Pani is introducing the BP 2.5 ECO - a new development on the PANI ‘T’ (Turbo) generation platform. Economy and effectiveness were the prime aims for the company in the achievement of unprecedented value-for-money in a projector in this category. The BP 2.5 ECO is specially designed for short and medium distances. As a high-quality member of the PANI projection system, it is fully compatible with the complete accessory range including all objectives as well as the new Compact Scroller CS 70.

Another inovation from Pani, the Economic Slide System (ESS), gives users the opportunity to produce their own slides. They only need a PC or Mac. The ESS is a one-stop solution consisting of a state-of-the-art inkjet photoprinter, printer software with template for the output medium, 50 PANI special foils and 15 aluminium slide frames.

Pani can be found on stand R30.

Bookings are now being taken for this year's Theatrical London tour (12-14 September), which follows on directly from the PLASA Show. The event will feature visits to the world-renowned Royal Albert Hall for a night at the Proms; the Apollo Theatre to see the upgraded Starlight Express; Tussaud's Group Studios for an exclusive technical tour, and the Donmar Warehouse for a 'Divas at the Donmar' performance. The cost is just £250 per person for the whole programme! For full details and booking information, visit the website below.

At PLASA 2001, Clay Paky is presenting a series of new product lines, as well as expanding existing ones. This wide range includes the ‘Silent Version’ (SV) models, designed to guarantee maximum operating silence and the ‘Golden’ models, which ensure high performances at a low expense.

With Stage Profile 1200 SV, Stage Color 1200 SV and Stage Zoom 1200 SV, Clay Paky have developed three projectors that are over 50% quieter than normal. This is due to an innovative cooling system designed by Clay Paky’s R&D department. The Stage Profile 1200 SV combines the quality of a professional beam shaper with the versatility of a moving body projector. This innovative and creative tool - ideal for use in theatre, television and concert applications - allows beam-shaping evenly in quadrilaterals and triangles of any shape or size. The effect utilizes four beam-shaping

Visual Act is a system of remote-controlled wagons for creating movement on and off the stage. Movements are limited only by the imagination, giving both artists and technicians total freedom in design. Visual Act combines the elements of computer control, battery-operated servos, high-speed radio communication and laser-based navigation to obtain a high level of flexibility and dependability. All components are modular and easily installed in the wagon framework. They can therefore be reused in wagons of almost any shape and size.

See Visual Act at PLASA at stand R62.

Federal Signal, a leading supplier of public address and voice alarm (PA/VA) systems, will be hosting a special seminar at PLASA 2001 to highlight the significance of British Standards for PA/VA systems. The initiative is aimed at consultants, specifiers and installers from across the PA/VA and fire protection industry who need to know more about the issue of operating standards and why it is important to use systems with BS5839 compliance. The guest speaker will be industry consultant Doug Edworthy, formerly of Millbank Electronics and a leading expert in systems engineering, marketing and quality management. He has been running his own consultancy since 1994. Jason Hatswell, commercial sales manager at Federal Signal, said: "The event focuses on why British Standards are important to those responsible for product specification, design and installation, and illustrates how our equi

This year Turbosound will be hosting an air-conditioned demonstration room on the Top Deck of PLASA. At various intervals throughout the day, there will be demonstrations of products from the Floodlight and QLight series. There will also be a multimedia demonstration in Dolby 6.1 surround sound using the TCS-35s and TCS-108s. On the main stand, a range of new products including the TQ-115, the TCS-108P and the TFM-450 will be on display, amongst other products from their QLight, Floodlight and TCS series.

The TFM-450 is a floor monitor and is based around a custom designed neodymium 15" low frequency driver which uses a 4" voice coil for maximum efficiency, and a 2" exit neodymium high frequency driver on a 60° x 40° horn. The TQ-115 is a low frequency enclosure comprising a custom designed 15" x 3" voice coil loudspeaker. It is intended for use as a low freq

Martin Audio - a world leader in the manufacture of professional loudspeaker systems - will this year display examples of all their product ranges, including Wavefront, EM, Cinema, Architectural, Blackline and accompanying dedicated control electronics. The company will also be launching additional Blackline cabinets - the F8, F10 and S12 - as well as a new line of lower cost professional power amplifiers, the MA900, MA1400 and MA4200.

The F8 and F10 Blackline cabinets are multi-angled enclosures featuring a 1" (25mm) compression driver on a 90° x 50° user rotatable horn with a long-excursion 8" (200mm) low frequency driver and a powerful 10" (250mm) low frequency driver respectively. The S12 is an extremely powerful and compact sub-bass cabinet which when used in conjunction with either the F8 or F10 will extend the response of the complete system to below 50Hz. The M

Blackout Triple E Ltd has just completed what it believes to be the biggest draping job ever under taken in Europe. The brief was to construct 11 acoustic friendly session rooms, in addition to providing the rigging for lighting, sound and video throughout a hall measuring over half a kilometre in length by 100m across and 15m high. The project involved over 100 motors, 5000m of catenaries, over 1000m of truss and a staggering 1000 drapes, which alone weighed over 30 tonnes and required three 45ft trucks to transport them to the newly commissioned Montjuic 2 exhibition centre run by Fira de Barcelona in Spain.

Discussions began over 12 months ago about the feasibility of holding simultaneous presentations in such a big hall: the requirement was to create eleven 'rooms' - nine to hold 880 people, one to accommodate 1650 and another for 2050 people. The task was to create a cost-effectiv

It was a remarkable night to top the remarkable season that Broadway’s newest smash-hit musical has enjoyed since its acclaimed opening earlier this year.

At the 2001 Tony Awards Ceremony, held on June 3rd at the Radio City Music Hall in New York, The Producers (pictured) won all of the awards for which it had been nominated - 12 wins in all, breaking the all-time record for Tony wins by one show.

Adapted from his own film by Mel Brooks, the show won Brooks himself awards for Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical. It also netted prizes itself (Best Musical), for many of its performers, and for the rest of its creative team: Susan Stroman (Best Choreography, Best Direction of a Musical), Doug Besterman (Best Orchestrations), Robin Wagner (Best Scenic Design), William Ivey Long (Best Costume Design) and Peter Kaczorowski (Best Lighting Design).

Both Wagner and Kaczorow

It was a remarkable night to top the remarkable season that Broadway’s newest smash-hit musical has enjoyed since its acclaimed opening earlier this year.

At the 2001 Tony Awards Ceremony, held on June 3rd at the Radio City Music Hall in New York, The Producers (pictured) won all of the awards for which it had been nominated - 12 wins in all, breaking the all-time record for Tony wins by one show.

Adapted from his own film by Mel Brooks, the show won Brooks himself awards for Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical. It also netted prizes itself (Best Musical), for many of its performers, and for the rest of its creative team: Susan Stroman (Best Choreography, Best Direction of a Musical), Doug Besterman (Best Orchestrations), Robin Wagner (Best Scenic Design), William Ivey Long (Best Costume Design) and Peter Kaczorowski (Best Lighting Design).

Both Wagner and Kaczoro

On September 19th the London Hilton in Park Lane will once again be the focus for music industry stars and top brass as they gather to celebrate the Music Managers Forum's (MMF) seventh annual British Music Roll of Honour. Slick production and plenty of surprises are planned for the annual event, which promises to be as high profile as last year's when Lionel Richie played for his manager Barrie Marshal and Phil Collins reformed Genesis for one night to honour the band's manager, Tony Smith.

James Fisher, general secretary of the MMF, told PLASA Media: "As in previous years, we will be inviting a number of international artists to take part in the awards ceremony. They will play a key role in inducting well-known industry figures into the British Music Roll of Honour and honouring the recipient of the Peter Grant Award for outstanding achievement." Since its inauguration in 1

Lamba plc will host its most expansive presentation of new products ever at the PLASA Show this year. In addition to showcasing new mixer and limited edition cartridges from Stanton - on the back of having signed up new endorsement agreements with London’s top dance venues - the company will also be presiding over a number of other major events. The full range of newly-launched Nady microphone and processing products, aimed at four distinct market sectors, will have the additional impetus of a visit from company founder John Nady, who will give an address to dealers and press in the Kensington Room on the Monday of the Show.

Lamba will also introduce their newly-acquired high-end amplification range from PSS in France, having recently been appointed exclusive UK distributors. This series will be seen for the first time in the UK. Also radically different will be a new range of pu

Martin Professional, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of automated lighting, will head to this year’s PLASA Show with a number of new products and product upgrades. These include the MAC 2000 Forma - a new version of Martin’s successful 1200W MAC 2000 profile spot which features an internal framing device for precise stage lighting and new sub-gobo rotation wheel, useful for theatrical fire and water effects. Also launched is MAC 600 NT - a new version of the popular MAC 600 featuring improved colour mixing, a CTC system and noiseless operation, perfect for noise-sensitive markets such as theatre and TV.

Also new is Wizard - a one-of-a-kind DMX-controllable ‘full-house’ effects light featuring what Martin claim is an extraordinary, magical effect never before seen in the effects lighting industry. The Wizard, which uses a high-output 250W discharge

Adam Hall Ltd, a leading manufacturer of cabinet and case hardware and audio products, will be launching several hot new products at this year's PLASA Show including 'Racklight' - an innovative way of illuminating 19" racks. Racklight will never get hot or burn out as it doesn't use conventional bulbs and comes in seven cool light source colours! Also on show this year will be many new additions to the company’s extensive range of hardware components for case, 19" rack and cabinet building, Palmer Audiotools and devices for PA, studios and installation, Adam Hall's very own brand of Bulk and Premade cables for sound and lighting, stands, the Defender II cable crossover system and Amphenol connectors, including the new 'A' type XLR for OEMs and manufacturers.

Adam Hall can be found on Stand E32.

BSS Audio will be showing the Soundweb 9088ii at PLASA this year. Its DSP engine builds on the highly successful Soundweb platform, and brings a higher performance to the audio path. The latest generation 24-bit converters are used to give a dynamic range of better than 107dB, plus a new AES/EBU digital input card extends the applications and source options for the Soundweb system. Also on show will be the Minidrive loudspeaker management systems, comprising the FDS-334 (2 inputs 4 outputs) and the FDS-336 (2 inputs 6 outputs), together with the FDS 366 Omnidrive Compact Plus.

BSS Audio can be found on Stand S30.

Bookings are now well underway for the seminar and workshop programme planned for the PLASA Show. This year the emphasis is very much on knowledge with those signing up gaining an insight into how new technology is creating new opportunities, how individuals have pulled together highly complex projects, why integration is so important and how they can achieve more by picking up tips and techniques from others.

In a programme of seminars sponsored by Installation Europe, audio installation and integration is the theme under which issues of networking, control and the benefits of converging technologies are explored. Tuesday sees a Theme and Leisure Masterclass, presented by Leisure Management, in association with the TEA and TiLE, which focuses on how the leisure industry exploits special effects, lighting and audio technology to create unique environments to enhance the visitor experie

The audio production for this summer’s Homelands England Dance Festival provided several opportunities for collaboration, reports Mike Mann.

Audio suppliers SSE Hire of Birmingham provided Nexo front-of-house and monitor systems for seven out of the nine stages at this year’s Homelands, which took place in Mattersley Bowl, near Winchester. However, the company sub-contracted the system design, supply and management of the Space Tent and VIP area to Sussex-based GPA Hire and Forefront Audio. GPA, which acts as the UK rental arm of speaker manufacturer Funktion One, provided the festival’s Space Tent and VIP enclosure with Resolution 5 systems, driven by QSC and processed using XTA controllers. "It’s been great working with SSE," enthused Forefront’s Jim Alexander, "Chris Beale knows our reputation in the dance scene and it’s nice not to

New developments are all set to keep The Showman’s Show as one of Europe’s leading outdoor events exhibitions. The show organisers have announced several changes to the Show’s format for the 2001 event, which takes place on 17 and 18 October at Newbury Showground. The changes have been implemented to ensure the show reflects the changes within the events industry and meets the requirements of modern day exhibitors and visitors.

The most striking change is the new format for the Arena in the centre of the exhibition. For the first time in the history of the event, the ring will take on one theme that will appeal to a wide range of event organisers. In the past the Arena has hosted a range of entertainment aimed predominantly at the traditional show and gala market, but organiser Stephen Lance believes that even that marketplace, like the Showman’s Show, is evolvi

The Illuminated Video Workshop, the Screenco-led consortium that presented two days of innovative show magic at Three Mills Island studios last winter, is set to stage the successful workshop again at the PLASA Show. Situated in the ‘AV Gallery’ of Earl’s Court’s Top Deck, Screenco’s Mike Walker has pulled together the same top-flight technical support teams from the premier event. WAlker explained: "Judging from the number of calls from people who had been unable to attend the January event, the reputation of that two-day spectacular had really spread further than we could ever have imagined. We have been inundated with calls from people, who realising that they had missed out on something special, asking whether we would ever be running it again."

Walker’s first calls were to Edwin Shirley Staging, who agreed to provide their lozenge-shap

The JHS Event has become something of an industry fixture. Held at the company’s Garforth premises, on the outskirts of Leeds, it has quickly become part of the music business calendar, attended by significant numbers of representatives of both the retail trade and music press.

The company’s huge, purpose-built office and warehousing complex spreads over a four-acre site and ensures that the company, now the largest family-owned independent musical merchandise distributor in the UK, has an effective base for demonstrating the product lines from its extensive catalogue. And I do mean extensive - for the catalogue carries some of the music industry’s biggest names, including the innovative roundback guitar range from Ovation, for whom JHS are sole UK and Eire distributors and the famous Danelectro guitars and amps, back in the music world with a vengeance.

An early de

At this year’s PLASA Show, the Association has moved its stand to a new, bigger area towards the back of the main hall - stand K19.

The move from the usual spot at the very front of the hall on stand F1 has been made in order to provide more room for the PLASA stand - which will now incorporate the PLASA Technical Bookshop - and also to allow us to develop the PLASA Clinic, which will run adjacent to the PLASA stand, on J52 (see below).

Equally importantly, the move puts us right next to the busy after-show bar (inside the new Pizza Express restaurant), which will be open every evening after show closing, allowing everyone at the show a little extra time to continue those all-important conversations!Upstairs, meanwhile, Lighting&Sound International is sponsoring the New Technology Showcase - a major display of every product nominated for a 2001 PLASA Award for Product Excellenc

As one of Germany’s biggest distributors of lighting equipment to the entertainment industry, German distributor Lightpower handles brands such as Clay Paky, MA Lighting, Rosco, ETC, Eurotruss, Rainbow Colour Changers and Pulsar. The Paderborn-based company recently provided L&SI with an insight into its role in two very different projects in southern Germany.

Known as ‘the Tent Event’, the Zelt (or ‘tent’) Musik Festival (ZMF), took place in Freiburg this summer, for the 19th consecutive year, in the heart of a very hot and humid Black Forest. With more than 100 events spread over 19 days, ZMF has a diverse appeal, attracting around 150,000 people of all ages and musical tastes, from across Europe. It also has a strong family appeal, with a cosy beer garden atmosphere, and entertainments for children during the day.

Lightpower’s involvement, which

The small Midwestern town of Carthage, Missouri, in the US, is home to a unique amphitheatre that draws tens of thousands of visitors annually.

When Samuel Butcher, the creator of the American figurines and greeting cards featuring Precious Moments and his sons Jonathan and Don decided to develop an attraction in their home base, they turned to a creative team that included the lighting designers of Nautilus Entertainment Design for their inspiration.

The ‘Fountain of Angels’ is an open-air music and water production featuring a plaza of large programmable fountains centred around 252 bronze sculptures - some weighing as much as 1,000 pounds each. The action centres on a fountain containing a water jet that shoots 75 feet into the air, surrounded by a cathedral arch and two foam jets that are smaller versions of the main water jet. The water is held in a 100,000-gallon un

For the first time PLASA is running an on-site clinic at the PLASA Show to lend useful business support and advice to member companies exhibiting at the event. This new initiative, which will also see the launch of a new health-related service, is aimed not only at existing PLASA members, but also at prospective members who can learn for themselves the advantages to be gained from using PLASA services. During the course of the Show, representatives from the Association's range of service providers will be on hand in the PLASA Clinic to answer questions and assist members. Services available include the following:

Telephone Interpreting Service provided by Comunicado: interpreters specializing in over 100 languages. Cost is charged per minute, less than half price to PLASA members.

Legal Advice Service provided by Sherman Phillips: advice on intellectual property, contract, leasehold

Latest Issue. . .