Italy - Leading Italian television lighting designer Salvo Perrini used nearly 200 Robe moving lights on the most recent series of Reazione A Catena (Chain Reaction) for national TV channel RAI.

The show was recorded at RAI's Auditorium HQ in Naples where Perrini lit the show for the second time, before which it was recorded in Rome.

The game is based on the association logic of words or numbers and allows viewers to test their intuition and mastery of the Italian language. Each episode needed to have a different look and flavour, on which Perrini worked closely with scenic designer, Marco Calzavara.

As each programme built up towards its final section the money stakes increased dramatically ... and the lighting was integral to helping build the tension.

Perrini has worked for RAI for 27 years and has been using Robe products regularly in his work for the last three

UK - ETC is supporting the World Stage Design festival in Cardiff with a series of technical discussions on lighting with LED.

The festival, which runs until 14 September, is a celebration of international performance design from the world of theatre, opera and dance, running alongside which is Scenofest, bringing together live events, including performances, master-classes and hands on workshops.

Presentations will include ETC's technical director Adam Bennette and Steve Terry, ETC's vice president of R&D, who will be chairing a technical discussion on how to set up LED in a lighting rig. Bennette explains: "LED fixtures use power in a quite different way to tungsten - if the rig is set up in the way it would be for tungsten, it can cause all sorts of power issues. So we talked about what the problems are, and how to work around them, then talked about how to mix old and

Super Star - Bruno Mars will perform at next year's Super Bowl halftime show. The NFL confirmed the Locked Out of Heaven star will sing at the game in February. He follows the likes of Madonna, Michael Jackson, Black Eyed Peas, Beyonce, U2, Janet Jackson and Bruce Springsteen. Super Bowl XLVIII will take place at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on 2 February 2014. Mars, is currently midway through his Moonshine Jungle tour, which will arrive in the UK on 2 October starting at Odyssey Arena in Belfast.

Piano Man - Sir Elton John will perform live at this year's Emmy Awards. The musician, will play a tribute to Liberace, the American pianist and vocalist whose life was told in the recent biopic, Behind the Candelabra. The HBO film, which premiered in Cannes this year, is up for 15 Emmys. The awards, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, will

Italy - Mishima is the name of a project that the Brazilian artist Ismael Ivo staged at the arena at the Pietrarsa Railway Museum in Naples, Italy. It is based on the life and creative world of the Japanese artist Yukio Mishima, who committed sepuku (samurai ritual suicide) at the height of his brilliant career.

The performance started at dusk and the Gulf of Naples formed a natural backdrop for a rice-covered, Japanese-rock-garden-like set. The stage hosted an encounter between dancers involved in a ritual celebration representing the contrast between sunrise and sunset and between life and death.

The show was co-produced by the Fondazione Campania dei Festival, the Arb Dance Company and the Accademia di Belle Arti di Napoli. The Vietnamese dancer Khai Ngoc Vu led the performance, accompanied by dancers from the Compagnia Arabesque/Les Danseurs Napolitains, the voice of Angel

Chile - Wireless Solution Sweden demonstrated W-DMX during Chilean distributor Iluminacion Profesional Valook SA's Light Up! recent training sessions and open house in Santiago, Chile.

The Light-Up! show hosted approximately 200 people on 30 July for the open house and over 40 lighting designers for the training sessions on 31July. The training sessions were conducted via the use of visualisation systems such as Light Converse and intelligent lights from Robe.

For the open house and training sessions, all moving heads and DMX fixtures that were used were connected with W-DMX BlackBox F-1, F-2 and R-512. Fabian Cortez Lopez of Illumincion Profesional Valook SA commented, "The W-DMX products are incredibly user friendly and reliable. The W-DMX marketing material helped us a lot to inform our customers about the innovations and products from Wireless Solution.

Belgium - September sees the launch of ArKaos GrandVJ 2, the latest version of the highly successful ArKaos GrandVJ software for VJs, DJs, clubs and musicians.

The new software brings "sparkling new features that answer the demands of customers in the forefront of the action". Two versions are available: GrandVJ 2 and GrandVJ 2 XT which includes a VideoMapper feature.

New Features for GrandVJ 2: new interface; VideoMapper module (XT version); new software activation system; improved performance; new effects plus support for audio files.

GrandVJ 2 comes with a new interface, making it even more user friendly and straightforward, while integrating all the new functionality.

Simple colour coding (orange for layers, blue for cells) makes editing faster and more intuitive. Existing features, such as panel locks, have been moved and grouped under the mixer for convenie

Germany - Studio Hamburg Newcomer Awards have been presented since 1997. German-language films made by students who are studying film-making at institutions of higher education compete in the Best Production, Best Short Film (Audience Prize), Best Director and Best Screenplay categories. The Günter Strack Television Prize is also awarded during the gala night to the best up-and-coming actress and actor, as well as the Hamburg Murder-Mystery Prize (since 2008).

For this year's ceremony, the lighting designer Andreas Rinne used eight Clay Paky Sharpys, 30 Clay Paky Alpha Spot HPE 300s, 10 Clay Paky Alpha Spot HPE 700s, 16 Clay Paky Alpha Beam 300s and a grandMA2 light, as well as other equipment.

"My experience of Clay Paky products in the last few years has been very good. For this reason, these lights were crucial to the lighting concept," said Rinne. "Clay Pak

Denmark - The Roskilde Music Festival has brought together some of the world's most popular artists since the early 1970s. On this year's Orange Stage, Metallica headlined the festival, with performances from many other globally acclaimed artists, including Rihanna and Slipknot. Designed by veteran lighting designer Kasper Lange, the Orange Stage featured a vast amount of Martin lighting fixtures for the Metallica set.

The Orange Stage included 68 Martin MAC 2000 Wash XB's and 34 MAC III Profile moving heads, along with 65 MAC 101's and 10 MAC Aura LED moving heads. Thirty-four Atomic 3000 strobes with Atomic Colors scrollers were deployed for blinding punch effects. Copenhagen-based rental company Litecom, supplied the gear.

Martin lighting, which has graced Roskilde for years, also played a role on several other stages at the 2013 festival including the Pavilion Stage, featu

Germany - Over 2000 Robe LEDWash fixtures are in action on a series of high profile stands - including Audi, BMW, Mini. Opel, Porsche, Seat and Volkswagen, at the Frankfurt 65th International Motor Show (IAA).

One of the world's leading auto expos, IAA 2013 is being staged at the Frankfurt Messe, 10 - 22 September 2013.

The different stands have been designed by some of the leading creative practices in the country, and the fixtures supplied by a number of the primary German rental and dry hire companies.

The preparations started months ago with Audi constructing its own temporary exhibition Hall - Agora - especially for IAA; and Mercedes Benz building a three-level high showroom into the famous Frankfurt 'Festhalle', more usually a host to large scale concerts. The Frankfurt Motor Show - powered by the prestigious German Manufacturers - is also a leader in innovation and te

UK - Creative & Cultural Skills has announced plans to host a series of one-day masterclasses this autumn for young people embarking on careers in technical theatre.

Supported by the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation, the Technical Masterclass Series will be held at The Backstage Centre over three days, with each day accommodating a different age group.

The events will take place on 29, 30 and 31 October, and will be aimed at key stage 4 students, further education students, and higher education students respectively.

The masterclasses are designed to supplement classroom learning for students who have a keen interest in backstage theatre, and to provide a valuable networking and training opportunity for technical theatre students and young professionals.

Attendees will be able to participate in one masterclasses from the following options, and will benefit from practical lea

UK - Lighting design and rental company Siyan chose Avolites consoles for this summer's Lovebox musical extravaganza in East London's Victoria Park. This year saw the company step up to the Sapphire Touch and Tiger Touch Pro for the main and second stages respectively.

"Historically, Avolites consoles have been Siyan's first choice at Lovebox," explains project manager Jez Johnstone. "For the past few years we've used the D4 range for FOH at the main stage, with the Expert on the smaller stages. With technology moving forward, it was a natural progression to spec the Sapphire Touch at main and the Tiger Touch Pro at stage 2."

At the controls of the Sapphire on the main stage was lighting designer Paula Trounce, taking care of artists including headline act Azealia Banks as well as Tinchy Stryder, Jurassic 5, D'Angelo, Rudimental and Charlie Wilson, among ot

UK - This September the Hospital Club in London unveils the Oak Room, a new 100-capacity performance space in the heart of Covent Garden. Designed by the award-winning Russell Sage Studios, the Oak Room will serve up an eclectic range of outstanding entertainment for members, from DJs and live performances (featuring some of the UK's best music acts) to high-end comedy, cabaret and jazz nights.

Sue Walter, CEO said, "It is not often a new event space opens in Central London which has literally never been seen before. The Oak Room will be integral to The Hospital Club's ethos of showcasing and supporting emerging talent. We are excited to have secured such a diverse range of new and established acts to help launch the space throughout September, with many more lined up over the coming months to give members, artists and guests a uniquely Hospital Club experience."

RML

Switzerland - W-DMXTM by Wireless Solution Sweden AB entertained approximately 950,000 people during the Zurich street parade, where nearly 200 DJs played on 30 trucks and eight large-scale stages - including famous names such as Bob Sinclar, Westbam, Nicky Romero and Nervo.

Laserworld AG, headquartered in Switzerland with subsidiaries in Shenzhen, China, Manchester, UK and New York, USA supported this event with a gigantic laser show set up on three stages - with an overall power of up to 200W. To create a stable, wireless connection between several peripheral systems, like smoke- and haze machines, Laserworld used the versatile W-DMXTM transceiver for control.

Norbert Stangl, sales & marketing director for Laserworld explained, "We tried a 'cheap' wireless DMX box first, as one of the event companies had them in their truck, but it didn't work, as it struggled with the

USA - Rock band Rush just wrapped its Clockwork Angels Tour in the US in support of its eponymous album, and Clay Paky Sharpy fixtures went along for the ride.

Rush began its US tour last September on the heels of a successful European leg. Dates in Phoenix and Dallas were recorded for a DVD release later this year.

"We had 55 Clay Paky Sharpys on the tour for the duration," says Howard Ungerleider, lighting designer for Rush. "Sharpys are one of the most versatile and exciting lighting fixtures I've used in a while. I can really get a lot of looks out of them. I definitely work them without over-using them."

Ungerleider positioned the Sharpys, which were provided by Premier Global and Production Design International, on moving parts of the truss so they could descend at any time for automated moves. He maximized their application, deploying them t

USA - Headlining the Honda Civic Tour with special guest Kelly Clarkson, Maroon 5 is taking the stage at amphitheaters across the US. With a vast amount of Martin MAC series lighting fixtures, the summer tour continues through October with its memorizing light show, as part of the production design provided by Demfis Fyssicopulos.

Supplied by Upstaging, the traveling rig includes 64 lightweight and durable Martin MAC III Profiles and 42 Martin Atomic 3000 Strobes with scrolling ability.

"I have a lot of video elements in the show and I needed a unit that could stand its own," stated Fyssicopulos. "I didn't want to use monotonous wash units and 8-lighters (I can't believe I actually said 8-lighters) as the outdated easy-way-out norm would dictate. I was after a forward thinking fixture with enough intensity to accommodate the outdoor stage. The MAC III Air FX pro

UK - Manchester-based lighting design and rental specialists dbn provided lighting for the spectacular Weekending at the Whitworth Art Gallery event, an extraordinary weekend of free art, music and performance in Whitworth Park and Gallery, Manchester, which welcomed all in the community to celebrate the last days of the 'old' Whitworth Art Gallery, before the building closed for a historic £18m refurbishment.

dbn has worked on several projects at the Whitworth over a number of years, providing technical consultation and design services, ingenuity and equipment.

dbn Project Manager Nick Todd oversaw the Weekending event, for which several elements were lit, including the impressive front façade of the Whitworth Art Gallery itself.

Overall lighting schemes encompassed a world music stage, trees and art installations, with the visual high-point being Saturday night's li

Spain - Equipson's WORK has just published its new lighting catalogue 2013/2014, including a selection of professional products for fixed installations and mobile applications.

People in the trade will find in this catalogue the new version of the LightMouse series, which comes with a new design and new models, like the LM 5W (with builtin WiFi access point) or the LM 3R2 (ArtNet node receiving two DMX universes), says the company. SRD 6 is another outstanding product of the lighting catalogue: this is a bidirectional RDM/DMX splitter of six channels.

The catalogue is already available for download from Equipson's website. Additionally, it will be distributed during the international trade show PLASA 2013 where WORK will exhibit its products on booth L 45.

(Jim Evans)

USA - Founded in 1842, the New York Philharmonic is the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States playing over 180 concerts per year, but this year they played one programme which was unlike any before. In A Dancer's Dream: Two Works by Stravinsky, Producers Giants Are Small and music director Alan Gilbert combined music, ballet, puppetry, video projection, and theatre, bringing The Fairy's Kiss and Petrushka both to life in one creative and fantastic event.

Working behind the scenes, lighting designer Clifton Taylor was given the challenge to blend all these production elements seamlessly together and to help him accomplish this he put together a comprehensive lighting package from Philips Entertainment which included Showline SL BAR 640, Philips Selecon PLCyc LED, Philips Vari-Lite VL3500 Spot, VL1000 ERS and VL5B Wash luminaires.

"For A Dan

South Africa - The Sun City Theatre, better known as the old Extrav Theatre, in the North West Province, South Africa, has invested in two Robert Juliat Victors.

"Actually, we had our eye on Robert Juliat and wanted to get this brand for quite some time now," commented Reg Habib, lighting manager at Sun City. Eventually the need, opportunity and availability came together and the followspots were purchased from DWR Distribution.

"The Robert Juliat Victor is a beautiful looking piece of equipment, excellent in design, and great to operate," said Habib. "Amongst features like hot strike, it has a smooth dimming ability that can be adjusted with one finger, without looking away from the stage or moving a hand."

Habib says a lot can be said for buying brand names. "Obviously quality creates desirability. The expected life and the after sales su

Switzerland - Robert Juliat has confirmed the latest addition to the Robert Juliat distributor family with the appointment of Electric Claudio Merlo Lighting Equipment SA (ECM) as its new distributor for Switzerland.

From 1 September 2013, ECM will distribute the full range of Robert Juliat lighting equipment and concentrate on developing closer relations with all regions of the diverse Swiss market. In addition to its excellent product knowledge, ECM brings the benefit of its multi-lingual support team which speaks German, Italian and Spanish, as well as French and English.

ECM represents several worldwide brands in Switzerland and specialises in creating theatre and studio lighting systems. The company is constantly looking for environmentally-friendly products and believes in superior quality and optical excellence, like that found in Robert Juliat's new LED Zep and Tibo se

USA - Having used GLP's impression X4 LED heads in the design of Fleetwood Mac's current touring set, production designer Paul 'Arlo' Guthrie has turned to 16 of the small impression X4S for the current theatre (and festival) shows by veteran rock singer, Chris Isaak. These are mounted on five vertical pipes - four on the centre bar and three each on the others.

With economy at the forefront of his thinking, Guthrie sensed that the new X4S fixtures could not only be rigged quickly, within their own touring structures, but at the same time pack a lot of punch. "We haven't done a 'beamy' show for Chris in a while so I wanted something that was adaptable to the range of venues we were playing, and would provide us with options," he admits. "I also wanted a physically smaller light to fit with the scale of the show."

The venues themselves have varied considerab

South Africa - The ETC Eos has claimed another first for the ETC family of lighting control products. Internationally acclaimed lighting designer Declan Randall decided to put the Eos to the test on the South African debut of Starlight Express on a specially adapted stage at the Joburg Theatre Complex, Johannesburg.

"I have been using the ETC Eos platform for almost four years now, so it was an easy decision for me to make to use the Eos for Starlight Express," says Randall.

Specified by Randall and supplied by ETC's South African-based dealer Prosound, the system includes an Eos RPU (Remote Processor Unit) which will serve as backup and Net3 Gateways to run the eight DMX universes to support the high fixture count and data distribution required for the show. The desk also utilises a wireless Ethernet network hub for remote control.

Glenn Duncan, show progra

USA - Hakkasan Las Vegas is a high-profile, ground-breaking new 80,000sq.ft club complex and restaurant experience at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, the result of a collaboration between international dining group Hakkasan Ltd and nightlife aficionados Angel Management Group (AMG).

It is intricately designed over five levels and hosts residencies by some of the most exciting and innovative DJs on the planet including Tiësto, Calvin Harris Steve Aoki, deadmau5, ... and many more.

Robe moving lights are right at the core of a lighting design throughout Hakkasan Las Vegas nightclub - the biggest new build project in US clubbing history - that has been created by Frank Murray of Irish based installation specialists, Audiotek.

The brief for the lighting from the four very hands-on AMG principals, explains Murray, was simply to help create "The BEST electronic music and clubbing

UK - It takes a brave and confident lighting designer to use some old fashioned, simple tungsten rope light to create one of the most memorable effects that will have graced a stage anywhere this year: the sigils that open the Robbie Williams show.

Supported by the production design and manufacturing house, Specialz, lighting designer Willie Williams comments, "Although I'm credited with the design of the sigils, in fact the original idea came from Robbie himself - quite literally as some of these symbols are tattoos that he has. For my part, we needed to turn these into something dramatic from a stage perspective, effective from a lighting point of view and durable for extensive touring." (A sigil is a sign or an image that supposedly possesses a magical power so any audience member who spent hours trying to decode them would have been wasting their time).

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