“By the Light of Our Charter, How Far Can We See?”

Introducing 500 guests to Penn Charter’s investment campaign gala, Head of School Darryl J. Ford used the above phrase, setting the tone for the evening’s theme in more ways than one. The inspirational words opened the stage at the school’s Dooney Field House for a series of captivating presentations and performances by both students and staff, along with a catered reception.

The school contacted us to help bring their vision to life, and we used their theme phrase “By the Light…” to guide the design for the experience that Penn Charter wanted to create. We set black velour draping to darken the walls and subliminally extend the boundaries of the space, and our LED uplighting laid the foundation for the lighting design, enveloping the edges of the space in Charter Blue.

To elevate the experience, we built a stage 24 feet wide with a depth of 12 feet, rising it 24″ off the ground to ensure a clear sightline from any perspective. Flanking the podium, we flew a 32 foot wide projection screen, and rigged our ultra-bright Barco 20,000 lumen projector over the crowd using our Harrington 1-ton motors and TOMCAT truss, eliminating the possibility of beam obstruction. A 4-fixture amber stage wash was also rigged overhead, brilliantly illuminating the stage and all those on it. Once the seats were filled to capacity, the evening was set to begin.

To add life to the environment, we included both the Clay Paky Mythos and Sharpie model fixtures into the design, achieving both an even wash of light, as well as crisp, tight beams when attention needed to be influenced and directed. The versatility of the hybrid Mythos fixture allowed us to incorporate spots and washes in the cues, creating a dramatic setting perfect for the event.

To the right of the audience, we playfully illuminated a sign featuring the school’s motto “Good Instruction is Better than Riches,” creating a photo opportunity and breaking up the moving lights with static whimsical bistro/market lighting. Rounding out the design were our flameless sparklers, which we situated on the ends of the stage to create climactic “oohs” and “ahhs” whenever a special moment called for extra excitement.

Guests were never asking “what did he say?” with our d&b audiotechnik V-Series boxes flown overhead, separately rigged from the lighting equipment directly above the stage on their own dedicated Harrington 1-ton motors. This incredibly powerful line array PA system delivers crisp, clean audio from any seat in the house.

Services Used:

• LED uplighting
• Flameless sparklers
• Intelligent lighting
• Market lighting
• Staging
• d&b audiotechnik line array PA system
• High-output projector and 32′ wide projection screen
• Stage wash
• Draping
• Power distribution