Limelight Productions Provides Stage Curtains and Lighting Equipment For EMPAC

January 2009
Lee, MA 

Limelight Productions of Lee, Massachusetts provided a large inventory of lighting, rigging and stage curtains for EMPAC the new state-of-the-art multi-disciplinary center at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy , NY . EMPAC is an acronym for Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center - a name which accurately describes the building's mission to provide a high-tech laboratory for media and arts exploration.

Photo ©Peter Aaron / Esto.

With a grand opening in October 2008, the 220,000-square-foot center designed by Grimshaw Architects includes a 1,200 seat concert hall, a 400 seat theater, 2 flexible seating studios and 4 artist-in-residence studios. The impressive modern structure, built into a steep hillside, incorporates many innovative technological solutions including a large glass curtain wall, featuring mullions carrying heated water to insulate the space from the harsh New England winters.

Conceptually the building bridges the traditional arts with the experimental arts, science and technology. With a link to the university's supercomputer (the Computational Center for Nanotechnology Innovations, CCNI), EMPAC provides a platform for the Rensselaer campus, its partners, and visiting artists to experiment at the leading edges of arts and technology.

"The design concept for the building was based on the dual program it supports: a world-class concert hall for traditional orchestral music, and cutting-edge, completely flexible spaces for experimental art and media performance or research." - Nicholas Grimshaw

Limelight provided lighting fixtures including 204 Selecon fixtures (Arena High Performance Fresnels , Rama High Performance Fresnels , Rama Standard Fresnels and Hui Cyc light ); 302 ETC Source Four fixtures in a variety of configurations ranging from 10 to 50 degrees as well as zoom units; 126 Altman fixtures (2.4k HMI Fresnels, PAR 64s, Q-lites); and two Robert Juiliat Topaze follow spots.

In addition, Limelight provided hundreds of feet of Thomas Truss and corner blocks.

Limelight custom fabricated masking curtains (15 hampers full!) for the various spaces including 36 sets of legs, 15 masking borders and two seamless black scrims (30' x 63'), and provided "pipe and drape" supports for temporary/portable display applications.

Additional miscellaneous items provided by Limelight include a Rosco Delta Hazer; two LeMaitre Stage Foggers and a LeMaitre Tiny Fogger; ETC dimmer packs with Pin/Veam connectors; a Baxter 8-channel DMX Pocket Console; Wybron Forerunner color changers and Eclipse Shutter Its; GAM Stick-ups; Diversitronics Mighty Lite 1000 Strobes; 10 Color Kinetics Color Blaze fixtures; and two Wildfire LT400F1 (UV Fresnel).

About Limelight Productions

Since 1972, Limelight has provided lighting equipment and supplies for theatrical, film, television and special event productions and has the largest selection of film and video location lighting equipment in western Massachusetts.