Just blocks from Taipei 101 (the tallest office building in the world), in Taiwan’s most cosmopolitan district, Xinyi, is the newly renovated Novel Hall for Performing Arts. This privately-owned mid-sized venue includes a 935-seat auditorium for productions like the annual Novel Hall dances series, Chinese opera, and a variety of touring shows. Novel Hall announced its reopening on September 23rd, 2012. The renovation of this multi-functional venue included upgraded stage lighting control by ETC (Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc.) in the form of an ETC Element® console, as well as ETC Sensor+™ dimming and power control.
This technological and aesthetic transformation will take Novel Hall’s production values to a new level. Stage Manager Fang Lu Yun says that they chose ETC lighting systems based on the company’s established international reputation and product quality: “With years of experience in this field, ETC is widely recognized for the excellent scalability and stability of its lighting systems.”
Because the lighting-control console vocabularies and input methods adopted by ETC are industry standard, “Novel Hall’s technicians will be able to learn and work faster on their new Element desk, with fewer challenges,” says Fang. “The Element’s multiple fader controls will also give theatre staff the flexibility to deal with impromptu programming situations in which there may not be adequate time to set up the stage.”
Novel Hall for Performing Arts will also employ a full ETC Net3™ Ethernet-networked system to integrate DMX signals from different equipment via a simple Four-Port ETC Gateway -- accommodating more multipurpose and multimedia uses of the lighting system.
For dimming and power control, Novel Hall will also now benefit from ETC’s Sensor+ dimming, the first such system enabled by ETC dual-module processors introduced in Taiwan.
“In addition to the Sensor’s distinguished performances in dimming curves,” says Fang, “we also expect the two-way communication between the console and the networked dimming will make the system more user-friendly.”
Novel Hall has had many lives -- originally under Japanese control in 1897, then under Taiwanese direction as “Taiwan’s New Stage” during the continued Japanese protectorate in the early 20th century, only later to be destroyed by Allied bombings in World War II. Eventually, Taiwanese and mainland Chinese trusts combined to build the new hall, dedicating it to the people of Taipei in 1997 in the pursuit of modern arts and the preservation of treasured stage traditions. The recent renovation continues that history.
Says Fang: “We hope that all people who use the venue -- not only audiences but technicians behind the scenes -- will enjoy their time in the new theatre. This adoption of ETC's lighting systems marks a further step to our goal of making Novel Hall for Performing Arts better for the future.”