UK - Martin Professional invites lighting professionals to PLASA Focus: Leeds 2013 to be the first in the UK to get an up-close look at the newest members of the award-winning MAC Viper Family, as well as the first fixtures in an all-new Martin product range - RUSH - light in the fast lane!

Join Martin 30 April 30th to 1 May at the Royal Armouries in Leeds where visitors can check out these latest technologies, network with industry professionals and enjoy a relaxing chat with Martin personnel at Booth N-E16.

A host of other new Martin products will also feature: MAC III series luminaires, VC series LED video and smoke and haze solutions.

(Jim Evans)

UK - A Chorus Line, the legendary Broadway musical, has returned triumphantly to London's West End, for the first time since the original production opened there in 1976.

The new production, playing at the London Palladium, is a faithful re-creation of the original Michael Bennett show, staged by members of the original creative team including director/choreographers Bob Avian (co-choreographer of the original production) and Baayork Lee (a member of the original cast, who has re-staged many productions of the show since), set designer Robin Wagner and the late costume designer Theoni V Aldredge.

The show also retains the legendary lighting design by pioneering lighting designer Tharon Musser, who passed away in 2009. For the 2006 Broadway revival and subsequent productions of A Chorus Line, her work was re-created and updated to current lighting technology by award-win

Italy - Visual design company Teslacoop has created the first life-size virtual 3D forest using wysiwyg R30.

The live simulation, originally conceived for a show by a prominent fashion label, was designed to be held within a circular theatre in Milan. The walls of the theatre, usually mirrored, were covered in a 50 by 6m screen, forming a 270-degree surface surrounding the audience and catwalk, onto which was projected a vast 3D video from five 20K Christie projectors driven by a CatalystPM media server and Compulite Vector Green console. The entire production was realised in wysiwyg, using the software's video manager to split the image into five portions, divided equally among the Christie projectors.

Luca Baraldo, president of Teslacoop explains, "If you normally use an image that is 1024 by 768 pixels, you can't project this onto a 50m by 6m screen, so my graphic desi

UK - Event support staff and services provider, Showforce has been officially recognised by London 2012 organisers for its work on the opening and closing ceremonies.

Showforce has been granted a licence under the Supplier Recognition Scheme (SRS), which was launched following a deal between the Government, British Olympic Association and the International Olympic Committee. The first of its kind in Olympic history, the SRS formally recognises eligible suppliers for their roles in the successes of London 2012 and Showforce has been given the designation "supplier of event and technical crew (Ceremonies) to the London 2012 Games".

Throughout the course of the ceremonies, Showforce provided in excess of 530 crew members for various elements of production including build-up, breakdown and rehearsals as well as during the actual ceremonies. Members of the team set the 'G

Australia - For the last 22 years Her Majesty's Theatre Ballarat has been working with an old mobile scissor lift to move stage sets and equipment from street level to stage level, a distance of 6.3m. Not only was it an arduous task to have to wheel it into position, it was becoming an OH&S concern.

"In order to load it you were reaching above waist level and we had no facility to attach it to trucks so it was very difficult to load from them," remarked Liz Mundell, technical operations manager. "There was always a gap between the lift and the back of the truck. Also if the winds got above 15 kilometres an hour we theoretically weren't supposed to use the lift - and in Ballarat that's a gentle breeze."

Other issues included the size of lift and the amount it could carry so council made funds available for a new lift and the project was put out to tender. Pr

featured content

ETC Halcyon Silent

High End Systems Halcyon Silent builds on ETC’s legacy of fanless automated fixtures by incorporating features from the highly sought-after Halcyon family. Halcyon Silent perfectly balances silent operation with brilliant output of 18,400 lumens and high-impact features. 

For more information visit us at www.etcconnect.com

UK - PRG's Scottie Sanderson and Mark O'Herlihy are supporting The Script with a comprehensive lighting, rigging and video package for their # 3 World Tour.

This is the second concert tour by the Irish alternative rock band, launched in support of their third studio album, # 3. Lighting designer Jamie Thompson has taken the album name and developed that symbolism within his design concept to create an innovative and striking experience.

The first thing that strikes you about Thompson's design are the three 'fingers' of truss, each clad with a strip of Nocturne V18 LED, 1m wide by 16m long, running from upstage to over the audience. Three complementary runs of V28 are set into the stage and look as though they are a continuous part of the Nocturne V18 main screen, and in turn the main screen appears to continue through the stage.

All the Nocturne LED has been mapped to

UK - Queen guitarist Brian May and Broadway star Kerry Ellis played a set in support of endangered tigers at London's iconic St Pancras station, with sound provided by HK Audio's new Linear 5 speaker system.

May and Ellis were playing in support of the Born Free Foundation, which works to prevent individual animal suffering, protect threatened species and keep wildlife in the wild.

Sound at the event came from an HK Audio Linear 5 Big Venue Pack, supplied by Hertfordshire-based entertainment and production firm Mr H Productions.

The Linear 5 Big Venue Pack contains four LSUB2000A active 2x12" subs, two L5115FA Mid/Hi active cabinets and four L5112XA multi functional active cabinets configured as stage monitors. The Front of House system delivers approximately 6.8kw, which was more than loud enough for May and Ellis' six song set.

The pair played classics like Born

featured content

Create new traditions – Cameo P6 - High Output Full-Spectrum Ellipsoidal

Cameo's P6 is a future-proof LED profiler with a powerful 600 W RGBACL engine and 16,000 lumens. It’s an energy-efficient replacement for 2.5 kW halogen profile lights in theatres and venues. With excellent light quality and natural colour rendering, it fits perfectly in theatres, musicals, TV studios, congresses, and live events.

With an LED life of 50,000 hours and low power use, the P6 cuts energy costs and supports the EU’s ‘Green Deal’ goals for climate neutrality by 2050. It also meets updated eco-design rules for lighting.

www.cameolight.com/p6profile

UK - Philips Entertainment Lighting has supplied Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club (CUADC) lighting designer Mitchell Clarke with a selection of Selecon PL3 Wash lights for the respected theatre company's ambitious production of Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida.

"I had recently used the Philips Selecon PLCyc fixtures on the Cambridge University European Theatre Group's (CUETG) production of The Merchant of Venice," explains Clarke "I really liked them. I was particularly impressed with the seamless and intense washes of colour they offered and which I used on the all-important cyclorama that transformed every venue on the tour. So successful was the show lighting that our theatre, the ADC, is now considering purchasing 12 PLCycs for its own stock."

Following his creatively liberating experience, Clarke says he was keen to get his hands

UK - The Conference and Live Events division of leading UK audio visual services provider Saville Audio Visual have recently taken delivery of eight new Roland V-800HD Multi-format Live Video Switchers. Featuring High Definition picture quality and eight multi format channels with independent scalers as well as a variety of output formats including a built-in multi-viewer, the V-800HD Live Video Switcher is ideal for live event and corporate productions as well as web streaming. The addition of the V-800HD to the Saville inventory fits perfectly with recent investment in HD projectors and cameras, providing support for full HD compatible sources and program output devices across the extensive Saville network.

The 8 input / 6 output units feature 10-bit Internal processing with built-in frame synchronisers and scalers on all inputs alongside full SDI support covering 3G, HD and S

Germany - Prolight+Sound will see Philips Entertainment lighting's recently-launched brand, Showline, exhibit five of its powerful, already in demand, new luminaires designed specifically for the entertainment and touring market.

The vibrant range of luminaires can be found in Hall 11, Stand D73 and includes Philips Showline's 4-foot SL BAR 640 and 6-foot SL BAR 660 linear wash luminaires. Both deliver exceptional light output and can be used as a wash or as a direct-view linear bar.

Joining them will be the SL BAR 520 - a two-foot RGBW linear wash luminaire that produces over 8000 lumens of output with six standard 8° lenses. In addition high-resolution pixel mapping control and a unique locking system allows for quick connecting of multiple units both vertically and horizontally while retaining perfectly even pixel pitch.

Also on stand the SL PAR 150 ZOOM - an LED Par

UAE - Meyer Sound has appointed Chris Mead as the company's Middle East technical support manager. Based at the Meyer Sound Middle East office in Dubai, Mead will be responsible for providing technical support to customers throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and Indian sub-continent.

"Meyer Sound's growth opportunities in the Middle East lie in our quality products as well as our ability to provide timely and knowledgeable technical support for customers in the territory," says Mauricio Saint Martin, director of Middle East sales. "Chris's in-depth engineering background and extensive experience with the regional integration market make him an ideal fit to represent Meyer Sound."

In his new post, Mead will assume the lead role in the region by supervising the design of Meyer Sound loudspeaker and digital audio systems, on-site project commissioning, a

UK - Fuerzabruta, the Argentine theatrical extravaganza was recently hosted at Camden's legendary arts venue, The Roundhouse. Directed by Diqui James and technical director Alejandro Garcia, Fuerzabruta, meaning "brute force" provided its visitors an immersive theatrical carnival experience.

This fast paced and interactive production required its audience not only to be nimble but standing as they transitioned from being spectators to becoming part of the show. The production presented the audience with iconic images such as a man running the wrong way on a treadmill to a women swimming for survival in a water pool directly above the audiences heads.

For this one month production, the Roundhouse Trust and the Fuerzabruta Company turned to technical events specialists Stage Electrics to supply and install a full event lighting and audio solution.

Stage Electr

South Africa - Durban-based rental company, Insane Sound and Lighting, have been in the limelight as they provide technical for some fantastic gigs over the last few months. They supplied technical for Skrillex as he played at the Wavehouse in Durban and also provided lighting for international DJs including Afrojack, Like Mike & Dimitri Vega, Steve Aioki and Gareth Emery. At the end of last year, Insane also worked on the famous New Years Eve Street Party with Pete Thong and local 5FM DJs Fresh, Euphonic and Gareth Cliff.

"We mainly relied on Clay Paky Sharpies and our new Robe MMXs when it came to beams and Robe LED 600 Washes for colour," said Vimal Rawjee of Insane. "All control was via an Avolites Tiger Touch and power via Avolites Power Cubes."

Rawjee has been impressed with the Robe MMXs. "It's an awesome fixture and especially with the air kit,

Serbia - Avolites' compact yet fully-featured moving light control system Titan Mobile has powered an inspired light show in Serbia to mark a year of celebrations marking 1700 years of the Edict of Milan.

Avolites' Serbian distributor Studio Berar Projekt, based in the city of Novi Sad, supplied the Titan Mobile for the opening ceremony, which featured a dynamic lighting design beamed onto the façade of the Serbia's National Theatre in the city of Nis.

Serbia will mark 17 centuries of the Edict - a document on tolerance and religious equality signed by Roman Emporer Constantine - over the course of the year with theatre performances, exhibits and concerts. The Opening Ceremony offered a reading of the Edict of Milan and a gala concert of spiritual music attended by Serbian President Tomislav Nikoli? and hosted by Russian Ambassador in Belgrade Alexander Chepurin.

"Avol

UK - Le Maitre is launching two new machines at this year's PLASA Focus: Leeds 2013.

Le Maitre's HazeMaster is their most advanced and powerful hazer yet. With its massive output capacity, high power variable fan and low power consumption, it really is a class act. Add to that the rugged construction and you have a true professional hazer engineered to withstand the rigours of the road when on tour.

Le Maitre have taken all their experience from HazeMaster's predecessors, the renowned Stadium Hazer and the MVS Hazer, and designed a completely new machine with a host of new features and benefits. Le Maitre's acquired knowledge and original investments have enabled them to produce a much more competitively priced unit, despite using higher quality, longer lasting parts.

The first thing that strikes you is the sleek modern design and robust steel casing, underneath which lies a

UK - The nominations for the Olivier Awards with MasterCard - the most prestigious event in the UK's theatrical calendar - have been announced, and The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time leads the list with eight nominations, followed by Top Hat receiving seven, and the West End transfer of Chichester Festival Theatre's revival of Sweeney Todd in close competition with six. Other stand-out nominations include The Audience and Kiss Me, Kate receiving five each, and Constellations, The Bodyguard and Twelfth Night with four.

In the design categories, the White Light Award for Best Lighting Design nominees are Paul Anderson for The Master And Margarita; Paule Constable for The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time; Lee Curran for Constellations and Mark Henderson for Sweeney Todd.

The B

Sweden - Chalmers University of Technology Students' Union in Gothenburg, Sweden has invested in 12 new Robe LEDBeam 100s to add to its existing stock of Robe moving light fixtures.

The university focuses on research and education in technology, natural science and architecture and has 12,000 students, all members of the Student Union (SU) which has a modern multi-purpose building on the main campus with several performance and event spaces.

The SU stages anything from huge dance parties with nine dancefloors four or five times a year to concerts, dance and comedy shows, exhibitions, trade fairs and conventions in a busy schedule keeping their lighting and sound equipment in use every week.

The equipment is also available for dry hire to various student groups organizing their own events, and so it's important that they have kit which is very flexible and robust.

The SU's

Germany - Visual Productions will be launching two new products at Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt this year, CueluxPro software lighting control and the B-Station, networked button interface. These two new products complement and enhance the current Visual Productions product line.

CueluxPro is an advanced and scalable software lighting control application. The software is designed to control medium to large lighting installations, for both architectural and live entertainment situations. CueluxPro works in combination with the CueCore and IoCore as its DMX and IO interfaces and with the new B-Station user-interface.

As with the popular Cuelux software, CueluxPro is cross-platform for Windows, Mac or UbuntunLinux, works with an industry-standard Cuelist system and is 100% touchscreen compatible.

CueluxPro is a scalable system. You can start by using a single CueCore and expan

UK - Crowd management specialist, AP Security has announced that it is to once again provide crowd safety services for the Forestry Commission's summer season of live music, working across all seven of its stunning woodland locations around the UK.

Launched in 2001, this highly successful series of events, which runs during the months of June and July, has grown from four sites to seven. AP was originally contracted in 2003, and in 2009 its remit was increased to cover all sites. Since then, the relationship between The Forestry Commission and the AP team has continued to blossom and AP is delighted to be able to continue this bond into 2013.

"Forest Live has gone from strength to strength and the Forestry Commission is now one of the UK's top music promoters," says AP's national sales manager, John Phillips. "The surroundings invariably make for a relaxed atmos

Italy - RCF is updating its entry-level range of commercial audio amplifiers by introducing two new multipurpose models. AM1125 (p/n 12135082) is a mixer-amplifier while UP1121 (p/n 12135083) is a power amplifier.

Flexibility and reliability are the main features of these devices, together with audio intelligibility and overall construction quality. The solid chassis are standard rack 19" and the 2-unit mounting accessories are "in-the-box".

AM1125 is a 120W RMS mixer amplifier with five inputs, four of them universal (mic-line sensitivity) and one switchable phantom power (required by electret microphones). The 5th input is to be used with line level sources (e.g. CD or MP3 players).

Connectors are XLR; an RCA is present for the 4th input when used as line level and the 5th input is for the AUX. An insert point is available on RCA plugs to interconnect extern

UK - Due to be a highlight of PLASA Focus: Leeds 2013, JoeCo's latest software update for the award-winning BlackBox brings several new features and enhancements to the multi-channel live audio recorder/player series.

With version 2.2.7x, both the BlackBox Recorder and the BlackBox Player now support the replay of polyphonic wav files, from multiple stereo files up to 24 or even 64 channel PolyWAV files. Mono, stereo and multichannel files can even be used together in the same song massively enhancing the system's flexibility.

JoeCo's iXML plug-in also enables PolyWAV files to be recorded - a feature aimed at TV and film location recordists to better serve the needs of post production facilities, or systems where audio material is ingested in single large files.

The ability to import polyphonic wav files from a DAW has also brought BlackBox Player capability to JoeCo's 64-ch

Latest Issue. . .