The Hennessey Schools Auditorium is undergoing a much-needed lighting renovation upgrade. Several months ago the Hennessey Board of Education approved a bid from Hennessey’s Farmers Electric to replace the entire auditorium lighting system with new LED lights and controls. This includes replacing all of the house lighting fixtures in the seating area, all of the overhead theatrical fixtures on the stage, spotlights in the overhead cat-walk area, low-angle spotlights on the sides, and 2 robotic remote-controlled spotlights on the ceiling.
Jack Quirk acting as an unpaid audiovisual consultant worked with the school to help engineer the new LED lighting system. This upgrade not only makes the entire lighting system low-wattage LED but it is completely RGB capable. This means every fixture can generate hundreds of different colors remotely. In the past, each light would consume up to 1000 watts of electricity and create a great deal of heat. In addition, each bulb costs about $40 and would only last a short time. The new lights have a life expectancy of up to 100,000 hours and don’t produce much heat at all.
The entire system can be controlled in several different ways, with the main console in the AV booth at the back of the auditorium, a touch screen backstage, or with an iPad.
Hurry up!
The crew at Farmers Electric is under the gun to complete the new system in time for the upcoming musical produced by the vocal music department and directed by Riley Faulkner. The first performance under the new lights will be The Adams Family and will be held April 28th-30th.
