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Port Lighting Systems helps bring The Brook’s new Secret Garden outdoor stage to life with Elation

When The Brook Casino in Seabrook, New Hampshire, set out to expand its live entertainment offerings with a new outdoor venue, it turned to a familiar partner. Port Lighting Systems, which previously designed the lighting for The Brook’s Seasons Showroom indoor venue, led the lighting design and integration for the casino’s new Secret Garden, a seasonal outdoor performance space that opened this spring.

The Secret Garden hosts concerts, comedy and a wide range of special events from spring through early fall. The location’s adaptable Elation lighting system comprises Rebel Series profile and wash units, Proteus Radius beam fixtures, SOL Series strobe/blinders, and Six+ PARs. Led by Ron Kuszmar, VP of Architectural & Theatrical Lighting at Port Lighting, the design team developed a flexible house rig capable of supporting everything from touring music acts to community events.

“The Brook just keeps expanding and growing”, says Kuszmar, who notes that Port Lighting has done a lot of work with them in the past. “When they first came to us for this project, the vision called for a permanent structure, and together we landed on a seasonal venue as the smarter fit for the site and the opening timeline. We worked with them to rethink the approach, connected them with the right partners, and helped turn the concept into a venue that could be built in time for the season.”

Port Lighting’s role became much more than providing lighting - they partnered with the venue to help guide the entire project forward. They helped coordinate key project partners, including staging specialist United Staging, which supplied the tent and truss structure that supports the lighting system. The result is a seasonal venue that can be dismantled after the fall season and reinstalled the following year.

Port Lighting had roughly four weeks to design, source, install, program, and commission the entire lighting system. Kuszmar worked closely with Jon Schwille at Elation rep Peter E. Schmitt Co. and Ross Blitz at Elation to identify the best fixtures for the design based on what was available within the project’s timeline. “With such a short schedule, availability was key”, says Kuszmar. “Elation had the right fixtures ready to go, which let us keep the design ambitious without compromising the opening date.”

The installation includes twenty Rebel Wash 12 and eighteen Rebel Profile LED moving heads, providing the foundation for the stage lighting system. Twenty Proteus Radius beam fixtures add dramatic aerial effects and visual impact. Four SOL IV Blinders serve double duty as audience color-changing blinders during performances and as crowd lighting after events to help the audience out of the venue.

Twenty-four Six+ PAR L fixtures line the stage perimeter, providing side light and illumination for smaller productions that require simpler stage looks. They also double as work lights at the end of the night when the stage needs to be cleared. “It’s a multifunctional rig, and we wanted every fixture to serve multiple purposes”, says Kuszmar. “The goal was to create a rig that could support concerts one night, comedy the next, and other events after that without needing to reinvent the system each time.”

In addition to designing and installing the lighting system, Port Lighting developed a console layout for venue staff and continues to provide a master electrician and lighting designer/operator for most performances. “There were a lot of people internally in our team who had a hand in making this project happen”, Kuszmar concludes. “This project came out great thanks to the collaboration between our team, The Brook, United Staging, and Elation.”

Pictured: Drew Baldrige performing at Secret Garden. (Photos: Elation)

www.elationlighting.com

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