NCTC's Gainesville theater gets upgraded stage lighting

North Central Texas College's performing arts center in Gainesville received a lighting renovation, according to an announcement from lighting supplier Vari-Lite. The supplier says the work upgraded a system it describes as 20 years old. It also says the new setup supports plays, concerts, lectures and student showcases on the campus.

The college calls the venue the First State Bank Center for the Performing Arts. NCTC's description of the facility says the dome-shaped building holds a 360-seat theater with a 42-foot proscenium opening.

Vari-Lite's announcement lists the new gear: a Neo X5 lighting console, RigSwitch+ equipment and fixtures from the VL600 and VL800 series. The announcement appears in a public LinkedIn repost by Stefan Wieland, whom that LinkedIn record identifies with Signify.

The Vari-Lite announcement identifies Calvin Russell as NCTC's visual and performing arts facilities coordinator. In that announcement, Russell says the new lights have let the college try production techniques it had not used before. He also says the system has widened the creative options for its productions and concerts.

The building is about two decades old. Monolithic's project account dates its grand-opening dedication to April 8, 2005. In that account, NCTC administrative-services dean Steve Broyles put the total cost of the original building at about $6 million, counting architectural services and furnishings. That figure covers the original construction, not the new lighting. NCTC says its Board of Regents named the center for First State Bank to recognize the bank's gift toward the original facility.

The college also teaches the trade behind the stage. NCTC's fall 2023 syllabus for Stagecraft I describes a three-credit course that gives students practical work with theatrical lighting, sound equipment, scenery construction and stage rigging.

Two universities in Denton have taken on similar work. The University of North Texas reports that it put LED lighting in two classrooms it uses for teaching and student productions. Its dance and theatre department says the gear opens lighting-design work beyond the plays and dance concerts on its yearly calendar. Texas Woman's University lists new lighting, motorized rigging and sound systems among its renovations to the Margo Jones Performance Hall, which was first built in the 1920s.

Vari-Lite has published results from another college. Its case study on Mesa Community College in Arizona reports that the school's performing arts center cut its power use by half after a full Vari-Lite upgrade. Mesa first used that system for a production in November 2022. The case study covers Mesa and gives no figure for NCTC.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted fewer than 10,000 lighting technicians nationwide in 2025. The agency projects that number will drop about 5 percent by 2035.