The Green Room

By Amanda Stezenski

If you’ve ever visited a performing arts venue, chances are you’ve experienced the magic of Electronic Theatre Controls (ETC). This local lighting company designs and manufactures cutting-edge lighting systems found in theaters, museums, concert halls, and numerous other venues worldwide. ETC has proudly called Wisconsin home since its humble beginnings and has been part of the Wisconsin Union Theater since 1975. Since then, it has expanded its presence to include international centers spanning from the Netherlands to China.

Shannon Hall, Jeff Miller (2014)

In the 1970s, the Wisconsin Union Theater invested in and installed a new state-of-the-art lighting system costing $150,000 at the time, equivalent to nearly a million dollars today. UW – Madison Theatre student, Fred Foster, saw an opportunity to create a system for a fraction of the cost. Foster pulled in his physicist-brother, Bill, along with his lighting design professor, Gilbert Hemsley, and developed one of the first computerized lighting consoles, named the Mega Cue. The best part? Their solution cost just $5,000 (or about $30,000 today)!

James Bradley and Fred & Bill Foster with the Mega Cue, ETC (1976)

Fred Foster with one of the first Mega Cues, ETC (1977)

The Design

With the design finalized and materials acquired, the Fosters built the console and sought a venue for testing. 

Insert: the largest performing arts venue on campus to this day, the Wisconsin Union Theater’s Shannon Hall.

Once everything was connected, everyone held their breath in anticipation. If this worked, the world-wide standard of lighting design would be changed forever. As Foster pressed the button, they expected a dazzling display of lights never seen before - or perhaps nothing at all. Instead, with a *click*, the entire building plunged into darkness. 

The console had been so powerful that it drained all of the electricity in the surrounding area. For the Fosters, this was promising news. This indicated that the console was sending power to all of the lights in the theater. Fine-tuning the start-up settings would be the easy part. 

Before long, the system was up and running. The device was quickly embraced by Disney, the Metropolitan Opera House, Bill Gates, and venues worldwide.

Luke Delwiche from ETC explained that the system’s innovation lay in its revolutionary ability to network, enabling complex lighting cues with ease. The networking system, DMX, allowed up to 512 devices - such as the lighting console, rigging system and spotlights - to be controlled by a single cue. Gone were the days of manual adjustments by numerous operators; these days, a click or fader movement triggers thousands of operations. Classical recitals may have just a few programmed cues, whereas our upcoming Oct. 17 production of “Frankenstein” by Manual Cinema may have more than 200!

A second wave

In 2014, Memorial Union went under extensive renovation. Lucky for us, ETC was looking to test new equipment. The team generously donated a lighting system to the Play Circle Theater - complete with new LED technology - in an effort to give back to the community and innovate new technology in a real-life theater. 

As the art of lighting design evolves, ETC remains at the forefront, guided by the late Fred Foster’s vision: "We evolve to make the best tools for the artists to make the best art.” 

Plus, much of this evolution has been propelled by the UW–Madison community, with UW engineering co-ops, marketing internships, and theater students enrolled in the Fred Foster Scholarship Program.

To witness these magical lights in action, check out the Oct. 17 Manual Cinema performance, and YAMATO: The Drummers of Japan on Feb. 22. 

Original Shannon Hall switch board, UWDC (1938)