The Florida State University (FSU) School of Theatre has received a donation of a Leap Frog console from Zero 88 Lighting Ltd. The Leap Frog is one of the newest models in the Frog family of consoles, distributed in North America by A.C. Lighting, Inc. The donation was announced at the USITT conference in New Orleans earlier this year.
The Leap Frog was immediately put to work for the FSU production of Angels in America, Part 1, where it ran six Martin Professional MAC 500s and six MAC 600s. Ann M. Archibald, assistant professor and head of the MFA lighting design program at FSU, was the lighting designer for this first production with the Leap Frog.
"Having the Leap Frog allowed the conventional lights to be programmed separately from the moving lights, speeding up the tech process," Archibald said. "I don't know how the lighting for this production could have happened without it!" She went on to say that the Leap Frog "will allow the students to be exposed to current technology beyond traditional theatrical consoles. On average, four or five graduate students and six to 10 undergraduates will get to work with it every term. Thank you so much to Zero 88 Lighting for the generous donation."