Salle Odyssée, the cultural performance theater at the Maison de la Culture complex in Gatineau, Québec, has installed a wide range of Ayrton and Robert Juliat lighting fixtures and a new grandMA3 console provided by Perfecson, also in Gatineau. Salle Odyssée is a busy venue which daily hosts a variety of shows, including music and standup comedy. The new equipment is part of a CAD$5 million project, acquired over the last five years, for a state-of-the-art upgrade of the theater.
An AV equipment rental facility, an integrator and a production services company, Perfecson worked closely with Salle Odyssée to provide the right equipment for the upgrade. Perfecson also continues to supply local labor to supplement the small team of in-house technicians during performances. “The theater was using conventional lights since is opening, so it was time to add moving lights to his inventory,” notes Marc-André Major, Perfecson’s Executive Director. “They did not have any Ayrton fixtures but had seen them used by visiting bands and performers. ACT’s Alex Monast quickly helped us get demo fixtures and test them against other brands, and Ayrton scored the best.”
Salle Odyssée chose 34 Ayrton Eurus S multi-function profiles, and 24 Argo 6 FX and 16 MagicBlade-FX luminaires. The Eurus serve as a workhorse fixture mounted in the ceiling grid, on the floor and at FOH. The Argo 6 FX and MagicBlade-FX are also positioned in the grid and on the floor where they deliver engaging eye candy as needed. Major says, “Salle Odyssée already had older Robert Juliat fixtures, so they knew the quality of the product line and which new lights they wanted to acquire.”
The theater added 32 Robert Juliat ZEP 2 LED profile spots placed at different angles FOH to front light artists. They also purchased 32 Sully modules for converting tungsten profiles and followspots to LED profiles. “The Sully retrofit allows their older Robert Juliat lights to become LED fixtures, a perfect solution for lights that were still in great shape years after installation,” Major notes.
Salle Odyssée already had a grandMA3 light and a grandMA3 compact for lighting control but “after adding so many new fixtures in the upgrade, they needed the capabilities of a bigger console so we installed a full-size grandMA3,” Major reports. The equipment has been operational for several months and is working well. The venue has a reputation for excellent maintenance and careful usage, so Major is sure the new gear will serve Salle Odyssée well into the future. In addition to filling the upgrade needs of Salle Odyssée, Perfecson also expanded its own inventory with the purchase of 25 Ayrton Rivale profiles. “Like all Ayrton fixtures, the Rivales are high end, powerful but really precise and very smooth moving,” says Major. “Most important is their IP65 rating that will be an advantage for festivals and other outdoor projects we do.”
Perfecson already stocks grandMA3 consoles with a compact XT and onPC set up available.
