Ramat Gan Theatre Lights Up with Robe

Beit Zvi School for the Performing Arts is an acting school with an associated Theatre located in Ramat Gan city, Tel-Aviv, Israel. All the School’s production shows are staged in the 350-capacity venue, together with other performances organised by the Ramat Gan municipality, all now benefitting from a full lighting upgrade that included the addition of Robe moving and static LED luminaires.

In 2021, sales and installation company Danor Theatre & Studio Systems won the tender to upgrade the lighting system, a contract that saw the supply of new fixtures, dimmers, and a lighting console, complete with 20 x Robe ParFect 150 RGBWs, 6 x VIVA CMYs and two T1 Profiles.

In the same installation, the over-stage pipes were also renewed with a mixture of manual and electronic winched bars, and the process also finally saw the replacement of two heritage Robe Club Spots which “had been there for at least 14 years and were STILL working,” comments Danor’s Erez Hadar with raised eyebrows.

They were among the newer fixtures, some of the old PCs, fresnels and other conventionals that were replaced were pushing around 30 years of service!

In this case, Danor won the tender to supply new lighting with their proposal of Robe technology coupled with the outstanding technical and after sales support which is well known – and much envied – across the country!

The T1 Profiles are located on the Theatre’s front bridge and are used for key lighting – which is where they excel – and also for specials and any lighting effects needing tight and accurate shuttering. High CRI and the framing system were the main considerations for these lighting positions, and the T1 Profile is a “brilliant” solution, says the Theatre’s technical manager Ran Zilberman.

The other Robe lights, moving and static, also had to be LED and great “all-rounders” with plenty of features, good colour mixing, as well as fast and reliable to deal with the venue’s lively show schedule which can be up to 50 shows a month at peak times!

Ran commented on the “enormous difference” that the new lights have made to the quality and production values of the shows they can now produce.

 While it’s not a massive number of lights, being multifunctional and well chosen, they offer an “impressive” amount of options he confirms.

The shape of the stage and auditorium can be challenging for lighting – the front of the stage also drops down to accommodate more people if necessary, “so the adaptability we now have is making a real difference,” stated Ran.

The School is located just behind the Theatre, and its technical Manager Alex Kachkovskiy echoes Ran’s comments, adding that it’s also “great” for the students to have access to new technology to light their shows very imaginatively and dramatically.

He also commented that it was assuring to have the 7-star service and support from Danor.

Freelance lighting programmer and operator Alex Kochman is another technical crew member delighted with the new fixtures. “Robe is a very respected brand with a great reputation, so it’s great to be able to use it regularly,” he stated.

Photo: Louise Stickland.