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27 June 2024

China - The architecturally stunning Xiao Theatre inside Beijing’s Huilongguan Cultural and Art Centre Theatre has installed a Green-GO ethernet-based digital communications system to aid clear, seamless interactions between the technical team.

The theatre, which is named for renowned Chinese director Rao Xiaozhi, has become a go-to venue for immersive sound technology, attracting a range of dance and theatrical companies. China Green-GO dealer and AV expert EZPro specified a complete AV solution for the theatre, helping it to gain a reputation as a pioneer in audio system design that brings audiences a more involved experience.

To ensure clear communication and efficient workflow, EZPro introduced the Xiao Theatre’s technical team to the Green-GO system. During the planning process Wei HE, Green-GO product manager at EZPro, demonstrated its wire

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26 June 2024

USA - The David H. Koch Theatre, nestled in the heart of Lincoln Centre and renowned for its dedication to dance, has recently undergone a transformative technological upgrade. In a collaborative effort with Clear-Com, the theatre has revamped its wireless intercom, and installed all new panels to enhance communication efficiency.

Originally constructed in 1964 as the New York State Theatre, the venue was designed by the esteemed architect Philip Johnson. Over the years, it has played a pivotal role in the cultural landscape of New York, serving as the home to the New York City Ballet and hosting various other theatrical performances, including classic Broadway musical revivals. Most recently, the 2024 Tony Awards were held at the theatre, utilising Clear-Com's advanced communication systems to ensure a smooth and successful event.

In a generous comm

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25 June 2024

UK - The new Coyote Ugly Saloon in Bristol is bringing a slice of the Big Apple to south-west England with a high-energy audio installation powered by Powersoft T Series amplifiers.

Inspired by the original Coyote Ugly bar in New York, immortalised in the cult 2000 film Coyote Ugly, the first UK Coyote Ugly Saloon opened its doors in 2016 and instantly proved popular in Liverpool and Birmingham. The newest venue, which also has sister bars in London, Cardiff and Swansea is located on Bristol’s Bordeaux Quay, with long-time integration partner Spartan Audio Visual adding the audio muscle.

“We’ve worked with the UK franchise owner for a long time and understand a lot about how they like to work in order to deliver maximum value without compromising the overall AV product,” explains Dave Morgan, Spartan Audio Visual’s sales and instal

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19 June 2024

UK - The Lyric Hammersmith Theatre is one of the country’s leading producing houses, based in the inner-city neighbourhood of Hammersmith, West London. The Lyric recently invested in a comprehensive audio upgrade, based entirely on EM Acoustics’ product portfolio. The upgrade, completed in early 2024, was led by the theatre’s Head of Sound, Daniel Ronayne.  

“Our existing system was due for an upgrade; it was around 30 years old and composed of many different products from different brands,” reflects Ronayne. “We had hired a demo rig from EM Acoustics for past productions, such as our yearly panto, and we were blown away by the quality and wanted to make these products a permanent feature of the theatre and the audience experience.”  

A complete upgrade is a serious decision for a busy theatre but following a trial period, the decis

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18 June 2024

Belgium - The newly completed, multifunctional Silt complex - an architecturally sophisticated ‘landscaper’ completed earlier this year - forms a dominant, wood-latticed landmark on the Belgian coast, overlooking the North Sea at Middelkerke.

Essentially a multipurpose event venue, built and operated by Middelkerke’s municipality as part of its restoration programme for the area, it also hosts a restaurant, hotel and casino run by different operators. All are set within an artificial dune, each with spectacular views across the beach and sea.

For advice on sound reinforcement in the Event Hall, the City Council brought in Stephan Bohez of SBE - a loyal partner of Martin Audio for the past 25 years, who also co-owns StarTechnics with partner, Danny Debock. Stated Bohez, who has staged events for the client over a number of years, “They already

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18 June 2024

UK - Queen Mary University London (QMUL) recently concluded a significant refurbishment of its Garrod Building in Whitechapel. This historic building, integral to medicine and dentistry education and adjacent to the Royal London Hospital, has undergone a transformation to provide modern spaces for student study, socialising, and activity.

GVAV, specialists in audiovisual solutions, spearheaded the critical revamp of the ageing AV systems as part of this project. With a tight deadline to meet the opening for the new academic year in September 2023, GVAV worked with Audiologic to deliver a solution that met QMUL's high standards while staying within budget constraints.

The specification included high-calibre systems for teaching spaces including 11 seminar rooms and a PC Lab as well as the Student Union Bar and Hub and the fitness suite. Utilised for b

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14 June 2024

France - The Royal Opera of Versailles, part of the famous Palace of Versailles, was inaugurated in 1770 and is also known as the Théâtre Gabriel. The interior decoration by Augustin Pajou is constructed almost entirely of wood – for enviable acoustics – and painted with a faux marble technique.

After years of neglect, the venue was transformed by two complete restorations – the 1,200-capacity main room was re-gilded in 1957 and the stage and machinery were revamped in 2009. Since then, it has been busy hosting an annual programme of concerts of baroque music, operas, and ballets.

More recently, a major lighting upgrade comprising 40 x Robe T2 Profiles was delivered in two batches by Robe France, an initial purchase of 30, followed by another 10 x T2 Profiles, which they liked so much that they purchased 12 x TX1 PosiProfiles.

Hosting

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14 June 2024

Belgium - Since its establishment in 1965 as the city theatre of Ghent, NTGent has maintained a prominent role in the Flemish theatre scene. The venue delivers high-quality productions that are both artistically challenging and socially relevant, utilising lighting solutions from ETC.

Operating across two distinct realms, NTGent (also known as Nederlands Toneel Gent) crafts original theatre pieces and hosts external performances at its venues. For their original creations, which frequently tour internationally, NTGent prioritises a versatile lighting setup capable of adapting to diverse venues worldwide. Conversely, visiting performances rely on more traditional equipment, albeit with a preference for cutting-edge technology.

During a recent interview, Dennis Diels, head of lighting at NTGent, shared insights into the theatre's operations and its dec

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13 June 2024

UK - Following the successful launch of its PF Talks podcast from Strawberry Studios in Manchester, Production Futures has expanded the format to include in-person interviews from a new facility at the FIX8Group HQ, also in Manchester.

Whilst retaining the former studio for conducting and broadcasting remote interviews, the new larger set can accommodate multiple visitors for live and recorded chat, adding significantly to the breadth of content offered to young people and newcomers to the production industries. PF Talks is a series of interviews with inspirational professionals around the world who work across the whole spectrum of the entertainment production industry, particularly those committed to making a real difference to newcomers by ‘paying it forward’.

Hannah Eakins of Production Futures comments: “PF TALKS is a popular feature of al

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11 June 2024

Spain - The Teatro Real in Madrid, winner of the International Opera Award for Best Opera House in the world, has acquired five Christie M 4K25 RGB pure laser projectors to enrich its opera, dance, concert, and recital programming with stunning visuals.

The Teatro Real was inaugurated in 1850 and is currently one of the great international centres of opera activity. The building is an architectural mixture with 28 boxes on different floors, in addition to eight prosceniums and the double-height Royal Box. The jewel of the theatre is its 1,472sq.m stage box which accommodates complex scenery changes, including multiple set design elements such as lighting and visuals on stage and in the orchestra pit.

The theatre acquired three Christie lamp-based 3DLP projectors nine years ago, and recently upgraded to more modern and efficient models with improved c

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11 June 2024

UK - Based in London’s West End, The Twist Museum is an immersive, interactive, multi-sensory attraction, set on a 15,000sq.ft site.

Challenging the visitor to explore the world of illusion, Twist - which stands for The Way I See Things - is a collaborative work of leading artists, psychologists, and neuroscientists.

The audio-visual integration was entrusted to London-based Crossover, who specified, installed, programmed and commissioned essential audio-visual equipment, for management and routing over a digital backbone.

Developed by multimedia artist Aristotle Roufanis, the Digital Mirror exhibit uses a camera and large format display to create an interactive ‘mirror’, distorting peoples’ reflections in real time. The Crossover team provided the displays, the audio system, and the back-end processing hardware, that manipul

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04 June 2024

UK - The Grade II-listed Winter Gardens Blackpool has a proud heritage dating back to 1878. As a driving force in the regional economy of the North West of England, the venue hosts a diverse range of events in its various spaces. These include concerts, theatre productions, conferences, exhibitions, weddings, dance competitions, and international matchplay darts.

This varied programme necessitates versatile and flexible technical provisions. Recently, the Winter Gardens Blackpool team, in consultation with supplier ArranPaul, reviewed its audio systems to enhance and future-proof its inventory. As a result, they chose two HK Audio systems.

Venue Technician Allen Hendley explains: “We needed replacements for systems that were no longer meeting our needs. The new systems had to deliver high-quality audio and be powerful and portable enough to suit va

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23 May 2024

UK - Despite having a population of less than 5000, the North Yorkshire town of Malton enjoys top quality music, comedy and touring theatre shows at its much-loved local venue and community hub The Milton Rooms.

First built in the early 1800s, the venue is now run as a not-for-profit organisation by an active team of volunteers and features a 300-seat main theatre space with a new, world-class Nexo sound system supplied by Nexo distributors A.C. Entertainment Technologies, in collaboration with installers North Star Engineers.

After an independent assessment concluded the venue needed expert advice to overcome its poor acoustics, AC-ET calculated the best options for the new sound system using Nexo's NS-1 acoustic prediction software, which enables users to configure their speaker placement in any venue setup, and then predict the optimal sound cover

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14 May 2024

Opening Time - The new Co-op Live arena is set to open this evening after three weeks of delays, false starts, and chaos behind the scenes. Elbow will open the £365m Manchester venue later, after an inspection gave the venue the all-clear.

Comedian Peter Kay had been due to open the 23,500-seater venue on 23 April,

The eleventh-hour postponement of A Boogie With Da Hoodie's gig on 1 May saw other shows moved to the nearby AO Arena. Kay's shows were twice postponed over issues including power supply and emergency communications, while a Boogie Wit Da Hoodie's show was pulled over a problem with the ventilation system.

Bosses said they were "thrilled" to be opening the venue after being "disappointed to have delayed our introduction and frustrated so many in the process". "We now look forward to welcoming fans to Elbow's opening performance on

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10 May 2024

UK - ETC dealer Stage Electrics has supplied ColorSource Spot Jr fixtures to upgrade the lighting in London’s Park Theatre.

Park Theatre is a local venue in north London which houses two performance and rehearsal spaces that showcase a diverse mix of new and emerging productions. The team at the theatre were looking to upgrade the existing lighting rig to LED as part of an initiative to reduce tungsten and also make a more sustainable investment for the future. ETC’s affordable ColorSource Spot Jr was the preferred choice – with 14 of the fixtures being selected for the theatre.

The compact yet powerful nature of ColorSource Spot Jr was just one of the reasons that made it a good solution for the venue as the theatre space features a thrust stage whereby many of the fixtures hang in close proximity to the audience. The fixture’s built-in zoom

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29 April 2024

UK - Almost a decade in the making, containing stories never before told and pictures never before seen, and written with the insight of someone who was at the very heart of it, A Sense of Theatre, a remarkable new book providing a unique, eye-witness account of the birth and subsequent triumph of Britain’s National Theatre, launches to the public on 1 May 2024.

The book is the final work of the pioneering lighting designer, theatre consultant and author Richard Pilbrow, who, with his work on the book complete, sadly passed away at the end of last year.

This is history he was uniquely placed to record: in 1963 he was chosen by the National’s first director, Sir Laurence Olivier, to light the opening shows of the new National Theatre company at the Old Vic theatre. From there he quickly became involved in the planning of the new National

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18 April 2024

UK - Based within striking distance of London’s Tower Bridge, AV integrator Tateside recently announced the launch of its new showroom space, in collaboration with US manufacturer, 1 Sound and UK distributor, CUK Group.

The space, home to a full 1 Sound system, follows Tateside’s recent appointment as the first official 1 Sound UK partner and will drive opportunities for the integrator to share its solutions with clients first-hand.  

“We met 1 Sound at ISE 2023,” recalls Jack Cornish, technical director at Tateside. “The natural finish of the wooden loudspeakers caught our eye, and we began talking to Louis Mannarino, who explained the brand values with enthusiasm; we were sold on the products and felt they offered something different to traditional loudspeakers; these solutions fit well in our hospitality projects, where space can be a

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05 April 2024

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02 April 2024

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22 March 2024

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20 March 2024

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20 March 2024

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19 March 2024

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19 March 2024