Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025
Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

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UK - The ABTT Theatre Show's organisers - The Association of British Theatre Technicians - have announced that its 29th edition has sold out five months before it takes place on 13 and 14 June in London's Royal Horticultural Halls.

Filling all three exhibition halls in London's Royal Horticultural Halls to capacity, the show will again play host to over 100 exhibiting companies who will showcase a comprehensive range of products and services for professionals involved with equipping, refurbishing or up-grading their drama studio, theatre, auditorium or multi-purpose performance space.

Committed to building on the show's success the organisers aim to expand the show's attendance which grew by 5% last year to over 2,400 visitors, and included theatre and venue managers, technical directors, technicians, technical managers, heads of drama departments, architects, consultants, des

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UK - When the plush new Bar Plazma in Wickford burnt down in October 2005 shortly after opening, it was hard to believe that it would re-emerge a little over a year later with an up-rated specification.

But the town centre venue, owned by experienced nightclub operator Douglas Quirk and managed by Alistair Burrell (who had safely evacuated all the staff and customers on that fateful October evening), has done precisely that.

Quirk, who made his name running the epochal Hollywood Romford in the 1980s, turned to fellow Essex contractors, Southend-based Essex Sound & Light and interior designer Colin Stone of Stone Me Design, to deliver a superior interior package. What they have produced is an upscale, all-day chameleon venue which trades from 11am until 11pm (midweek), 1am Thursday and 2am at weekends.

ESL were asked to carry out the technological integration in view of their

PLASA Show 2025 - Banner - June-Aug 2025

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UK - Blackout enjoyed its busiest Christmas ever in December 2006, including supplying drapes to four music awards ceremonies and a further series of three concerts within the space of four weeks.

Within the relentless run-up to the festive season, the Blackout team was called upon to provide black wool serge drapes to a series of prestigious events, all of which were televised.

The hectic period began in Copenhagen, where Blackout supplied drapes to the two venues hosting the MTV Europe Music Awards in November. Blackout then moved on to London to supply black wool serge drapes to the UK Music Hall of Fame event at Alexandra Palace. "We 'black-boxed' the Great Hall and Blackout did an amazing job," says Paul-Anthony Viollet, the event's production manager.

"Working with Blackout is always a pleasure," Viollet continues. "Their profess

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Germany / Denmark / Sweden - Sennheiser Nordic A/S, the Denmark-based subsidiary of German audio specialist Sennheiser, will extend its business to include Sweden, so all Scandinavian markets will now be served by Sennheiser Nordic directly.

From April 1, after a long and close relationship with Sennheiser AB in Stockholm, Sweden will join Denmark, Finland and Norway, giving customers direct access to top products, services and comprehensive consulting support for audio projects of all kinds.

Volker Bartels, Speaker of the Sennheiser Executive Committee, says: "Our experience has shown that setting up our own subsidiaries permits closer cooperation with the end customers. This transition will provide added value and make the best use of resources and infrastructure."

Paul Whiting, vice-president sales of the Sennheiser Group, says: "A local presence in Sweden

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UK - Proel (International) the UK distributor of a range of international Pro Audio and MI brands, "welcomes" the acquisition of UK loudspeaker veteran, Turbosound, by Proel spa, Italy, and confirms that it will be "business as usual - only more so" in the UK.

Proel International's MD, Paolo Burocchi says: "This is excellent news for all the parties involved and for the audio market as a whole, because it strengthens two major European brands. We offer our congratulations to both Proel, in Italy, and to Turbosound.

"Meanwhile, Proel (International) continues as the UK distributor for a wide range of products including those from Proel, but not for Turbosound, which will still handle its own brand in this country."

Burocchi continues: "For our part, we have recently expanded our management and technical teams - an announcement will be m

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UK - When The Automatic's FOH sound engineer James Lawrenson first started prepping his band's production for their headline role on the hugely influential NME Awards Indie Rock Tour he was unaware of the Digidesign Venue digital mixing environment.

But the Welshman was savvy enough to listen to the recommendation from his friend Richard Jackson, who recounted that he had used Digidesign's D-Show live console while mixing Welsh band Super Furry Animals.

From that point things moved quickly into gear, so that by the time the UK mainland tour commenced at the Glasgow Academy, the sound engineers from all four bands had become willing converts.

Two companies had provided the catalyst for this: Digidesign resellers Marquee Audio, and the tour's sound production company Stage Audio Services, who were more than happy to accommodate the desk - supplied with a mobile Pro Tool

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UK - Vision Fire & Security has announced that The O2 Arena has selected Millbank solutions to provide voice alarm and public address systems for the new music venue. The O2 is being re-developed by Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) to transform the Millennium Dome into "Europe's finest music venue". The 23,000 capacity in-door arena aims to host up to 150 music, entertainment and sports events in its first year.

The building will be renamed The O2 will also have a smaller Music Club venue with a capacity of 2,200, a multiplex cinema, an ice rink, a world-class exhibition space and a vibrant 'entertainment district' featuring a variety of bars, restaurants, retail and leisure facilities.

Building on Vision Fire & Security's global partnership with Tyco, the Millbank team began working together with ADT to realise the challenging brief from the early stages.

The pr

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USA - Philadelphia Park Casino and Racetrack in Bensalem, Pennsylvania is an established horse track - home of the prestigious Pennsylvania Derby - that houses a more recent casino addition. A somewhat drab exterior facade fuelled owners' desire to enhance the venue's Porte Cochere entrance and thereby draw attention to Philadelphia Park as a newly diversified, dynamic entertainment facility.

Lighting Design Alliance of Signal Hill, California was called upon to create the eye-catching look. Scott Hatton, Principal of Lighting Design Alliance, commented, "The façade is a white semi-transparent fabric that conceals a fairly uninteresting building that had no exterior lighting at all. As this was an existing building that was being converted from just a racetrack to both a racetrack and a casino it was critical to clean up the façade cheaply and quickly and to light it in a

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UAE - Stage One demonstrated the its Q-Motion motioncontrol system recently when it was called into action for the 18th Gulf Cup, heldin Dubai. Brought on board by Dubai based production company HQ Creative,the team were tasked with pulling a world class show together just 43 days afterreceiving the go-ahead from the organising committee.

Fortunately, the Gulf Cup followed hot on the heels of the Asian Games, whichhad just taken place in Qatar, meaning that a great deal of the expertise, technicalequipment and skilled personnel were already in the region and available oncethat project was concluded.

Jim Tinsley, technical director for Stage One, says: "The success of this ceremony isdown to sheer hard work. It was pulled off in an incredibly short time scale - onewe wouldn't want to make a habit of! It does demonstratehowever, that we can provide a service that goe

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Korea - Cadac Electronics plc, working in partnership with local distributor Dreamsound Co Ltd, reports a series of installations in Korea. Four international musicals are currently being staged, with J-Type Live Production Consoles at the core of each show's sound system. In addition, Dreamsound has supplied Cadac's Digital Series Stage Rack (DSSR) to two major theatre installations - for the Sejong Center's Grand Theatre in Seoul and for the Grand Performance Hall at the Pohang Theatre.

Musical theatre has seen a significant rise in popularity across the region, with a resultant demand for high quality audio systems, as evidenced by Cadac's regional success. Mamma Mia! recently opened in its third Korean city, SeongNam, following the high profile Korean-language production of Disney's The Lion King, which opened last October in the Charlotte Theatre at LotteWorld

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South Africa - Even 15 years after the death of lead singer and consummate showman Freddie Mercury, fans still rank Queen as the greatest rock band of all time. For proof positive of their legacy, witness the overwhelming success of We Will Rock You, a musical based on their song catalogue that has proved a worldwide sensation.

Written by noted British author Ben Elton in conjunction with band members Brian May and Roger Taylor, We Will Rock You has sold over four million tickets in London, Tokyo, Moscow, and many other cities around the world in four years. Six main cast members backed by a sizable ensemble, a live band, huge sets that change in seconds, synched video, dozens of sound effects, over 200 lighting changes, and a long equipment list make the technical scope of this show mind-boggling.

Tickets were snatched up for the recent Johannesburg, South Afric

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USA - Demonstrating the system's ability to meet the needs of diverse concert artists, JBL Professional Vertec line arrays were deployed by leading rental company Sound Image for the 20th Annual Bridge School Benefit concert at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA. The Crown-powered system consisted of 52 Vertec VT4889 full-size line array elements and 24 VT4880 full-size arrayable subwoofers.

The Bridge School Benefit is an annual event organised by Neil Young in support of his Bridge School non-profit organisation. The Bridge School supports the development of assistive technology for individuals suffering from severe speech and physical impairments to enable full participation in their communities. As is the case each year, the event featured performances by a wide variety of high-profile artists. Norah Jones, Dave Matthews, Pearl Jam and Emmylou Harris were just a

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UK / Hong Kong - The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC), one of the largest horse racing organisations in the world, has recently undergone an overhaul of the audio system in its plush executive suites. The extensive new system comprises seven Allen & Heath iDR-8 digital processing mixers, an iDR-switch, iDR-Out, and from the accompanying range of PL remote control units, six PL-10 rotary fader panels, four PL-9 connection hubs, and 40 PL-4 wall plates.

Horse racing is the most popular spectator sport in Hong Kong, and the Club is the only authorized operator of horse racing. The government-run organisation also offers betting on football matches held outside of Hong Kong. The HKJC also provides dining, social and recreation facilities to approximately 20,000 members.

Designed and installed by Eastern Acoustic Development (EAD), the new system has been installed to manage three exec

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UK - XL Video chose one of the highest profile live TV events of the year - the 2007 Brit Awards - to launch its new high definition PPU.

The newly commissioned PPU is based around a Grass Valley HD Kayak mixer and GV LDK 8000 HD cameras, three of which XL supplied for the Brits. 10 further HD feeds from broadcasters CTV were also fed into the XL system which was used for the live stage IMAG mix, cut by Chris Hilson.

This was beamed onto a striking heart shaped high resolution LED screen centre stage and another large landscape shaped screen on stage left, upstage of one of the two performance areas. Both screens were also supplied by XL, built from Lighthouse R16 modules.

XL's two project managers were Chris Saunders and Paul Wood. Saunders managed the control side of the show, while Wood did the same for the screen elements. Both worked closely with technical

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USA - Harman Pro North America (HPNA), the U.S. distributor for AKG, Soundcraft and Studer, announces that it will be hosting two afternoons of product training sessions next month, at NSCA Expo in Orlando.

According to HPNA vice president and general manager Kim Templeman-Holmes, "These classes are an exceptional way for NSCA attendees to gain a more in-depth and hands-on understanding of our product offerings than would otherwise be possible on the busy exhibit floor."

HPNA's training schedule is as follows:
Thursday, March 15
1:00 - 2:00 p.m AKG: New Products for NSCA
2:00 - 3:00 p.m AKG: Recording and Headphone Solutions
3:00 - 5:00 p.m Soundcraft/Studer: Hands-on Training for Digital Consoles
Friday, March 16
1:00 - 3:00 p.m Soundcraft/Studer: Hands-on Training for Digital Consoles
3:00 - 4:00 p.m AKG: Wireless Solutions
4:00 - 5:00 p.m A

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Switzerland - Based in Wohlen but operating throughout Europe, the media service provider Winkler Veranstaltungstechnik AG has just brought its kinetic equipment up to date by investing in equipment from Movecat (distributed by Think Abele). Winkler now has twenty VMK-S 500-24 hoists, a low-noise model with noiseless brakes, and twenty V-Motion 30 power packs for motors up to 3 kW. The VMK-S hoists have a capacity of 500 kg, raise and lower their loads at speeds of from 0 to 20 metres per minute, and as a closed loop system are capable of achieving a genuine hovering state as well as reversing the run direction without incursion of the brakes.

The two Expert-T controllers used here, which are also from Movecat, were developed for the systemic control of kinetic drives in complex projects where up to 240 fixed- or variable-speed drives may be in use simultaneously. The selected c

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South Africa - One grandMA light accompanied Ronan Keating during his tour in South Africa. When playing his New Year's Eve concert at the 15,000 capacity Coca Cola dome in Johannesburg, Lighting director Pryderi Baskerville relied on grandMA video and one grandMA full-size console.

"I'm very impressed by grandMA video," says Baskerville, "It's really unique on the market, because it allows you to control a media server like a fixture. The thumbnails make content selection a lot easier. Control via the Smart window is extremely intuitive. This made the process of finding appropriate clips in the myriad of content a breeze - rather than having to scroll through a list of libraries. I also had a really positive experience with the console, it was an enjoyable learning curve. I was able to tailor the console to the way I like to work; I can't wait to get behind one a

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UK - BSS Audio, a Harman International Company, has provided a versatile matrix control and routing solution for a sophisticated two-tier dining and corporate hospitality complex in London's Drury Lane. With the opening of the Bollywood-themed Sitaaray restaurant above last year's much-vaunted Tamarai, entrepreneur Rohit Khattar has completed his mission to combine a restaurant, 5.1 cinema, dance venue, art gallery and corporate entertainment under one roof.

To create the ultimate in flexibility was the challenge handed to the Sound Division Group (SDG), which were recommended to parent company Old World Hospitality, and arrived on site soon after Rohit Khattar had purchased the former Millennium Club, in June 2005.

SDG MD David Graham opted for a BSS Audio Soundweb London solution to link the world of continuous Bollywood films upstairs in Sitaaray, with the flexibility of Ta

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UK - Kinesys automation system was used for the fourth year running on this year's Brit Awards - to raise and lower a large video screen on stage left to allow access for between-band backline and set changeovers.

The high profile event was staged at Earls Court in London and broadcast live on ITV 1. The screen - measuring 12 metres wide by 7 high, made up from Lighthouse R16 LED panels, weighing approximately six tonnes and supplied by XL Video - was rigged on eight Kinesys-adapted 1 tonne CM Lodestar motors.

All rigging was undertaken by Outback, with the overall operation co-ordinated by head rigger Dave Morrell, working closely with production manager Mick Kluczynski and his team from MJK Productions. The Kinesys system - run by its proprietary Vector software - was operated by Mylan Lester.

Kinesys' Dave Weatherhead says: "It's a great show and good to be ba

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Czech Republic - The newly opened City Club in Roznov pod Radhostem, Czech Republic, is fully fitted out with a complete Robe Show Lighting moving light rig and is already creating a buzz in the area.

The 900 capacity venue is something totally new in Roznov. It's part of the main City Casino complex and features an industrial-chic interior design, stripped back, full of metal and brick surfaces and a dynamic music policy.

Coincidentally, Roznov is also the home town of Robe Show Lighting. Despite the close proximity of the factory, this is the very first installation of Robe lighting products in the locality.

The City Club's Independent owner, local entrepreneur Pavel Zet, wanted to create something completely different. The aim is to be hip, trendy and also to appeal to an 'over 25' audience, with the intention that the club and adjacent casino might feed each other with c

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New Zealand - "An enormous variety of shows, and that was just our first week," said Andrew Craig of Western Audio in Wellington. "We took delivery of our new d&b audiotechnik Q-Series system on a Friday and I did the first show that following Sunday. I wanted to be the first to mix with it." The d&b system delivered to Western Audio comprises Q1s, Q7s and Q-SUBs all driven by d&b's D12 amplifier with system remote capabilities. "It was easy to use, in fact I forgot the PA was there," said Craig.

Two days later, Craig was into an altogether more challenging environment: "The Opera House in Wellington is a fairly classic lyric theatre; the 2,000-strong audience is on three levels. If you look at the auditorium in profile, in terms of the audio image there's a focal point for the audience about 20ft upstage. I flew two Q1s high up to cover the go

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USA - Color Kinetics Inc is marking its 10th year in business with the debut of a new corporate identity. "Color Kinetics has been credited for sparking the beginning of a lighting industry transformation back in 1997, and in many ways our original corporate identity embodied the spirit of defying convention. Since that time, performance and application trends indicate that LED technology is integral to the future of lighting - not a passing fad - and our company's role and influence have grown in parallel," said Bill Sims, President and CEO, Color Kinetics. "We've proven ourselves a dominant player in an increasingly important category, and this in turn guided the creation of our bold new mark."

By refining its corporate identity to better match its leadership position, Color Kinetics aspires to broader recognition as one of the lighting industry's foremost

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UK - The Single purchase counterweight flying system at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, has been refurbished in the short space of only six days between two productions in the venues' very busy current season.

The project was comissioned to Hall Stage Limited, who also installed the original systems in the theatre when it was built in the 1960s.

The flying system has been upgraded to the highest professional standard, providing an increased number of flying bars - up to 42 x 14m ladder bars, with a far quieter, safer performance.

Jon Woodley, Abbeys stage production manager says: "A tremendous amount of work was achieved in a short space of time, all thanks to an excellent team of skilled people working very hard.

"I could not be more happy with the project and I am most grateful to all involved, and highly praise the level of expertise and professionalism displayed

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USA - It's been described as "the best new musical nobody has heard of", Striking 12, which made its sold-out New York premiere last year, was back in New York for a second season at Union Square's Daryl Roth Theatre. Directed by Tony Award winner Ted Sperling (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Light in the Piazza), Striking 12 is a witty and entertaining blend of musical theatre and live concert starring the three members of the pop-rock group GrooveLily.

Written by the group's Valerie Vigoda (violin) and Brendan Milburn (keyboards) in collaboration with playwright Rachel Sheinkin, the show's minimalist approach helps the clever lyrics and distinctive musical score truly stand out. Sound designer Robert J. Killenberger created an audio system that was exceptionally well suited to the intimate yet distinctive venue.

The system was based around two arr

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  2. Turbosound appoints eas for Germany
  3. Theatrelight announces hearing date
  4. Trius to distribute Audica
  5. Lightfactor supplies SGM to SKL
  6. Control automation giants join the PALME line up
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