As Head of Lighting and Video at Hale Centre Theatre in Sandy, Utah, Jaron Kent Hermansen has played a key role in defining the visual design of the venue’s performance and educational spaces.
The designer was instrumental in the recent selection and integration of Paragon luminaires in the Centre Stage and KL Core IP, KL Par FC and Fuze Wash 500 fixtures from Elation Professional in the newly opened Mountain American Arts & Education Beehive, an expansion that also marks a major growth of its education programme.
Associated with Hale Centre since 2019, Hermansen conducted extensive research before deciding to equip the venue’s stages with Elation products. Working with Elation and Barbizon Lighting Company, he selected the fixtures after numerous tests and consultations. Key support came from Peter Maurelli and Michael DeGrazio of Barbizon, as well as William Irwin from Elation, who assisted with the final tuning and integration of the system.
Paragon takes centre stage
Hermansen explains that Elation was not initially his first choice when exploring lighting solutions, but that changed after an Elation sales representative introduced him to the Paragon fixture.
In short, they brought in a Paragon and it had everything I was looking for in a fixture. I realised it solved many of the issues I had in the Centre Stage space, and it felt like a fixture capable of creating truly incredible art.
These issues were related to producers prioritising brightness over the designer’s desire for colour saturation, texture and the ability to create atmosphere.
“The variable CRI engine in the Paragon solved that problem”, explains Hermansen, referring to the fixture’s TruTone variable CRI system, capable of adjusting between CRI 73 and CRI 93. “I can now move from high-impact looks with lots of power to nuanced tones with greater fidelity, from one cue to another, using a single fixture. In fact, in The Hunchback, the Paragons have worked really well because of the way they handle skin tones versus the magentas I’m using”.
The designer also highlights the speed of the Paragon. “It’s a very fast fixture and, because we work a lot with movement and dynamic tracking, we compared its speed to our current profile moving lights, and the Paragon delivered superior performance”.
The Paragons were also used in the production of Frozen presented this year at the Centre Stage.
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Paragon M + S
The Centre Stage features 12 Paragon M and 12 Paragon S fixtures for the in-the-round performance space. The Paragon S fixtures, positioned at VOM header level, are used for aerial textures and colour, while also serving as the main side-light workhorses. The Paragon M fixtures operate from overhead positions in the centre ring.
Those are my workhorse fixtures. I use them in almost every number and rely on them to provide incredible isolation. There are divine moments in Hunchback where they represent the light of God, and they are essential in achieving the quality of light we’re looking for, says Hermansen.
Hellfire
In The Hunchback of Notre Dame, whose final performance at Centre Stage took place on April 25, the Paragons were essential in creating dramatic scenes of chaos and destruction, including moments where it seemed as though the entire world was on fire.
During the production’s Hellfire sequence, Hermansen and his team used the Paragons to build a controlled perimeter of fire and light, combining flames with atmospheric lighting to create a hypnotic and almost physical sense of heat and tension.
“The goal was not to make it look like a lighting trick or stage effect, because that would have weakened the impact. Instead, everything was designed to feel real, like an environment the audience couldn’t look away from. The fire worked alongside the glow of the Paragon units, so even when the flames were not active, the space still felt hot and alive. Lighting from above into a fog-filled pit created an ominous void. At that point, it stopped reading as an effect and started to feel like hell itself”. Additionally, at the end of the play, when Quasimodo pours molten iron onto the crowd, the Paragons are used to create a glowing effect on a curtain of fog.
The Paragons are used to light the stage in combination with projections, carefully balancing both elements to achieve a seamless result. In fact, Hermansen recalls walking into the space after several hours of work and being unable to distinguish the difference between the projection and the effect created by the Paragons.
KL Core takes the spotlight on the Beehive Stage
The newly built Beehive Stage, a proscenium theatre with a capacity of more than 300 people and extensive LED architecture, opened in January with a youth production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Designed to house Hale Centre’s educational programme, the Beehive Stage hosts both mainstage and youth productions, allowing emerging theatre technicians to manage youth shows and gain hands-on experience with audiovisual equipment.
The venue includes an LED scenic environment featuring an LED proscenium arch, dual LED side legs and an LED screen measuring approximately 15.2 metres by 7.9 metres. Here, the designer used 52 KL Core IP fixtures equipped with third-party shutter barrels.
One of the reasons I chose the KL Core for this space was that we needed fixtures with excellent colour reproduction that could integrate well alongside the LED screens. We tested them against similar models and the performance was outstanding. They delivered the power needed to work at the same level as the LED screens while also representing a more cost-effective option.
The entire concept behind the abundance of LED screens on the Beehive Stage is to integrate scenery and video seamlessly, or intentionally, between both elements. “The LED screens are extremely powerful and bright, but the KL Core fixtures hold their own perfectly, especially when I use them as side light”, says Hermansen. “They also reproduce colour very well, so I rely on them for much of the main lighting”.
Used in front, side and top texture positions, the KL Core system provides saturated colours for productions such as Hallmarked, the theatre’s original musical currently running. With a rich and vibrant aesthetic “like a Hallmark card”, Hermansen uses the intense tones offered by the fixtures’ RGBMA colour system to bring the production to life, while the high CRI ensures precise and natural colour reproduction. Against the LED screens, the colour capabilities of the KL Core fixtures are essential in coherently integrating costumes and scenic elements.
Colour consistency
To ensure uniformity between fixtures, Hermansen also used 24 KL Par FC units for the Beehive Stage, taking advantage of the same RGBMA colour engine as the KL Core fixtures to maintain consistent tones and light quality. In addition, four Fuze Wash 500 moving heads, also featuring RGBMA mixing and suggested by associate designer Collin Schmierer, provide soft and painterly fill light.
Supporting the design process, Hermansen praises associate designer/programmer Collin Schmierer, whom he describes as a key part of the productions and their execution in every space. “His sense of colour is incredible and he helped balance the different fixture types in the Beehive to achieve the greatest possible accuracy, while also enriching the visual world of Hunchback”, he concludes.
Hallmarked will run at the Beehive Stage until June 6, while the next production, Our Town, opens on July 6.
Photo credits: Leavitt Wells, Nile Hawve, Nate Bertone
