EMEA & APAC AWARDS • THE AMERICAS AWARDS
Teatro Colsubsidio Roberto Arias Perez is a 1,000-capacity venue opened in 1981 in central Bogota, Colombia’s vibrant capital city, that has established itself at the centre of quality live entertainment, culture and performing arts. It’s renowned for high production values and imaginative shows offering a lively mix of concerts, musicals and classical performances.
The theatre has recently purchased its first Robe moving lights – 10 Pointes and 10 x Spiiders. Added to the house lighting rig, these have already started making a huge difference to how shows can be lit and presented.
The theatre is owned by a large commercial enterprise and independently run, and the new Robes were part of a general lighting upgrade that is ongoing to improve the technology and the levels of production on offer.
The theatre specifically wanted lights that would be ideal for lighting the concerts and musical theatre shows.
When using the conventional rig, all that could essentially be done with the lighting was to create a bit of atmosphere, and for modern concerts and musicals, a whole lot more is needed.
Now, all that ‘base’ work can still be achieved, and several layers of lighting and effects can be added over the top.
Using these fixtures, Alfonso and his team can create a complete show with lots of drama and increased dynamics for both audiences and performers.
The very first Lighting Designer to use the venue’s new fixtures was Humberto Hernandez from AHH … a busy and influential lighting designer working in Colombia and internationally.
Humberto was also one of the influencers who recommended Robe as a good choice for the venue’s lighting department’s investment. He himself lights two or three shows a year there and is very happy that Robe is now available.
For Humberto and other LDs Spiiders are, “very flexible and useful for so many things like building atmosphere AND throwing in effects”, and the Pointes are super-fast and an excellent option for use as a beam and a spotlight as well as for numerous effects.
The main challenge was in initially finding moving lights that were adaptable, powerful and suited to the wide range of shows staged at the theatre.
The opinions of various lighting designers who they knew and work with on incoming shows were sought. They were asked about what they thought were the best options, and a pattern started emerging, which was that many of them were recommending Robe.
As well as overseeing his busy department, Alfonso also lights any productions that don’t have an LD, so he had a vested interest in having versatile and multipurpose fixtures in the house!
The investment in Spiiders and Pointes has not only helped sustain Teatro Colsubsidio’s notability for high production values … but has also made a massive difference to how they can stage a show there!
Alfonso also mentioned that another benefit of the new moving lights is that they can turn shows around much quicker and more efficiently as it’s seriously reduced the amount of time consumed with focusing and gelling the previously primarily generic rig.
He and his team are very pleased with the results and the Robes have proved an exceptionally worthwhile investment!
