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Canto USA’s RETRO Series is Something New at The Old Globe Theatre

The Old Globe Theatre is one of the most renowned professional regional theatres in the United States and one of San Diego’s finest arts institutions. Originally built in 1935 it was modeled after Shakespeare’s Old Globe in London. The Old Globe has gone through several remodels and expansions over the years. In that time it has been home to nationally acclaimed artists, designers, directors, and playwrights. It was the recipient of the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre in 1984.

The Old Globe, along with most theatres, closed its doors temporarily early in the pandemic. This closure allowed them the opportunity to make needed upgrades to their mainstage venue halogen-based houselights and houselight control system. That hardware hadn’t been updated since a 1984 remodel, so they were long overdue for some much-needed attention. Considering the advances in LED the theatre thought it would be best to take advantage of the reliability and energy savings.

The Old Globe Theatre Canto USA RETRO-Passive Install Photo

The Old Globe Theatre, San Diego, CA – Photo credit, Ryan Osborn. Trouble In Mind, Delicia Turner Sonnenberg – director, Lawrence E Moten III – scenic design, Nicole Jescinth Smith – costume design, Sherrice Mojgani – lighting design, Luqman Brown – sound design, Chandra R.M. Anthenill – production stage manager.

Chris Rynne, Director of Theatrical Applications at OCS Lighting + Control, had previously worked at The Old Globe as lighting director so he was familiar with the layout and needs of the theatre. After presenting and testing out several houselight LED upgrade options, the Canto USA’s RETRO series was concluded to be the best fit. “Cost and function were the deciding factors. We loved the dimming, ease of installation, color quality, and even distribution,” said Chris.

Older fixture cans and wiring needed to be updated and adapted before the RETRO installation. Coinciding with several other upgrades the theatre was making, the installation of the 27 RETRO-Passive 300’s was finished up in about a week. Some of the older fixture cans and wiring had to be repaired, updated, and adapted before the RETRO installation.

The Old Globe Theatre Canto USA RETRO-Passive Install Photo

The Old Globe Theatre, San Diego, CA – Photo credit, Ryan Osborn.

Once completed both the production staff and audience were happy with the result. Everyone loved the color quality and dimming of the lighting. The retrofit to LED not only greatly reduced the houselight power consumption but the decreased heat output from the houselights reduced the work of the HVAC system. This translates to the Globe benefitting from substantial energy savings.  All of their houselight problems were solved.

“We were really happy with how the RETRO series performed.” Said Chris, “We hope to use it on the next project we’re working on.”

The Old Globe Theatre Canto USA RETRO-Passive Install Photo

The Old Globe Theatre, San Diego, CA – Photo credit, Ryan Osborn. Trouble In Mind, Delicia Turner Sonnenberg – director, Lawrence E Moten III – scenic design, Nicole Jescinth Smith – costume design, Sherrice Mojgani – lighting design, Luqman Brown – sound design, Chandra R.M. Anthenill – production stage manager.

The RETRO Series Line of Products

RETRO-Passive® – Absolute Silence

CantoUSA RETRO-Passive Series Product Photo

Being fanless, the RETRO-Passive is perfect for sound-sensitive spaces like museums and concert halls. They also have heavier heat sinks to compensate for not having active cooling.

RETRO-Fusion™ – Lighter & Smaller

CantoUSA RETRO-Fusion Series Product Photo

With the RETRO-Fusion being lighter and lower profile, along with a beveled top edge, it is able to squeeze into more shallow fixtures without having the lens protrude from the front of the trim ring. That reduces any type of glare. This new design opens up more opportunities and applications.

RETRO-Classic™ – Flexibility & Customization

CantoUSA RETRO-Classic Series Product Photo

The RETRO-Classic our original 0-100% phase dimmable (forward and reverse) variable wattage LED 2700K-6500K 80-97 CRI engine retrofit house light and most customizable RETRO in the entire RETRO family. They are heavier than the Fusion, yet lighter than Passive.

RETRO-PAR – PAR Lamp Replacement

CantoUSA RETRO-Par Series Product Photo

The RETRO-PAR is easy to replace/install, modular, and customizable. Customizable features include active or passive cooling, different wattage outputs, and different optical beam spreads. It comes in PAR 38, 46, 56, and 64 styles, as well as custom.

RETRO-HPL

CantoUSA RETRO-HPL Product Photo

The RETRO-HPL is a direct replacement for existing Source 4 PARs in the marketplace, especially those used for house lights.

About CantoUSA

Founded in 2013, Canto USA is a manufacturer of houselight retrofits and followspots. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to our mission: “Our customers come first. In order to do this, we continuously train our team on the latest trends and needs of the industry, while at the same time becoming a trendsetter in the development of new products and technology that no other company has available.” 

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Customizing RETROs to Your Needs

The RETRO series was designed and patented around the idea that it’s a singular, modular LED engine that we can make a wide variety of attachments to best fit the lights into your specific can sizes. We frequently do custom orders for all the unique needs of the different venues we provide lighting for.

The bases we offer are Edison (E26), mini candelabra (E11), and bare wire. We have short, medium, and tall E11 and E26 base options. We can also do custom extensions for all bases, and we offer E39 screwbase adapters as well as BA15D Socket adapters so that our units can fit into those fixtures. The slopes of the reflectors allow for different depths. PAR rings that we offer are PAR 38, 46, 56, 64. Color temperatures range from 2700K, 3000K, 3500K, 4000K, to 5000K.

If you let us know the dimensions you require and aren’t sure whether the RETRO will be a good fit, our custom department can build a sample for you to try. Rance Brewster, our Special Projects Coordinator, builds the demo fixture according to specifications, creates a serial number for it, and tests its light output for 24 hours. Rance uses several computer programs in his work in the custom department, including 3D Drafting, a 3D printing program, and a simulation-style program that allows him to make a 3D replica of clients’ spaces. The 3D simulations we run help to show our clients how much more light output they will be getting in their space. Additionally, the simulation allows us to remotely advise on optical layouts, selecting which reflectors need to go into which fixture. The fixtures’ foot-candle output and overall power consumption information is included in the documentation sent to the customers.

We at CantoUSA really enjoy the challenges of working on custom orders, and expanding our available options for you. If you have a special need or just want to give us a unique challenge, please feel free to reach out to our sales staff, and they will be more than happy to assist.

RETRO-Classic™

CantoUSA RETRO-Classic Series Product Photo

Want to learn more about the RETRO-Classic?

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RETRO-Passive®

CantoUSA RETRO-Passive Series Product Photo

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Brighten Your Day With Our RETRO Series!

We have written about several of our jobs featuring RETROs, and wanted to compile a few into one place for you to see multiple before and after comparisons. Our retrofits are a direct replacement of existing incandescent lamps in a wide range of applications. Specific socket adapters enable easy installation, and we have custom and standard mounting options available. RETROs are perfect for houses of worship, auditoriums, concert halls, convention centers, arenas, lobbies, and museums. We offer RETRO 150, 300, 500, 700, for example RETRO 150 is meant to replace a 150watt incandescent lamp. The switch to LED lighting drastically reduces power consumption and improves brightness. If you would like a project to be featured on our website, please let us know, and we’ll contact you. We would love to add your job to our gallery and help promote your business as well. To read the full stories of each job, please click on the names of the venues mentioned.

Located in Northern Virginia, McLean Bible Church is a great example of a house of worship that was retrofitted. Artistic Concepts Group handled the project, which required 208 RETRO-Classic 500™ units with 2700K COB’s and varying optics depending on throw distance and E11 stems of different lengths depending on how recessed the existing cans were. Artistic Concepts Group has also worked with several schools in Fairfax County (including Falls Church High School and Fairfax High School). Fairfax High School’s auditorium had E11 mini candelabras, while had Falls Church High School replaced 200 watt long neck A lamps, with 38 RETRO-Classic 500s without reflectors at 3000K with lamp extenders.

McLean Bible Church RETRO Series Install

CantoUSA RETRO Install Before After McLean Church Blog Photo

Falls Church High School RETRO Series Install

CantoUSA RETRO Install Before After Falls Church Blog Photo

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Fairfax High School RETRO Series Install

CantoUSA RETRO Install Before After Fairfax High School Blog Photo

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Clearwing Systems Integration, located in Colorado, Arizona, and Wisconsin, coordinated several schools’ RETRO installations within Mesa Public Schools (Dobson High School, Westwood High School, Red Mountain High School), as well as the Musical Instrument Museum. The Musical Instrument Museum used our RETRO-Passive® line, which is fanless. The RETRO-Classic is quiet, but the Passive is best when your environment’s sound is critically important. Dobson High School used a mixture of RETRO-Classic 300, 500, and 700, all at 3000K; Red Mountain High School went with RETRO-Classic 300 and 500 at 3000K; and Westwood High School used mainly RETRO-Classic 700 with a few RETRO 150s to supplement.

Dobson High School RETRO Series Install

CantoUSA RETRO After Install Dobson High School Blog Photo

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Westwood High School RETRO Series Install

CantoUSA RETRO Install Before After Westwood High School Blog Photo

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Red Mountain High School RETRO Series Install

CantoUSA RETRO After Install Red Mountain High School Blog Photo

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Musical Instrument Museum RETRO Series Install

CantoUSA RETRO After Install Musical Instrument Museum Blog Photo

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We hope having several examples of RETRO projects have you to see some different applications of our products! To learn more about our RETRO line, click here.

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