UK - Last weekend the National Theatre celebrated 50 years by filling its stage with some of the country's finest actors and actresses for a once-in-a-lifetime theatrical extravaganza. On Saturday night BBC2 aired a special performance which was comprised of a variety of different plays that had run at the Theatre throughout its history. Those included Guys and Dolls, Angels in America, London Road and The History Boys.

The 100 strong cast included James Corden, Dame Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Derek Jacobi. And with a cast like that you know you are in for a night to remember!

RML supplied lights to the event which were used in the main stage during the show. The lighting designer Mark Henderson decided that MAC TW1s and VL1000TS would work perfectly to enhance the in-house rig and create his desired vision.

Matt Drury, head of lighting at the N

USA - Aquarii reports that it is the sole distributor in the United States and Canada for LightAct, an innovative lighting control system created by Enlighter. LightAct has never before been sold in the North American market. Aquarii will debut LightAct in booth 235 at LDI 2013 in Las Vegas.

Through pixilation, LightAct creates zones per pixel that trigger lighting channels via DMX512. Using this pixilation with state-of-the-art software and standard security cameras and sensors, LightAct senses where a person is standing and triggers the corresponding lighting channels, creating a lighting environment that truly responds to its surroundings.

Museums, exhibits, retail windows, entertainment venues and more will find that LightAct can highlight and bring attention to a featured product or object by illuminating the desired area whenever a person is close by. LightAct can be use

Belgium - L&L Stage Services is a busy technical production and rental company based in Herentals, near Antwerp, Belgium, founded in 1992 and run since 2004 by Bart Weyts, Tom Somers and Kris Laermans. They work across multiple sectors supplying sound, light and rigging and are known for high quality equipment and crews.

L&L first invested in Robe when the Robin series was launched in 2009 and their first Robe purchase was 600E Spots, which at the time, were actually the first in Benelux.

L&L was also the first company in Benelux to take delivery of LEDWash 600s when they were launched in 2010 - so they enjoy being 'the first' with the latest technology and paving the way for others to follow. This in turn has helped Robe become so strong in the Belgian market.

In rental stock at the moment L&L has nearly 200 Robe fixtures including 600E Spots, LEDWash 600s, LEDBeam 100s and

USA - City Theatrical is launching a spread of new products at LDI 2013 in booth 1649, including a new line of LED tape called QolorFLEX, the new D-Series LED Dimmers, the AutoYoke LED, SHoW Baby 5, and many new accessories. John McKernnon will be demonstrating Lightwright 5 and Broadway programmer Alex Fogel will be demonstrating Moving Light Assistant software.

QolorFlex LED Tape is LED lighting tape aimed at the professional lighting market, including live theatre, television, film and video, and live events. LED tape is a revolutionary product, allowing lighting users to put light in places that were impossible in the past and to create lighting fixtures and lighting effects in new and inexpensive ways. QolorFLEX™ LED tape is manufactured to City Theatrical's exact specifications and is available in a variety of types such as single color, RGB, RGBA, and RGBW.

Working

Italy - Leading Italian TV Lighting Designer Massimo Castrichella took less than a minute to decide that he wanted Robe's Robin DLS profile, LEDWash 1200 and LEDBeam 100 fixtures on his lighting rig for the latest series of Un Minuto Per Vincere (One Minute To Win).

The second season of the Italian version of the hugely popular US Minute To Win It games show was recorded at the Auditorium del Foro Italico in Central Rome for national channel RAI. Contestants participate in a series of simple but frustratingly difficult to achieve 60 second challenges that usually involve common household objects!

Castrichella has worked for the prime Italian broadcaster for an impressive 35 years. He has also used Robe products in his work since 2004 and for this one - where 90 % of the lighting is for effects - he chose 20 x Robe DLS Profiles, 12 LEDWash 1200s and 30 LEDBeam 100

USA - Clay Paky will be featuring a number of new releases and product developments at LDI in Las Vegas later this month.

A.leda B-EYE, winner of the 2013 Plasa Award for Innovation offers versatility and spectacular effects. Says the company, "A.leda B-EYE is versatile because it can be used in many di-verse ways, even within the same project. In fact this fixture is, simultaneously, a state-of-the-art LED wash-light, an amazing 'beam-light' and a projector for totally unseen, stunning graphic effects."

A.Leda B-EYE is a wash-light, generating beautiful colours and featuring an impressive, wide 6° to 70° beam aperture. The zoom however can be closed even further, down to as little as 4 degrees thus switching the light from a wash diffusion into a narrow and parallel beam. In this operating mode B-EYE becomes a 'beam-light, whose beam consists of an array of

South Africa - The Joburg Theatre has been one of the first to purchase Philips Selecon PLCYC-2LEDs in South Africa. The 10 new fixtures are being used for the magical production Aladdin, a pantomime by Jannice Honeyman which runs from 30 October right through to the holiday season.

Joburg Theatre were looking for a LED Cyc light solution to light up the cyclorama, the large white backdrop on stage which changes colour during shows. The purchase had to arrive on time for the annual panto.

"We compared the PLCYC-2LEDs with similar fixtures and found them to be more suited to theatre application and surprisingly more affordable," said Enos Ramoroko, technical manager at the Joburg Theatre. "With no need for labour intensive rigging (fewer and lighter units) and almost nonexistent maintenance, we can only hope to buy more of them to put a smile on the crew.&

Australia - In acknowledgement of the changing demands of the marketplace, LSC has announced the release of its new intelligent power distribution unit called APS (Advanced Power System).

APS has been designed to remove the problems caused by the large in-rush and earth-leakage currents common with modern switch-mode power supplies found in audio amplifiers, intelligent lights, video-walls and LED fixtures, resulting in unwanted breaker trips.

Equally at home in the lighting, sound and video markets, for portable or permanent installation, APS solves these issues by controlled application of power to its output circuits. To further enhance its usefulness, APS also offers power monitoring of voltage and current and frequency which can be displayed both locally and remotely.

Control is via the detection of any DMX512 signal, manually via the front panel LCD or remotely via RDM

USA - Leroy Bennett's lighting design for the current Nine Inch Nails Tension 2013 tour utilises the largest installation of Ayrton's MagicPanel 602 fixtures to date.Following a successful summer festival tour promoting their new album Hesitation Marks across the Far East and Europe, American industrial rock project, Nine Inch Nails, are currently bringing their show to North American arenas under a dramatic lighting rig that incorporates no less than 126 Ayrton MagicPanel 602 fixtures.Well-known rock production/lighting designer Leroy Bennett, whose long line of collaborations includes Prince, Tina Turner, Faith Hill, Paul McCartney and Lady Gaga, Rammstein, Madonna, Beyonce and Bruno Mars has installed 14 motorised pods on variable speed winches above the stage, each containing nine Ayrton MagicPanels in a 3 x 3 configuration.Ayrton MagicPanel 602 is a moving head video p

South Africa - Rental companies, Prosound and Gearhouse Splitbeam (Pty) Ltd have successfully worked together on many major international and local touring productions where Splitbeam has managed the specialist lighting and Prosound the specialist audio. Splitbeam's primary focus is on lighting for theatre productions and its services have quickly gained traction in the Theatre rental market since the company's launch in February 2010.

This successful history prompted mutual agreements to sell Prosound's lighting stock to Splitbeam allowing Prosound to focus on their core strengths.

"It made sense to move our lighting stock to Splitbeam in order to continue the obvious synergy between the two companies," says Mark Malherbe, Prosound technical director.

Splitbeam director, Alistair Kilbee is enthusiastic about the possibilities this new stock offers his company. &qu

UK - Harvard Engineering has announced the launch of EyeNut, a new wireless indoor lighting control solution.

The system, which is officially being launched at LuxLive at Earl's Court on 20-21 November, is set to revolutionise indoor lighting, as for the first time, users will be able to completely configure, control and monitor their own indoor lighting, says the company.

With EyeNut users can implement appropriate indoor lighting strategies to suit the activities taking place in specific areas of a building or across multiple-buildings or sites, as well as to save energy and cut carbon emissions, through the solution's intuitive graphic user interface (GUI).

Russell Fletcher, sales and marketing director at Harvard Engineering, commented, "The launch of EyeNut is a significant milestone for Harvard. EyeNut is a market leading and innovative solution providing opportun

UK - Artistic Licence is gearing up for an exciting LuxLive 2013 (stand B12) at Earls Court later this month. Particular emphasis will be given to two very active areas in the company's product portfolio. The first of these focuses on products designed to solve the installation dilemmas that are becoming increasingly prevalent in the DALI/DMX crossover market. The other highlights the key dimming products in the Artistic Licence range.

DALI is the workhorse of commercial lighting, but in recent years has broadened its reach into the architectural arena. However, feature lighting and special effects are usually controlled using DMX, long the protocol of choice for the entertainment industry. This has left many in the middle ground, often with a need to use DALI and DMX interchangeably. But the integration of the two approaches can be problematic, not least because the protocols o

UK - LCA - Lights, Camera, Action Ltd - a one stop shop offering a wide range of film, television and broadcast lighting equipment, accessories & consumables, will be showcasing the very latest technology solutions from their extensive portfolio of exclusive and other leading brands, at BVE North 2013, Manchester Central (stand C20 - C10).

As the exclusive European distributor for Filmgear, LCA will demonstrate their PowerLED 160 & 240, LED Fresnel 150 & 250, and Filmgear 1.8kW PAR HMI kit lighting models.

The stand will feature TruColor Lighting's HS and LS remote phosphor LED lighting fixtures, which are also supplied exclusively in Europe by LCA.

From K5600, a UK exclusive - the stand will showcase for the first time at BVE North the Alpha 1600 and Joker 1600W HMI fixtures. Both models come complete with high speed 1,000Hz, flicker free ballast.

Other stand highlights i

UK - Nottinghamshire-based technical production specialist One Big Star boosted their stock of Robe moving lights to help realise Rod Clay's lighting design for the current UK leg of Bryan Ferry's The Jazz Age tour, which plays a variety of venues including London's Royal Albert Hall.

The style and tone of the tour is a vibey mix of jazz and classic hits from the 1970s and early 80s when Roxy Music permeated the art house and alternative music scene with a stylish mix of unique sounds, modern art and fashion

Clay has worked as Bryan Ferry's LD since 2011. This tour kicked off earlier in the year with a floor specials package for the initial gigs, which segued into a slightly enlarged festival version of the rig and in turn evolved into this full production section which is utilizing 18 x Robe MMX spots, 28 x LEDWash 600s and 12 x LEDBeam 100s, together with other moving

Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur's bustling clubbing scene revealed a new, definitive standard in VIP party experiences, catered exclusively for Malaysia's elite. Providence KL as it is fittingly named is set to deliver a decadent and luxurious premium nightlife experience with its "plush interiors, the finest table service and bottle-popping culture".

The concept of Providence is in line with Massive Goliath's portfolio of prestigious VIP club venues and celebrity hotspots; Filter Members Club and Mink, which took Singapore by storm two years ago.

Opening in July 2013 at KL's Intermark, Providence brought a taste of Vegas to Malaysia - a premium hotspot for night-out in town that's a class of its own, tailored for tastemakers and aficionados of style and a new generation of elite partygoers and A-listers.

Fast becoming Kuala Lumpur's ultimate lifestyle party destination, P

Sweden - Sweden's cold October was warmed up this year by the lecture Patrick Woodroffe held in Stockholm. It saw the participation of trade professionals, students and enthusiasts from Sweden, other Scandinavian countries and the Baltic States.

In the Södra Teatern in the Swedish capital, one of the most prestigious venues in the city, famous for hosting musical and theatrical events of international importance, over 150 people avidly followed Patrick Woodroffe as he recounted the most exciting moments of his career, focusing in particular on the preparation for the last Michael Jackson tour, which did not take place owing to the singer's untimely death.

The event was organised by Interlite, one of the most important Swedish companies in the lighting industry. Its CEO, Niclas Ardvisson, owns the Wireless Solution brand name, which is particularly well-known among trade profe

The Netherlands - Switch Concepts, a subsidiary company of the Ampco Flashlight Group in Holland, has purchased an ASL Digital system to address the ever-increasing demand for Intercom communication systems during major events. Switch Concepts' business is the design and execution of entertainment events including sound, light and video.

"We were looking at many different intercom systems, but there are several reasons we decided to go for ASL digital intercom," says Frank Verbeek from Switch Concepts.

"We were very impressed with the sound quality of the system and that it can actually produce the required listen levels in environments with high SPL background noise. Many other intercom systems are not able to do that.

"Then we also noticed how easily you can configure an event. It is so quickly done, that you can take the system even for a one day produ

Finland - Airing on MTV3, Idols is a Finnish reality-television singing competition that debuted in the summer of 2003 and went on to become one of the most popular shows on Finnish television. Part of the Idol franchise, it originated from the reality programme Pop Idol created by British entertainment executive Simon Fuller, which was first aired in 2001 in the UK.

Lighting, set and video designer Mikki Kunttu once again created a stunning design for the TV show that seeks to discover the best unsigned singer in Finland. To achieve this task, Kunttu relied on one grandMA2 light and one MA onPC command wing as backup for lighting control and stated, "grandMA2 is the only choice for me. As we are working on one of the most popular TV formats we had to use the best equipment on the market. The grandMA2 has never let me down."

Kunttu continued, "This

UK - PRG has added the following products to their offering.

The GLP Impression X4 fixtures bring power, flexibility and practicality in a new breakthrough design. Behind the front lens, the X4 offers 19 RGBW LED's, each rated at 15W providing a homogenized beam with high output and individually controllable "allowing you to programme unique looks and animations".

SGM's P-5 Wash Light, IP65, low-profile fixed, rectangular, full-colour LED wash light and just 408W power consumption. Wide angle lens fitted as standard.

Philips Colorblaze TRX, versatile, feature-packed linear RGBAW LED fixture with industry-leading light output, native 10° beam angle.

MA Lighting's most powerful console, Grand MA2. Offering the control of conventional light, moving lights, LED fixtures and media from one platform.

Look Solutions Viper S, a low power and fluid consumption, but

USA - ETC has announced the students who have been selected to attend the LDI 2013 tradeshow as part of ETC's LDI Student Sponsorship programme.

Now in its 14th year, the programme awards exceptional lighting design and stage technology students an all expenses paid trip to the LDI tradeshow in Las Vegas, 22-24 November, to get a behind the scenes look at new technology and to network with industry professionals. The sponsorship recipients are also matched with industry luminaries, who offer individual support, advice and encouragement to the students as they launch their careers. The 2013 recipients of the LDI Student Sponsorship are:

Brandon J. Clark holds a bachelor of arts in theatre through the design/technical track from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Under the mentorship of Professor Victor En Yu Tan, he designed the lighting for a number of theatre, ope

USA - Harman Professional has announced the appointment of Jonas Stenvinkel as head, Martin Professional Asia Pacific with permanent base in Singapore. Stenvinkel, who previously served as sales director of EMEA North, will lead Martin Professional's sales and service staff in the Singapore and Asia region. He will report directly to Thomas Marcher, director of sales at the Harman Professional Regional sales office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

"Jonas has demonstrated a strong commitment to comprehensive customer service and support over his 10 year career with Martin Professional. Jonas is a strong addition to the Asia team and I'm confident his strong leadership and experience will be an asset for our customers in the Asia region," says Marcher.

Before joining Martin Professional, Stenvinkel owned and operated a sound and lighting rental house. Commenting on his appoin

Belgium - The Belgian organisation CAP48 aims to change society's view about the question of handicap (be it physical, mental or social) with enhanced integration. It strives to raise funds for the disabled in Belgium via activities such as an annual TV show, produced in cooperation with Belgian TV channel RTBF.

The charity appeal - in the shape of a special show featuring top national and international artists - is broadcast live, and as such the TV set calls for an exceptional stage design.

Belgian lighting designer, Jean-Jacques Marotte, was tasked with delivering this, and his vision for achieving it hinged around the SGM LT-200 LED tubes.

"We wanted the audience to be very close to the stage, with an illuminated centrepiece creating an intimate effect during the dialogue, but also deliver a bright set, as you would expect on prime time TV," explains Marotte. &

Italy - Luciano Ligabue held six concerts in the evocative setting of the Verona Arena in the second half of September. They were a great audience success. Fans rushed from all over Italy in order not to miss the chance to attend the only live events planned by the Correggio-born singer in 2013. The six evenings sold out in advance in one morning, during which all 72,000 tickets were bought. Besides the usual band, a real seventy-piece classical orchestra enhanced the concerts. Its contribution made the type of music the singer-songwriter performed highly unusual.

The show was split into three distinct parts. During the first part, Ligabue was accompanied by the orchestra. He performed some of his most famous pieces rearranged for the occasion by Maestro Marco Sabiu. Next came a part extended to electric musical instruments, followed by a section with a decidedly more rock feel,

Ireland - Chroma-Q Color Force 72™ LED battens have delivered premium lighting performance for productions during this year's renowned Wexford Festival Opera in South-Eastern Ireland.

The event is one of the most innovative and fastest growing of the world's major arts festivals. A diverse line-up includes full-scale opera productions plus daytime performances of shorter works of music theatre, concerts, recitals, talks and stand-up comedy from new creative talent.

The Festival's chief electrician, Didier Barreau and lighting designer, Paul Keogan specified the Color Force fixtures for use in the Festival's main stage operas.

"I'd used the Chroma-Q Color Force 48 fixtures at another opera festival earlier this year and was really impressed by the quality of their output and colour mixing," says Keogan.

"The Color Force units are the only sources we use

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