Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025
Doughty - Banner - ABTT (27 May - 5 June)

Business

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USA - A trio of fundraising efforts on behalf of Behind the Scenes culminated in March with over $11,000 raised. From industry veterans to high school students, people are turning their passion for the industry into action and caring for their current and future colleagues.

Richard Wolpert's brainchild was Pedaling to Benefit Behind the Scenes, a 754 mile, 12 day bicycle trip from Springfield, MO to Houston, TX in time for the USITT Conference. Riding at an average speed of 12 mph and covering as much as 78 miles in a day. He was joined for the first 72 miles by Rob Schraft and for the last 274 miles by Jeni Lyn Anderson.

On 15 March 15, the Mount Vernon High School Chapter of USITT held its second annual Short Reach Short Riders Tricycle Ride for Behind the Scenes. A cold and wet morning greeted the 38 high school riders as they competed in relays, sprints, and

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UK - Following 28 successful years of manufacturing and designing installation sound equipment, founding owners Roy Millington and Andrew Colley have officially retired their positions as directors and shareholders of Cloud Electronics Ltd. The management and all shares of the company will pass to Cloud Electronics Holdings Ltd.

The new company is formed under the managing directorship of Simon Curtis and director Clare Powell. Cloud Electronics Ltd will continue to trade as before and all day-to-day operations will be maintained as usual and without change.

Millington and Colley will adopt the role of consultants for Cloud Electronics, supporting Curtis and the internal management team.

Roy Millington comments, "We are very pleased that our legacy will be continued by Simon and are totally confident in the future success of the company. The injection of Simon's youth,

Doughty - Banner - ABTT (27 May - 5 June)

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Italy - Marking the 40th Anniversary of its Broadway debut, Hair - The Musical is touring across Italy, playing in some of the country's most prestigious theatres such as Teatro Colosseo (Turin), Teatro Politeama (Genoa) and Officine Smeraldo (Milan).

Lighting director and designer is Marcello Jazzetti with video/projection direction by Cristina Redini. Rental company IMMAGINI of Soresina has supplied the video and lighting gear for the tour.

Twelve mid-stage positioned Martin LC Series LED panels are used as lateral screens for text, image and graphics projection. Jazzetti, who specified the LC panels because of their familiarity, finds the LC Series "exceptional and technologically advanced".

His initial thoughts were to use the LC Series for primary stage lighting but eventually decided to incorporate image and graphics projection as well. Marcello report

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UK - Three distinctive projects, delivered by Theatre design consultants Charcoalblue, have received 2008 Civic Trust Awards in recognition of their 'outstanding contribution' to the quality and appearance of the environment: The Roundhouse, The Young Vic in London and The North Wall Performing Arts Centre, St Edwards School, Oxford. In addition to the standard prizes, nine Special Awards were also presented with the Special Award for Access going to The Roundhouse, Camden.

The Civic Trust Awards aim to promote the positive impact that good building and urban development can have on society. It's currently one of the largest and most respected award schemes of its kind in Europe.

Jack Tilbury, project director for Charcoalblue and The Roundhouse project, said: "We're delighted that the Roundhouse has received the 2008 Civic Trust Special Award for Access. We worked very c

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USA - Atlas Sound and IED have joined the NSCA Education Foundation as host sponsors of the Systems Integration Industry Charity Golf Tournament. The Foundation's popular golf tournament will take place during InfoComm 08 on 17 June at Rhodes Ranch Golf Course in Las Vegas.

"I am happy to join forces with Infocomm and the NSCA Education Foundation to support the Industry Charity Golf Tournament, hosted by Atlas Sound and IED," said Loyd Ivey, CEO of Atlas Sound/IED. "We can tee up a striking event for two great causes, industry education and juvenile diabetes. Both of these causes are very dear to my heart. I look forward to everyone coming out and playing their best round of golf ever, for these two important needs."

"The NSCA Foundation is extremely excited to have Atlas Sound/IED as the host sponsor for this year's event," said Tom Frericks, pr

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Australia - For a recent run through a number of top Sydney venues, tribute act Abbalanche hooked up with Sydney club engineer Phill Webb, who provided his new Electro-Voice REV wireless system, complete with custom chrome-finished handheld transmitters. "ABBA sang into silver microphones back in the seventies," Webb says, "so, aside from the REV's sound quality, it made the show look even more authentic to have the girls singing into silver wireless transmitters."

The REV wireless systems were complemented by an EV RE-1 system with N/D967 handheld, as well as wired N/D967's on keyboard and bass vocals.

"I love working with these guys; they sound great, look great, and always draw a big crowd," adds Webb, "and adding EV equipment to the mix makes the whole presentation even better."

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Bluewater Shopping Centre boasts 27 million visitors a year and an expansive complex of three shopping environs, each with its own "village." The centre makes a big impact, so it seems natural that they would want an equally impressive setting for the busy holiday season.

Working with Scena Projects, Tomcat UK created some larger than life Christmas presents for display on various roundabouts at the award winning shopping destination in Kent. All four presents were finished just in time to set the scene during the 2007 holiday season.

When Scena Projects were asked to build four 'Christmas Presents 20ft high' they turned to designers at Harriman Steel and Tomcat UK for help to achieve this vision. For its part, Tomcat UK manufactured the framework which consisted of a Tomcat One aluminum trussing system with counter weights for each of the presents. To complete

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UK - A.C. Lighting's rigging division has announced its partnership with Out Board and can confirm it is now a full-line stocking dealer for their latest professional LV and DV chain-hoist controllers.

A.C. Lighting's rigging sales manager Adam Beaumont comments, "I am delighted to partner with Out Board and be able to work with such a leading brand, whose products fit together perfectly with our existing ranges. We looked at several options, but the products that distinguished themselves as the front runner and the only real contenders for us were those made by Out Board. We are looking forward to a long and successful relationship with them."

Out Board director Dave Haydon comments, "We have seen unprecedented growth in our motor controller sales since we re-launched with the new LV-Series and DV-Series just over a year ago, and we greatly value the substanti

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USA - There's a grandMA behind the scenes as NBC revives American Gladiators for a new generation of TV viewers. The grandMA is controlling almost 600 Vari*Lite VL2500 moving lights and some 1,500 LEDs for the strength and endurance competition. The show, which originally premiered in 1989, made its midseason debut in January 2008 with Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali hosting.

"For the new version of the show the producers wanted a spectacular, immense arena feel," notes lighting director William McLachlan. "Scenically the space is so large, it covers a huge footprint. So we needed a substantial rig just to cover the area let alone create a signature look."

In crafting the signature look, McLachlan and lighting designer Oscar Dominguez wanted to "use video as a way to move, breathe colour and bring intensity across the rig. We wanted to use the rig to e

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UK - Crowd management and event security company Showsec has launched its managerial Academy, a building block in its goal to offer a progressive, operational career path within the Industry.

The Showsec Academy formalises training and provides an accredited qualification for staff at managerial level, something that has never before been addressed by the industry, says the company. The year-long programme offers staff the chance to develop the knowledge, skills and experience required to become an effective operational manager within the crowd management industry.

The programme is divided into three key elements: operational management, leadership, and administration and support services. It includes vocational and industry qualifications, operational experience, as well as mentoring and self development elements. The vocational aspect will ensure associates encounter every t

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Spain - The Spanish version of Fame - The Musical - Fama - El Musical - recently visited Cádiz in the south west of Spain. The show has toured Spain for over a year and has already seen packed houses in Barcelona and Madrid.

Fame, originally a film directed by Alan Parker and released in 1980, was turned in to a long-running TV series, then a stage show, which has performed in theatres all over the world and in a multitude of languages.

DiGiCo plays a major role in the show's audio success for Barcelona-based rental company Tour Serveis, which provides all the sound equipment, maintenance and logistics for the Spanish tour.

The Cádiz production took place at the Great Falla Theatre, which was built in 1884 by Adolfo Morales de los Rios on the site of the original Great Theatre, a wooden building that was constructed in 1871 but destroyed by a fire in A

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UK - The Sound and Light Company, based in Huddersfield, has committed to the Fine Art UK range of moving head luminaires, having bought four each of the flagship Fine 700W washes and profiles for its current hire inventory.

The Sound and Light Company's production manager, Andrew Pickersgill, explained his decision: "I've not got anything like [the Fine Art luminaires] at the moment in terms of reliability. Normally by now moving heads would be in bits or have little faults with them after six months of constant hire use - but the Fine Art lights are superb, not a thing wrong with them - they're brilliant.

"The quality of the lights is fantastic and they're reliable - really reliable - and they're bright. They just tick all the right boxes basically."

The Fine Art luminaires have replaced The Sound and Light Company's out of date moving head hire stock and ha

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USA - City Theatrical, the Carlstadt, New Jersey-based manufacturer of lighting accessories, has opened its new London office serving the UK and European markets. The opening is timed to coincide with the European launch of SHoW DMX, City Theatrical's new 'next generation' wireless DMX system.

City Theatrical's London office is headed by Martin Chisnall, well known for his work in the UK theatre industry as a production electrician for West End shows, national and international tours. Most recently his work has included Macbeth in London's West End, and, around the world, the International Tour of Mamma Mia!.

Chisnall commented: "After 20 years working in the lighting industry as a customer I'm looking forward to the challenge of getting to know the business from 'the other side of the fence'. I've had a long association with City Theatrical, and have alread

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Germany - The Procon group has launched a new website (www.proconled.com) concentrating exclusively on LED technology.

On the Procon LED site, users will find "comprehensive information about a range of different LED products including reference images showing examples of their use". There is also a service area which includes information for download.

The highlight of the new website is the LED Studio. This area provides a virtual environment in which the effectiveness of a range of different LED technologies can be experimented with. Users can choose a selection of camera angles, backgrounds, camera resolution and display detail, then view each scenario as a still image or movie.

Managing director and founder of Procon, Morten Carlsson says: "Procon has consistently been engaged with LED technology for many years and has built both a substantial equipment po

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Ireland - Projected Image Digital (PID) has supplied and installed over 80 standard and custom Element Labs VersaTube LED fixtures in an architectural lighting feature at the new AIB (Allied Irish Bank) Bankcentre in Ballsbridge, Dublin.

The VersaTubes create four 22.25m high vertical lighting columns in the lift cores of the building's central atrium.

This 'live art' was conceived by London-based architectural lighting practice Pritchard Themis as part of their lighting concept for the new AIB building which was designed by RKD Architects and constructed by Sisk to accommodate 4000 non-branch AIB staff.

The equipment supplied included 84 standard definition 1m VersaTubes, four standard definition half- metre VersaTubes and four custom-built .75m standard definition tubes. The .75 tubes are the last (top-most) in each of the runs, and were necessary for an exact fit into the

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South Africa - Rental company Sound Stylists has enhanced its inventory with the purchase of a DiGiCo D5 console.

Founded in 1987 by owner Kevin Glover, Sound Stylists provides two main services: dry hire of equipment and production which includes rock concerts and other live events, broadcast, theatre, studio recordings, sport and corporate events. The D5, which has already been used on many local and international concerts.

"We were left short on digital desks in September and I had been toying with getting a D5," says Glover. "We wanted something that was able to offer more than 48 channels and that came as a complete package so we didn't have to run around making up input and multi racks. DiGiCo could provide all of that and more and was able to ship in the available time frame."

One of the first jobs the D5 was used for was a function for one of the

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UK - Reading- based lighting rental specialists Blinding Light is the first UK hire company to take delivery of the new Martin Professional SmartMAC luminaire.

"We bought these because we needed a small, fast, profile unit with a good stand-alone protocol that's robustly built and easy to maintain for the hire market," explains Blinding Light's Paddy Stacey.

The SmartMAC is designed for hotel, museum and exhibition work with its low power requirements and silent operation due to having no cooling fan. "The 150 Watt bulb is seriously bright and the gobo selection is extremely good for dance floor and mood lighting," continues Stacey, adding that the indexable gobo wheel is handy for applications like the projection of corporate logos and branding.

Blinding Light's first batch of SmartMACs are white, so they can be utilised for shows and events where aesthe

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Glastonbury organiser Michael Eavis says slow ticket sales in 2008 are due to terrible weather in previous years, not the choice of main headliner Jay-Z. It is the first time in recent memory that tickets have not sold out on the first day. 100,000 had sold by Sunday afternoon out of a total of 137,500. Michael Eavis said: "I think three years of mud may have taken their toll, but even so, 100,000 isn't bad." The Verve and Kings of Leon are also headlining the festival this summer, which takes place at Worthy Farm from 27-29 June.Tenor Luciano Pavarotti was miming during his last performance at the winter Olympics in Turin in 2006. Conductor Leone Magiera has revealed the singer's rendition of Nessun Dorma was pre-recorded, as a live performance would have been "too dangerous". Pavarotti, who died in September, was already suffering pain months before being dia

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UK - Reproduced Sound 24 - Immersive Audio, organised by the Electroacoustics group of the Institute of Acoustics in collaboration with ABTT, AES, APRS & ISCE, takes place 21-22 November 2008 at the Barceló Brighton Old Ship Hotel.

"Following on from the very successful conference held at The Sage, Gateshead in November of last year, the Reproduced Sound Conference returns to a hotel base this year, emphasizing the comfortable networking for which it is known. Brighton has all the ingredients for a successful conference and is easy to get to," says a spokesman.

"Reproduced Sound is a great opportunity for people with an interest in electro-acoustics and pro audio to come together, share ideas, push forward new concepts and technologies and meet with fellow industry professionals and talk about subjects close to our hearts. We propose to continue the trad

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The Azores - The Teatro Ribeiragrandense (Ribeira Grande town hall theatre) in the Azores island of São Miguel has recently been restored to its former glory with a little help from ETC. Portuguese dealer Luzeiro was the consultant on this project and specified a Congo jr with Master Playback Wing for the installation.

Maria Alexandra Pereira Bastos, commercial director at Luzeiro says: "We wanted a modern, uncomplicated and economical lighting system, and we immediately thought of ETC. We are so happy with the Congo jr desk, it has surpassed all expectations. Moreover, the support we have had from the ETC team has been exceptional."

The theatre opened in 1921 and for decades was the cultural centre of São Miguel, staging film screenings, musical acts, theatrical shows and operatic performances. The theatre even transformed into the Circo Equestre for the Po

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USA - Leona Lewis, who first sprung to fame while winning the 2006 edition of British television's biggest talent show, The X Factor, has just completed a whistle-stop visit to North America, singing on many prestigious TV shows, including The Oprah Winfrey Show and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. And she was accompanied all the way with a Sennheiser SKM 5200 radio microphone fitted with a Neumann KK105 capsule, and Sennheiser ew 300 G2 in ear monitors.

Dave Wooster has been Leona's front of house engineer since the very beginning of her career. He was there at every step of the American adventure. "From the outset of this project the brief has always been to use the best and to accept no compromise," he says. "So we had no option other than to use the Sennheiser 5200 with the Neumann KK105 head and the G2 in-ear system. We had been using a KM

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UK - A Catalyst V 4 digital media server is at the core of Paul Normandale's visual design for the 2008 James Blunt world tour. It replaces a previous digital media server and is being operated on tour by lighting director Glen Johnson, who is also running lights and overseeing all the design aspects of the show.

Normandale and Johnson have created a varied set of visual content which runs throughout the set, produced from a variety of sources including the Catalyst library, websites and selected and re-cut James Blunt videos, some of which have never been shown before.

"Using Catalyst allows daily onsite editing and scaling, and also the development of images for colour palette and the various media surfaces," says Normandale.

The tour was conceived for American arenas and has been scaled accordingly for the European section. The design had a regal theme using Blu

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UK - Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons sold 175 million records worldwide - all before they were 30. And now their story is being told in Jersey Boys at London's Prince Edward Theatre, with the help of lighting designer Howell Binkley and PRG Europe.

"This was a new production of the show which joins productions currently appearing on Broadway, in Chicago and Las Vegas, and is now off to Melbourne and on tour around the US," says Binkley. "For the London show, I was pleased to be working with Loz and Alan at PRG Europe once again.

"In addition to some 400 Source Fours, we used L&E and Altman MR11 strip lights under the show deck to illuminate the set pieces and Altman PAR 40 strips specifically to give a period feel to the 1950s scenes. We also used Philips ColorBlast and ColorBlaze LED luminaires for wash lighting, and over 75 ColorBlast 6 luminair

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Turkey - Selected as Europe's 'coolest' hotel by The Times newspaper in London, the Adam and Eve hotel in Belek in the southern Turkish province of Antalya, has just been bestowed with yet another award, that of World's Leading Design Hotel from WTA (World Travel Awards), considered the Oscars of the travel industry. It also boasts interior architect, Eren Talu's signature all-white composition and minimalist interior along with the world's largest pool and longest bar plus conference halls, restaurants, theatre, nightclub and poolside entertainment facilities.

Not surprisingly, the technical installations including the hotel-wide audio system, had to meet the exacting specifications demanded by such a prestigious venue. Crest Audio distributors, Telesine Sound & Lighting Systems A.S., who were involved with the project from the beginning, specified and installed a Crest

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Astera - June 2025
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