Onstage Systems Creates Christmas Light Show at Choctaw Resort

	Onstage Systems designed and produced a synchronized Christmas light show for the Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant, Oklahoma, which runs nightly to January 6, 2013. Photo: Vickie Belcher

Dallas, Texas-based Onstage Systems designed and produced a synchronized Christmas light show for the Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant, Oklahoma.

The outdoor system was designed for the resort's Oasis area, which includes a winding walking path with more than 140 trees, an amphitheater, three outdoor pools, and several gardens -- now under a holiday glow.

Onstage Systems president Hyacinth Belcher said, "We were asked to design a Christmas event which would help draw people to the resort independent from the normal casino attraction. The Oasis was the perfect location for a lights-to-music walking path and the concept was born. We designed a three-color system to cover virtually every element in the Oasis. The land has several layers of different heights which allow the guests to view the show from many vantage points."

The holiday spectacle features the property's 147 trees decorated with 120,000 red, white, and green LEDs. The tree trunks are wrapped with 5mm style light strands and the tree canopies are covered with C6 LED light strands. In addition to the traditional Christmas lights, 48 Chauvet Colorado 1 LED theatrical wash lights were installed to illuminate the surrounding buildings, swimming pools, and landscaped gardens. The lights were synchronized to a mix of Christmas songs; traditional, classic rock, and techno-style for a 15-minute show.

The shows started November 19 and run nightly on the hour and half-hour from 5:30-10:00 pm through January 6, 2013.

This is the first time Onstage Systems has worked with the casino, just one hour north of Dallas. The event was designed and installed in one month. The Onstage Systems team includes Hyacinth Belcher, Chris Belcher, John Stephens, Willard Kendall, Shane Zielger, Logan Stofer and Anthony Griffin.

Charles Belcher was the designer/programmer for this event. He used the Light-O-Rama ShowTime Software Suite S3, a sequencing software designed for sychronizing lighting, video, animatronics, and RGB devices to music.

The system software allows Onstage Systems to program sequences of exact choreographed cues for each selected song. A set of songs are then grouped into a show and the software allows the shows to then be scheduled daily to start and stop at any time. Schedules can be monitored and changed via the Internet with remote software applications if needed. The system was designed for hands-free show control with little maintenance required after the installation.

Onstage Systems, a full service concert and special events production company, is one of 12 Light-O-Rama "partners" in the US who help the manufacturer with design and sales. It is also one of the few partners who work with entertainment markets such as casinos, amusement parks, city parks, and community destination areas.

When asked about the light show, Hyacinth Belcher replied, "The Oasis area is a beautiful place to visit any time of year, but is mostly frequented in summer. With our synchronized Christmas light show, we have accomplished what casino management asked us to do - we are drawing attention to this lush garden of trees and landscaping and have made it a winter attraction on its own."