtures.
ETC’s Sensor3 Power Control system provides The Star’s PAC’s hybrid lighting rig with over 1500 dimmer channels, of which one third are ThruPower. Says Technical Director Daniel Loh, “We’ll have concerts on Saturday nights followed by church services on Sunday morning — an especially tight turnaround for our anchor hirer, New Creation Church. Using the same cabling infrastructure for LED or moving-light fixtures and conventional fixtures saves us time over having to use different cables. By a keystroke we can change the same circuit from a dimming to a relay non-dim circuit. The key is that the ThruPower Modules allow us to have fewer issues with patching or infrastructure — such as power for movers being patched incorrectly to a dimming circuit, or vice versa, and having to retrace the cabling.”
Besides live worship and concert productions, The Star PAC places strong emphasis on broadcast capabilities. “The lights and the dimmers must be very reliable to ensure that whatever is captured on video is good,” says Loh.
The Star Theatre counts hundreds of Source Four (incandescent) spotlights in its lighting rig — some 40 in the front-of-house box-boom positions, 90 on the front-of-house catwalk, with almost 70 Source Four jrs, and some 50 Source Four PAR EA’s mixed in. “Source Four fixtures are commonly used in the industry,” says Loh. “Most of the crew members are familiar with them, and new technicians are able to pick up quickly.”
Complementing the potent color output of the incandescent stage lights are 24 ETC Selador Vivid Classic LED striplights — with x7 Color System technology — and many other-brand fixtures, including moving lights.
The versatile Selador LED fixtures are employed for numerous effects. The Star PAC used the Seladors as wall washes for their Grand Opening last November and as stage washes for concerts. Says Loh, “For our current concerts, the ETC fixtures are primarily used as face light from our catwalks or specials to light up fixture positions, such as drummers.”
ETC lighting equipment is dominant as well in other key spaces within The Star PAC.
An ETC Unison Paradigm system controls the house lights, work lights and running lights in The Star Theatre. “After eight years of experience in the performing arts industry, ETC is still the first on the list when it comes to dependability,” says Loh. “The dimmers and lights can be in constant use day in and day out. As our venue hosts leading artists, we need to ensure that the equipment we provide is not just superior in light quality but also reliable.”
The Star PAC also counted on ETC’s service for the success of their aspirations: “The support has been great from ETC Asia,” says Loh. “From the tender process through the installation and now operations, they have been with us and they are a quick email or phone call away.”
