London’s Royal Albert Hall recently chose Clay Paky’s Stage Profile Plus SV to modernize its lighting system. Ten Clay Paky units were added to the venue’s rig. As Mark Jones, the venue’s senior technical show manager, says: “For a theatre with a history like ours, we needed to find exactly the right products for its setting. When we realized we needed to develop our lighting system, we did some extensive research into all the lighting companies around. We chose Clay Paky’s Stage Profile Plus SV because it seemed designed for our needs. To start with, it is incredibly silent: anyone working in theatre knows how important operating silence is, and what’s more, the theatre’s acoustics tend to amplify the minimum sound”.
In addition, says Jones, the venue required products that could adapt perfectly to a variety of performances: “We noticed immediately that Stage Profile Plus SV is virtually a universal product: it’s not only an excellent effects projector, which features an endless range of colours, but also a sophisticated beam shaper with an exclusive profile system, which we used to create “forms of light” on stage, such as doors, windows and spatial designs skilfully created on computer. Profile Plus also features a zoom that focuses perfectly at any distance, which obviously varies from one performance to another. It also features a linear zoom and high quality, powerful and precise optics, which distinguish it from any other moving body projector on the market”.
Royal Albert Hall is a landmark in Victorian architecture. Shaped like a Roman amphitheatre, it seats up to 6,000 people. Since it’s opening in 1871, it has played host to over 150,000 events to become one of the world's most famous entertainment venues. Events there include opera, concerts, pop stars, rock groups, sports events, fashion shows, and conferences. The Royal Albert Hall's Philharmonic Orchestra is officially based here, giving performances with international artists.
Stage Profile Plus SVs were supplied to the Royal Albert Hall by Pulsar Light of Cambridge, Clay Paky’s UK distributor, through A.C. Lighting. The new units were added to the 10 Clay Paky Stage Zoom 1200s already installed in the venue.