Hi All,

I'm hoping for some help.  I'm the Treasurer and Member of our local theatre company that we began just a couple of years ago.  We use our local community center for our shows and have been hiring out for lights and sound.  We have gotten a couple of grants and are looking to purchase lights to start.  We have a person giving us some advice, but since I have no technical knowledge and I'm the one searching and having to buy the equipment I was hoping for info on what and where to purchase.

We are looking to start with 4 Leko lights, the equipment to hang them, and gels.  Can anyone advise me on what I  specifically need in terms of these lights and the equip to hang and where I can purchase (most likely online if that's okay).

Thanks in advance!  I feel completely clueless!!

Lucille

I likely can give you some help with this, but a little more information would likely help. How big is your theater? Is this a first step in building a larger inventory of lights? If so, you may want to think about whether you want to try to buy used equipment from a nearby supply house or not. It is a whole lot easier to have a good sized inventory of the same type of light, rather than three or four of each of several different manufacturers. Do you need to purchase dimming capacity as well? There are many different types of lights available out there, and there are different sized lamps that go in them.

Depending on your budget, you can choose very modern lights, or buy lights that were designed a long time ago. For some strange reason, though, the price points for these different types are less varied than they should be.

For example, I assume the most common ellipsoidal spotlight in the US market these days is the ETC Source Four. These lights can handle either a 575W or a 750W lamp. They also come in different focal lengths. You can buy interchangeable lens tubes that work with these lights that have beam angles of 5, 10, 14, 19, 26, 36, 50, and even 70 or 90 degrees. The lenses at the extreme ends of this scale cost a whole lot more than the others do.

These lights are very efficient. That means that they put out a whole lot of light, and a lot less heat than other, less modern designs.

Lights that have descriptions such as 6x9, 6x12, or 6x16 are older designs.  These lights come with 500W, or 750W, or even 1000W lamps. But for the most part, they don't put out anywhere near as much light as the Source 4s do. They are still pretty expensive though.

The choice you make in the kind of lights you purchase will also inform what sort of dimming capacity you will need. Small systems have a capacity of 600, 1200, 1800 or 2400 watts per dimmer. Again, depending on the type of lights you purchase and the space you are lighting with them, that all should inform what dimming capacity you will need.

If your space is small, and you don't expect to need to project light more than about 20-30 feet at maximum, there may be another option for you. I would suggest a simpler version of the Source 4 called the Source 4 Jr. It only takes a 575W lamp, the lights have fewer features to them, but you can buy a zoom version, that goes from 25 degrees up to 50 degrees.  For that capability, these lights are a whole lot less expensive than the regular Source 4. Not everyone likes these lights though. They don't blend as well for washes.

How much do all of these cost? That is the big question! An online supplier that I use most frequently is Production Advantage, in Vermont. Great prices, most of the time. There are many others though, and you need to consider more than one, to get the best prices for your needs. Anyone who you ask will have their favorites. I just looked up prices of some of this stuff on their website - A Source 4 36 degree is $279.00, a Source 4 Jr. Zoom (25-50 degree) is $236.00. The Selecon Pacific lights that Gaafa suggested are in the $500-600 range.

What else do you need? How do you plan to hang the lights? Will you be able to permanently mount a length of 1 1/2" black steel pipe in your space to hang the lights? How many lights do you anticipate eventually owning? These questions all will inform what exactly you need to do.

Gels, by the way, are a disposable commodity. They come in individual sheets that are 18" x 24" or so, and there are several major manufacturers, and hundreds of colors available. They cost on the order of about $5.75 per sheet in Denver, where I live.  Most of the time, you will want to budget for gel for each show you do. The stuff doesn't last forever, and your designers should pick colors that work with the set and costumes.

If you live near a major city, find the theatrical supply houses there, and contact them. They should be able to help you to understand what you need, and give you prices for for their suggestions.

Have you checked with the company that you have been "hiring out" from?

Thank you both for your help!  This is great information!  I'll try to address the questions that you posed to give you more info about our situation. 

We are using a local community center that we rent a stage to have built and bring in the lighting and remove it when the show is done.  It is not large and we seat about 200 people.  This is exactly a beginning in purchasing lights, we will eventually buy more and hope to move to our own building someday (aahh, dreams..).  We just want to start with a small purchase of about four lights to get us started.  The "company" we are currently renting from is actually a DJ and his lights that he uses for parties, so we are exceedingly limited in our lighting.  They are not good at all for theatrical work.  We will need to purchase a board too so we can control everything.  We will need to purchase a bar and chains to hang everything, but we can't make anything permanent.  I'm not sure how many we will eventually purchase for the final amount.  Any additional advice you can give will be very welcome!  Thanks again!

Lucille