Estonia - Robe’s Estonian distributor, Tallinn-based E&T, is in the final stages of delivering a major order for moving and LED lights for 10 major theatres across the country, where all forms of live performance are strongly engrained in Estonian culture.

In most cases, the new LED lighting fixtures are replacing ageing tungsten or halogen-based lighting. E&T’s Olev Luhaäär stated that the company was “delighted” to win the bid to be the supplier for the initiative, chosen from stiff competition, adding that it “underlines the quality and range of Robe’s products that are designed and spec’d for this demanding lighting discipline”.

A total of 15 different Robe products have been specified across the 10 venues including T1 and T2 Profiles, Fresnels and Follow Spots, LEDBeam 350s, Spiiders, iParFect FWQ RGBWs and RGBWs, T11 P

Germany - For Wincent Weiss’s arena tour in March 2025, the renowned design studio St. Robo developed a fully integrated show design – including set, lighting and content, as well as IMAG and creative direction. The design concept and implementation were developed in close collaboration within an interdisciplinary team dedicated to developing a new visual language for the artist. The focus was on emotional impact, technical finesse and a deliberate departure from traditional stage conventions.

Pop singer and songwriter Wincent Weiss became known for his authentic German-language songs and energetic live shows – characteristics that also played a central role in the visual storytelling of the 2025 arena tour.

The St. Robo team – consisting of Nik Evers, Philipp Hillers, Markus Eibl, Hannes Geers and Andy Machals, among others – pursued a bol

UK - LSi is sad to report the passing of Dave Keighley on 9 June 2025. Until May 2024, Keighley had served as Chairman of the PSA (Production Services Association) before ill health led to his retirement. Prior to that, he enjoyed a long career in lighting, design and production, touring with many leading artists and leading several big-name companies, including of Light and Sound Design (LSD), Syncrolite LLC, SGM Lighting and PRG Europe, where he was managing director from 1998 to 2008.

A statement from the PSA reads: “Dave was instrumental, together with other well-known industry names, in forming the PSA in the late ‘80s. Over many decades, Dave continued to promote, support and advocate for the association’s work, representing those who work in live event production.”

It continues: “Dave was an inspiration to many, he was a visionary, a

Germany - Hit TV show Dein Song showcased the best emerging songwriters this spring with each contestant performing amid bespoke content displayed on three LED screens, all driven by Hippotizer Media Servers.

Creative production studio LUPIXX used two Boreal+ MK2s, supplied by ETC, to deliver a wealth of content created by Saskia Olma at LUPIXX and her team. “We were responsible for the content design of the finale, creating custom animations, visual concepts, and LED stage content to support the young songwriters’ performances and bring their music to life in an atmospheric and powerful way,” explains Olma. “The Boreal+ MK2 Media Servers are so user friendly, easy to set up and good to go, making the process and realisation of the show stress-free.”

The popular programme is produced by ZDF in collaboration with children’s channe

USA - JJ Grey had one bit of advice for the artists who joined him and his band Mofro for their two-day festival, The Blackwater Sol Revival, which kicked off 24 May. ‘Don’t stand on the side of the stage because I’m going to put you on the spot’.

The artist was true to his word. Guest stars, a group that included John Anderson, The Marshall Tucker Band, Season 24 The Voice winner Huntley, and 49 Winchester, were called up on stage at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre in St Augustine, FL. to join JJ Grey & Mofro as they performed their captivating blend of southern rock and blues with a distinctive touch of jazz.

Setting an engaging atmosphere on stage, while supporting each artist with strong, natural-looking light was a Martin Thomas design that featured an even 100 Chauvet Professional fixtures supplied by AVL Production

USA - The Ruth and Nathan Hale Theatre, also known as The Ruth at dōTERRA, opened its doors on 4 January 2025, and is already making a name for itself as a premier performing arts venue. A culmination of years of planning, the new venue in Pleasant Grove, Utah is equipped with Elation’s latest lighting technology.

The venue houses two theatres, the 670-seat Scott and Karen Smith Grand Theatre and the intimate 300-seat Lindsay Legacy Theatre. Elation lighting graces both theatres, including 40 Artiste Monet luminaires and 88 KL Profile FC fixtures, supplied by Barbizon Light of the Rockies, and 103 Fuze Pendant Compact fixtures, sold by Elation dealer Brio Technologies. Michael Gray, head of lighting at The Ruth, specified fixture types and quantities.

The theatre operated for 35 years as the Hale Center Theatre Orem, a small semi-professional thea

UK - On 4 June, the Association of British Theatre Technicians hosted its Annual Awards after a busy first day of the ABTT Theatre Show at Alexandra Palace, London. This event is a cornerstone of the ABTT, dedicated to honouring outstanding contributions to the theatre and live events sector and recognises the achievements of those who are shaping the future of the industry.

Ted Moore, director at sponsors TAIT, said of the Awards: “TAIT is really proud to be here once again to sponsor the ABTT Awards, which I truly believe are the best award presentations anywhere in our industry. We wish all the nominees good luck and give congratulations to whoever the winners may be.”

The five Product Awards recognise the achievements of products which are substantially new to the market during the last 12 months and are available now for purchase, immediate

UK - Wealdstone FC has announced a partnership with Version 2, who will become its official digital & broadcast partner.

Its logo will feature prominently on the Stones first-team shorts for the duration of the next two campaigns, alongside branding across the stadium and matchday publications. 

Version 2 are lighting rental specialists for the broadcast and event industries supplying a broad range of productions, including Strictly Come Dancing, Britain’s Got Talent and the BAFTA Awards.

The company is also active in the sports outside broadcast sector, supplying lighting facilities to the FIFA World Cup, Premiership Rugby and Wimbledon Tennis Championship.

This is its first football partnership having previously served as the official partner of Boxxer and Sky Sports Boxing and most recently Saracen

UK - Pharos Architectural Controls has announced John Jarrard as the new regional sales manager for the Middle East.

His appointment is part of a long-term growth strategy within the sales operation, designed to strengthen regional engagement and create new development opportunities for team members.

Jarrard brings over a decade of experience in architectural lighting controls, having led European and Middle East sales at ENTTEC and Advatek Lighting, where he developed key customer relationships and was responsible for commercial strategy.

On his new role, Jarrard said: “It’s a career highlight for me to be joining the Pharos team. I’m looking forward to the new challenges this role will bring, while being able to leverage the skills and relationships I have from my previous sales positions. I’m looking forward to championing the Phar

USA - Lady Gaga’s 2025 Mayhem show rolled into Coachella where her headliner slot featured a two-hour performance complete with elaborate costumes, epic set, video and ‘diligently crafted lighting’.

Lighting designer Jeremy Lechterman of FragmentNine (F9) was part of the creative team – which included production designers Es Devlin and Jason Ardizzone-West, choreographer Parris Goebel, video designer Jackson Gallagher and the artist herself, who devised this stadium show, inspired by a dynamic mix of pop, opera, rock, gothic and several other genres. The show has also been staged in Mexico, Rio de Janeiro – in front of over 2m fans – and Singapore.

Prominent on Jeremy’s lighting design for Coachella 2025’s Main Stage were some key Robe moving light elements – 82 x iForte LTXs, 17 x iForte LTX Follow Spot and 22 x Esprites.<

USA - Pitbull recently wowed audiences at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas resort hotel, the first phase of a residency.

The task of adapting his recent Party After Dark tour for a show renamed Vegas After Dark fell to his long-term creatives, production manager Victor Martinez and creative director Yamil Charif (of YC3 Design).

Charif explains that having toured with nine trucks of gear, they needed to scale back – integrating with the existing house rig at the hotel’s 3,800-seat BleauLive Theatre and at the same time introducing some new lighting solutions from GLP: “We already had GLP equipment out on the tour – a bunch of JDC1 [hybrid strobes] – and we kept most of these because they are a key element of the show.”

In fact, Charif is such an advocate of JDC1 that he earlier invested for his own production company,

USA - Elation has announced that Luxsonix Group has been appointed as its new manufacturer’s representative firm for Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee, effective 1 June 2025. The partnership also includes representation of Obsidian Control Systems and Magmatic atmospheric effects products.

Based in Franklin, Tennessee, Luxsonix is a newly launched firm founded by Lee Carpenter, a respected industry veteran and former partner at independent rep firm Vision2 Marketing. With decades of experience on the manufacturer, representative, and touring sides of the entertainment technology industry, Carpenter brings a deep understanding of the market and a well-established network throughout the region.

Over the past decade, Carpenter played a pivotal role in growing Vision2 Marketing into the largest independent rep firm for professional audio, vi

Switzerland - Circus Knie 2025 in Rapperswil offers “a mixture of fantasy, poetry and magic”. Adding an extra glow to this vibrant mix and intensifying the fantasy, poetry and magic at the show was a versatile and lively lighting design by Axel Melchior. Like the circus itself, Melchior’s work radiated a delightful sense of surprise as it captivated the audience with its unexpected twists and turns.

The Circus Knie has happily reinvented itself during the course of its long and storied history (it began in 1803). Melchoir, boldly added a new dimension to his lighting design with help from some Chauvet Professional COLORado PXL Curve 12 fixtures supplied by Dushow. It was one of several enhancements he made this year.

“In our previous design, the light was very good from FOH, but I reworked the show so that it encompassed all the spectators mo

UK - Midwich has announced the launch of Live, a new division created to serve the needs of the live events industry through specialist distribution and trade rental services in the UK&I. Backed by the legacy, expertise, and energy of Sound Technology and PSCo, Live is designed to help partners ‘deliver extraordinary live events’.

Under the Live banner sit two independent specialist businesses – each focused on delivering excellence in their own area:

Live Technology – the distribution arm, formerly Sound Technology, providing market-leading brands in audio, lighting, video, and control to the live events community, supported by expert pre- and post-sales teams.

PSCo and Dry Hire Lighting – the trade rental arm, continuing to deliver exceptional service and specialist rental solutions through trusted teams and existing account s

Austria - Vienna’s Marx Halle hosted the 2025 Amadeus Austrian Music Awards, a major night out for the Austrian music industry, staged by IFPI Austria, to recognise outstanding achievements by Austrian artists and musicians.

No less standing out than the occasion itself was an eye-catching production lighting for the event created by Manfred Nikitser who incorporated eight Robe SVOPATT LED fixtures into his design.

Broadcast live on national television channel ORF, the 2025 event further celebrated 25 years of the Awards, stepping up from a theatre venue to this larger former industrial space right at the heart of the city’s event scene, which also upped the production values.

Manfred, lighting the Awards for the fourth time, wanted a strong, spectacular backlight feature for the 11 show-stopping live performances taking place in between

USA - With an eminent history dating back almost 100 years, Proctors is a 2,646-cap. theatre based in Schenectady, upstate New York.

It had largely fallen into disrepair when the city took over ownership in 1977 and initially earmarked to be torn down, before it was saved – thanks to its historic status – by the National Park Service, which offered to buy it for $1 and run it as a nonprofit. In 2005, the stagehouse was rebuilt to accommodate modern Broadway touring productions, such as the original Phantom of the Opera and Disney’s The Lion King – and it has enjoyed a close association with Broadway, including the ‘teching’ of Broadway tours.

“Since then, we have done dozens of techs, including the huge national tour of Disney’s Frozen, which left here in over 20 semis,” records Dan Sheehan, the theatre’

USA - Antari Lighting and Effects USA has announced the appointment of Ana Jaramillo as East Coast regional sales manager. With over 25 years of experience in the professional lighting and effects industry, including 23 years at Chauvet and additional time at Vestax and The DJ Store, Jaramillo brings considerable knowledge and strong industry relationships to the Antari USA team.

Based in South Florida, Jaramillo will oversee East Coast sales efforts for Antari’s full line of atmospheric effect products and serve as a dedicated lighting specialist for the U.S. distribution of the Event Lighting brand. With a solid background in lighting, atmospherics, and DJ effects, she is eager to apply her expertise and passion to support dealers and end users across the region.

“I am so excited and happy to join Ray and his team here at Antari USA,” said Ja

USA - Equipson will officially unveil its new LightShark X-Series at InfoComm 2025, a line of professional DMX/RDM control devices designed to deliver maximum compatibility, advanced connectivity, and full configurability for demanding lighting applications.

The new Node 6X and Node 12X offer six and 12 DMX universes respectively, with full support for RDM E1.20, ArtNet, and sACN, and allow users to adjust the DMX refresh rate between 15 and 44 Hz. Each port can be independently configured as an input or output, enabling bidirectional conversion between Ethernet and DMX, as well as flexible routing of DMX512 signals to ArtNet or sACN.

Both units offer Power over Ethernet (PoE, 802.3af, modes A and B) and a direct power input of 100–277 VAC, 50/60 Hz via a TrueOne connector. For long-distance applications, the Node 6X and 12X feature fibre optic con

UK - The second Profile Awards ceremony was held at the Alexandra Palace Theatre on 5 June 2025. Created and are coordinated by Durham and Jennie Marenghi in association with the ALPD, the ABTT and the STLD, the awards recognise lighting design excellence in theatre and TV in the UK.

The event was attended by 250 people and of those 150 were lighting designers or members of their lighting teams. The headline sponsor was Ayrton, with Ambersphere Solutions sponsoring the drinks reception, entry sponsors included ER Productions, Encore, Limelite and Sunbelt Rental Film and TV who also supplied the goody bags. The lighting for the event was kindly supplied by HS-Hire, the lasers by ER Productions and the lectern gifted by Encore.

In order of the presentations on the night, the Student Virtual Lighting Design Award sponsored by AC Entertainment Technologi

South Africa - Cape Town’s long-established venue, Artscape Theatre has invested in four Robert Juliat Arthur 800W LED followspots and three Robert Juliat Oz 600W LED followspots, supplied by Robert Juliat’s exclusive distributor for South Africa, DWR Distribution.

The decision to invest in Robert Juliat was made jointly by Johnny Scholtz of DWR’s Cape Town branch, working in close conjunction with Artscape Theatre’s head of lighting, Faheem Bardien.

“Artscape’s in-house technical facilities are designed to cater to a diverse range of artistic genres, including opera, ballet, drama, contemporary dance, musical theatre, corporate seminars, and pop or rock shows,” explains Bardien, “all of which must be carefully considered when procuring lighting fixtures and other technical support systems.

“It’s paramount that Artscape’

UK - A new car park facility in Cardiff is making a dramatic impact as night falls, thanks to an illuminated façade controlled by Pharos Architectural Controls.

As a key part of the vibrant Central Quay development in Cardiff, the eight-story car park is immediately notable for its sleek and contemporary design. The facility boasts an enviable location, next to the central station.

A concept was created to illuminate the façade of the new facility, adding to the site’s appeal and making it visually striking during darker hours. The contractor for the project, Goldbeck Construction, partnered with lLED lighting solutions provider, LITE, to specify and supply the technology to fulfil the design. The lighting needed to be fully programmable and colour controllable, so LITE turned to lighting controls specialists Pharos Architectural Controls, specif

Japan - ON, an international provider of AV solutions with operational hubs in Brazil and Portugal, was entrusted with the full AV integration and daily operation of the Portugal Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, a standout cultural and technological space, which has already welcomed over 500,000 visitors.

The Pavilion, designed by internationally acclaimed architect Kengo Kuma, explores the theme The Ocean: The Blue Dialogue through immersive storytelling, interactive installations, and large-scale projections.

ON was contracted by Rimond SRL, the general contractor for the project, to deliver the complete AVL infrastructure for the Portugal Pavilion - covering everything from equipment acquisition and system design to installation, integration, and daily operation throughout the six-month event. Their scope included projection systems (walls, f

UK – Elation’s Paragon LED profile moving head has been awarded Lighting Product of the Year at the ABTT Theatre Show.

The Association of British Theatre Technicians’ (ABTT) Annual Awards took place on last week at Alexandra Palace, following the first day of the ABTT Show. Accepting the award on behalf of Elation was business development manager Graham Hill, who shared:

“We’re absolutely delighted to receive this recognition from the ABTT. Paragon was designed for work in virtually any application, also the creative and technical demands of theatre professionals. This award is a real testament to the incredible work of our team, the years of R&D behind this series, and the valuable input of our design partners who helped shape what Paragon has become.”

An experienced jury of working theatre practitioners and industry peers co

   

On Broadway - UK-originated productions and creatives received 13 prizes at this year’s Tony Awards. Stranger Things: The First Shadow, which premiered in London in December 2023, was this year’s biggest winner at a ceremony held in New York’s Radio City Music Hall. It won awards including best sound design and a special award for its illusions and technical effects team, with Miriam Buether taking home the prize for best scenic design of a play for the show.

Sunset Boulevard, directed by Jamie Lloyd, picked up three prizes, including best revival of a musical and a best actress gong for Nicole Scherzinger, while performer Jak Malone took home best featured actor in a musical for Operation Mincemeat.

SOLT and UK Theatre co-chief executive, Claire Walker said: "This year’s Tony Awards have been a brilliant showc

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