2000 WATT FOCAL STAGE SCENIC PROJECTOR. Two such units were built at the Hunting-
ton studio during the winter 1924 - 25. They were equipped for both front and rear
illumination of an 8" rotating focal stage - a triple rear group of one 1000 watt
and two 500 watt lamps, and a 1000 watt on either side of the 8" objective lens.
They were first used in the Neighborhood Theatre production, Sooner and Later, in
March and April 1925, played by George Vail. In 1928 one unit was converted to an
automatic 2000 watt plus-rear-condenser system with 6" objective and rotating
color record for use with a small push-button keyboard which also served a 2000
watt luminar projector. In 1933 both projectors were incorporated in the large
installation at 480 Lexington Avenue, the converted one for a forest setting and
the other for City Windows.

FENN GERMER,
PUPIL 1924-25

SINGLE DIMMER.

PORTABLE CLAVILUX KEYBOARD CONTROLLING 20 1000 WATT CIRCUITS FOR LAMPS AND 8 TEMPO CONTROLS FOR MOTORS. ALUMINUM 30X36X12"
Built Jan - May, 1927 at 20 West 22 St, New York City. (Lindys Johnson)

The aluminum housing is identical with the projection units in Model E. Ten 1000 w dimmers, each with two selective outlets, are controlled by 10 sliding keys on 1" centers and with a 14" course. Coupling levers permit the grouping of any number of dimmers to a master shaft operated by the crank shown at the left of the housing. This also permits very slow changes in intensity. The eight tempo controls below the coupling levers have rotating keys. This is the first example of a concentrated portable lighting console capable of handling an entire theatrical production using projected scenery and it appeared at a time when only large backstage switchboards were used in the theatres. The keyboard was located in the orchestra pit, giving the player a view of the entire stage.

The keyboard was first used in the Goodman Theatre at the Art Institute of Chicago in a production of Ibsen's The Vikings at Helgeland for which the visual accompaniment was composed and played by Thomas Wilfred. The production received an exceptionally fine press and broke the theatre's record for attendance and length-of-run. (March 20th to April 21st, 1928.) The keyboard was then used in 3 subsequent Viking productions - University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, July 23-25, 1928, and on a tour of one-night stands of the production in Michigan and Illinois, March 14-April 3, 1929, and finally in a more elaborate production of the same play at the New Yorker Theatre May 12-17, 1930. It was again used in the Wilfred-Peters recital, Carnegie Hall, New York City March 8th, 1933. It was then incorporated in the large permanent keyboard at the Art Institute of Light, 480 Lexington Ave, N.Y. C., and finally sold to be incorporated in the University of Washington's Repertory Theatre, Seattle, Wash. (May '51)