UK - Six the Musical, has taken up residence at The Lyric Theatre in London’s West End. Currently running until the end of August, it follows the tale of the six wives of Henry VIII, with Tudor Queens and Pop Princesses ‘remixing 500 years of historical heartbreak into an 80-minute celebration of 21st century girl power’. Long-time DiGiCo user and sound designer on all previous productions of the show, Paul Gatehouse, has chosen a Quantum 7T, supplied by Stage Sound Services, as the backbone of his audio design. “I think I was one of the first people to programme and mix a major musical on the SD7 with Theatre software,” recalls Gatehouse. “Not many people know, but Love Never Dies (sound designed by Mick Potter), which opened in London in 2010 and on which I was associate designer, was one of the first in the world to use this console, so I
South Korea - TechDataPS Co has installed audio systems from Harman Professional Solutions in its new showroom which aims to showcase the latest in audio technology to customers and visitors. To demonstrate how Harman Professional’s audio technologies meet the needs of various spaces and events, from bars to major concert venues, TechDataPS decided to create a dedicated showroom facility. Opened in November, 2020, the showroom offers an immersive tour of Harman's audio, video and control brands such as AKG, JBL and AMX. With more than 200 products on display, including loudspeakers, microphones, audio mixers and more, the centrehouses the largest collection of audio technology products in South Korea. The showroom is divided into several zones, each highlighting a different range of solutions. TechDataPS equipped the Performing Zone with JBL Intellivox Series, VTX
USA - Martin Audio PA rigs dominated three of the eight stages that made up this year’s four-day annual Lollapalooza Festival at Chicago’s Grant Park. The event - staged by C3 Presents, which dates back to 1991 - features over 170 bands from all round the world and attracts an audience of around 400,000 people. Martin Audio partner Technotrix, who have been supporting the event with barely a break for 25 years, provided Martin Audio’s systems for Tito’s, the BMI Stage and Bonus Tracks Stage (which this year replaced the former Kidzapalooza). Technotrix hold a vast inventory of premier Martin Audio PA front-line systems stretching back several generations. For the BMI stage this year, audio department manager Brent Bernhardt and BMI stage FOH crew chief Joe Mion, opted for an MLA Compact rig (six elements a side) on this small portable stage. These were re
Spain - Equipson's loudspeaker products were chosen by TecnoSonido when it was tasked with installing a new audio system at a five-star hotel on the Costa Blanca. With a customer profile that includes both national and international guests, the SH Villa Gadea hotel in Altea, Alicante, was keen to ensure that its new restaurant, the Purple Rain Lounge, delivered a sophisticated and enjoyable ambiance. Sound was a key part of this requirement as the hotel wanted to ensure that customers could hear music being played, but not at the expense of their own conversations. "When we go to a restaurant for dinner, we don't want to listen to loud music," says TecnoSonido's managing director Alexis Roldan. "What we are looking for, in addition to a good dish, is a pleasant atmosphere for all the senses. This is where sound plays a very important role." TecnoSonido's brief for
USA - Cameron Birchill has been designing lighting for metalcore rockers Beartooth since 2018 and recently turned to an Elation rig of DARTZ 360, Artiste Picasso and Protron 3K Color luminaires for the band’s The Journey Below Livestream, where fans got their first chance to see and hear the band performing songs from their latest album Below. The livestream took place 14 July at the Clyde Theatre in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, an historic building that recently underwent a $9m renovation. For their first livestream event, the band gave Birchill a blank canvas to design the type of show he thought would look best for an on-camera audience. The LD subsequently contacted New York-based rental company Squeek Lights and owner Victor Zeiser, who has worked with the band for years, including as lighting designer for a headlining 2018 tour. Birchill has lit numerous l
USA - The recent Can’t Cancel Pride livestream fundraiser for the LGBTQ+ community created powerful yet graceful and moving moments that drew attention to critical issues. Among the highlights of the virtual benefit, which was sponsored by iHeart Radio in partnership with Procter & Gamble, was a heartfelt performance by Leslie Odom of Hamilton fame at the historic Cicada Club in downtown Los Angeles. Reflecting the spirit of the event and the passion driving the Tony and Grammy winner’s performance was a balanced Will Chandler lighting design that featured Chauvet Professional fixtures supplied by Envizion Group. “This was an especially moving performance, since it commemorated the fifth anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub shooting,” explains Chandler. “The production designers created an evocative performance area that was surrounded by a se
Italy - In May of this year, MSC Cruises launched the Virtuosa, the fourth in its Meraviglia class of ships. Like its predecessors, the new 331.43m long luxury liner is outfitted with a host of amenities including 13 gourmet restaurants, spas, shops and pools. Beyond these flourishes, however, there is another side of this regal ship, one that, although not readily apparent to those on board, incorporates the latest “behind the scenes” technology on their behalf. Some of these features, like the closed-loop exhaust gas cleaning system that reduces sulphur emissions by 97-perect, protect the environment. Others are in place to ensure that passengers enjoy the most rewarding experience possible in the ship’s clubs, lounges and theatre. On board the MSC Virtuosa, along with all the high-tech operational equipment, are 34 Chauvet Professional NET-X II nodes, su
USA - At the end of 2019, a major fire damaged the sanctuary at First Baptist Church in Texarkana, TX. In 2020, renovations began to restore the 2,400-seat space; a new sound system was required as part of this work. First Baptist staff asked Ford AV to design a suitable system for their modern rock worship services and other events held at the space. The church wanted a sound system capable of high output without sacrificing musicality, clarity, and speech intelligibility. Ford AV deployed 10 Fulcrum Acoustic AH4 Higher-Output Coaxial Horns in a semi-circle above the altar for the main coverage. The AH4s were deployed in five groups of two vertically arrayed units. Each array consists of an AH443 over an AH463, with the AH443 providing long-throw coverage and the AH463 oriented downward to serve the lower-level seats. The broadband pattern control and extremely high o
Finland - Founded in 1963, Scandic is the Nordic region’s largest hotel operator with a network of some 280 hotels across six countries. With 70% of their revenues coming from the business travel and conference sector, Scandic is a pioneer in CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) practices, and the majority of its hotels are certified according to the Nordic Ecolabel’s new requirements. The chain has also won numerous awards, recently being recognised as Sweden’s most sustainable hotel brand for the 11th year in a row by Sustainable Brand Index, Europe’s largest brand study in sustainability. The latest hotel to open its doors is the Scandic Grand Central Helsinki, complete with a comprehensive Genelec sound system designed and installed by Finnish AV systems specialists, Murea Oy. Housed in an imposing Art Nouveau building that was formerly the head office of
USA - Broadway will celebrate its reopening in September with the 74th Tony Awards in New York. Two nominees for Best Musical, Jagged Little Pill and Moulin Rouge! The Musical, are powered by Meyer Sound systems, with the veteran sound designers for the two productions, Jonathan Deans and Peter Hylenski respectively, each nominated for Best Sound Design for a Musical. The two shows also received the highest total of Tony nominations, with 15 for Jagged Little Pill and 14 for Moulin Rouge! The Musical. Productions scheduled to return that principally rely on Meyer Sound, with respective sound designers, are David Byrne’s refreshed and relocated American Utopia (Pete Keppler), Dear Evan Hansen (Nevin Steinberg), Hadestown (Jessica Paz and Nevin Steinberg), Ain’t Too Proud (Steve Canyon Kennedy and Walter Trarbach), an
USA - Pigeons Playing Ping Pong and Eggy took the stage at the Westville Music Bowl, a new entertainment venue created in a converted tennis stadium on the Yale University campus, campus, Newhaven, CT. Lighting designers Manny Newman for Pigeons Playing Ping Pong and Peter Spadaro III for opening act Eggy unleashed a torrent of dynamic looks, taking advantage of the high (over 30’) stage roof to shower their clients with immersive washes and moving gobos one moment, then transitioning into bright aerials and immersive audience lighting the next. “There was such a diverse range of looks that it’s difficult to describe it in a few words,” said Newman, who designed and built the evening’s lighting rig. “The one thing that characterized all the looks is that they were complete.” Helping to create the production were 18 Chauvet Professional Rogue R1 Wash
Canada - Over time, the Jack Singer Concert Hall (JSCH) in Calgary has undergone many upgrades to ensure it remains a leading performance venue, including a complete overhaul and replacement of its seating and house lighting in 2017. Most recently, that process required a comprehensive retooling of its audio infrastructure that included an upgrade to the hall’s existing DiGiCo console and the purchase of a new DiGiCo Quantum 338. While much has changed in recent years, the venue’s ongoing reliance on DiGiCo consoles at JSCH and throughout the Arts Commons complex’s other venues, has not. Jack Jamieson, head sound technician at JSCH explains, “I’ve been using DiGiCo since 2012. We started with a compact version of the DiGiCo SD8 in 2012 and we were so impressed with its reliability and flexibility that, in 2014, we upgraded from analogue consoles to DiGiCo digital
Canada - Érik Nowosielski-Lamoureux lit a Canada Day celebration at the Saint-Ours Canal National Historic Site, about an hour out of Montreal. Faced with a relatively large stage for the size of his rig, Nowosielski-Lamoureux relied on his own ingenuity to stretch his fixtures in a way that ensured that the three musical acts and procession of speakers at the event were all shown in the best light. Helping him achieve this feat was a collection of Chauvet Professional Rogue and COLORado fixtures supplied by RobinSon Productions of Quebec. “Our mobile stage was 32ft by 24ft, which was rather large for what we had; but with all the band gear, you quickly lose a lot of space,” said Nowosielski-Lamoureux. “So I spread the six Rogue R2 Beam units in my rig across the stage, placing two near the drum stand on 8-foot truss, two more on road cases, one on each side of
UK - The award-winning Leeds Playhouse is the largest regional repertory theatre in the UK outside London and Stratford and has earned an international reputation as one of Britain's most exciting producing theatres. The Playhouse has been welcoming audiences for over 50 years and most recently underwent a £16m transformation which includes improved access to and around the theatre, a new city-facing entrance and the addition of a new studio theatre, the Bramall Rock Void. The theatre’s continuing investment in its audio infrastructure has seen the recent purchase of 24 channels of Shure’s Axient Digital wireless systems from Autograph. Tom Cuthbertson, deputy head of sound at Leeds Playhouse, comments: “Our old RF systems were in need of replacement after many years of use. Unfortunately, we also lost the use of around half of them in the most recent Ofcom frequency
USA - PRG has incorporated L-Acoustics L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound Technology into its Los Angeles Virtual Production Studio. This advanced audio technology pairs with PRG’s extended reality setup to offer an array of tools for multi-sensory immersive experiences. In addition to the L-ISA technology permanently available in the Los Angeles studio, which includes an immersive loudspeaker configuration and processing hardware, the new L-ISA Studio software suite, launched in April, makes it easier for sound creators to design immersive audio with 3D control interface and audio processing, all available on a personal computer. Creators can use L-ISA Studio software from any computer, listen to and prepare their content in binaural sound using headphones, and then bring their creation to the PRG Los Angeles Virtual Production Studio where it will seamlessly translate to L
UK - One of the first things that visitors to Wembley Stadium will see in 2021 are the bespoke LED screens created by LG Electronics (LG) as part of the remodelling of the stadium’s entrance that has seen the old concrete pedestrian flyovers replaced by a new set of Olympic Steps. A joint project developed in partnership with stadium owner the Football Association, Brent Council, and surrounding landowner and developer Quintain, the most eye-catching aspects of the new design are the giant LED screens that dominate the entrance. Composed of one enormous 460sqm screen mounted on the inside of the Great Hall facing outwards, dubbed the Large External Screen or ‘LES’, and flanked by two 230sq.m displays, nicknamed the ‘Ears’, the screens are the most visible part of an enormous project undertaken by FA partner LG that will also see the venue’s 1200 plasma screens al
UK - Having given their new RCF HDL 30-A rig an auspicious debut at Rutland Water recently for the Frankie Valli tribute act, Frankie’s Guys, JPS Sound & Light were in action again at the Colesdale Farm festival site near Potters Bar for the now firmly established Zimfest Live - a colourful celebration of Zimbabwean music. Working alongside Gareth Wildman’s Stage Tec as they frequently do, John Southee’s Peterborough based company populated the 12 x 10m Alidome stage with two hangs of eight HDL 30-A active two-way line array modules. These were underpinned with two 18 RCF SUB 9006-AS on the ground in front of the stage, while across the stage lip were RCF’s NX 15-SMA reference monitors. Wildman, who has known John Southee for the past 20 years, has increasingly turned to the sound system specialist for his deployment of RCF’s control tool, RDNet. W
Europe - Robe Esprite luminaires and RoboSpot remote follow spotting systems – the first installed on an ocean-going liner – are providing a flexible solution for the Two70 Theatre space aboard the new 1,138ft long, 169 gross tonne Odyssey of the Seas, the latest Ultra Quantum-class ship launched by Royal Caribbean International. Built at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, the technical specifications for the various onboard entertainment spaces were coordinated by Christopher Vlassopulos, Royal Caribbean’s sound, light and AV systems manager for new build projects. The installation was completed by media technology specialists and integrators, Amptown System Company (ASC). Two70 is featured on all four of Royal Caribbean’s Quantum-class ships, and fitting traditional follow spots into these was always a challenge. Due to the steep angle of the sea
Italy - Sound engineers chose Point Source Audio's CO-8WL omnidirectional waterproof lavalier microphones for the immersive production of Puccini's Tosca, staged in the courtyard of Palazzo Farnese in Northern Italy's city of Piacenza. Due to the necessary social distancing of the audience and performers, this production called on many more technical elements than you would usually find in an opera. From the projection mapping around the facade of the courtyard used for the staging to the immersive audio environment created by the Outboard TiMax system, this was a performance where technology came to the forefront to transport the audience back to Napoleonic Rome. Creating the kind of audio environment where every nuance could be reproduced naturally and precisely required premium components at every stage of the signal chain. "Point Source Audio's CO-8WL
Denmark - Copenhagen’s Østre Gasværk Theatre is staging a revival of the 2017 Danish production of Green Day’s iconic American Idiot sung-through drama directed and choreographed by Tim Zimmerman, which is proving to be every bit as popular as the original show. Once again, the technical discipline of automation is crucial to Benjamin la Cour’s dramatic, stark scenography and production design, and a Kinesys Apex automation system - a combination of 1,250kg and 500kg Apex motors with Vector control - is at the heart of delivering the elegant millimetre-perfect movement control, advanced safety requirements plus other cool features like silent braking that are essential for the delivery of this captivating show. The hoists are moving three large scenery pieces making up a concrete-look scenic floor, which also transforms into separate ceiling pieces that work t
New Zealand - After more than a year of lockdown, the wait was finally over when the multi-platinum selling band, Six60, embarked on a massive tour across New Zealand. The Six60 Saturdays tour culminated with a historic ‘first’ when they became the first ever band to play at the Eden Park stadium in Auckland, with over 50,000 fans gathering to see the live show. Video production and equipment supplier, Big Picture, provided a complete video system package both for the tour and the inaugural concert at Eden Park, which included Brompton Technology’s Tessera LED processing. “Coming out of a year of Covid restrictions, we were excited to be given an opportunity to put together a video system package for the upcoming Six60 Saturdays tour,” says Paul Carppe, general manager – NZ at Big Picture. “We have a close working relationship with Eccles Entertainment (
USA - Robert John Baker was called upon to light the award-winning Andrew Lippa musical based on the famously eccentric Addams Family, at the historic (121-year-old) Casino Theatre in Vandergrift, PA. “Before designing this show, I went back and watched some of the old Addams Family programmes and the film to see the world through their perspective,” he said. “The way they saw the world was quite different than what we deem to be normal. I wanted that to inform my design.” Baker’s empathy for the characters in the Addams Family is readily apparent in the way he uses light to distinguish their unique personalities, express their hopes, and accentuate key moments as their stories unfold in this darkly funny musical comedy. Helping him convey the family’s emotions, while creating a sense of mystery around them were the Chauvet Professional Ovation E-910
UK - A South-West event production company has successfully delivered the UK leg of international yacht race, SailGP, which was hosted in Plymouth for the first time. Cornwall-based JHAV worked with SailGP’s UK event director and global team to design, organise, and manage the event, which took place on 17-18 July. Known as the F1 of sailing, SailGP saw eight international teams from Australia, France, USA, Great Britain, Denmark, Japan, New Zealand, and Spain compete in front of more than 4,000 fans each day at Plymouth Hoe. John Hibdige, JHAV’s production manager, said: “We’re well known for our AV services, though we also specialise in production and event management, tailoring our services to client’s needs. Our team provided a full event service for SailGP, and I’m really proud of the outcome. “Plymouth Hoe is one of the world’s best na
Australia - The first Astera NYX Bulb installation in Australia has been completed by Elite Event Technology at One22, a new music-driven bar and night entertainment concept in a reimagined space that has long served night and party people in Canberra. Owned by the same team who also run the popular Fiction Club and Fact Bar, ACT’s largest club, One22’s new lighting design includes 60 x Astera NYX bulbs in an individually mapped ceiling art piece. EET’s Darren Russell was invited to create a fresh new lighting look to match the eye-catching raw industrial chic of One22’s interior design, and integral to this is the NYX bulb roof installation. “The client wanted to be able to change the mood and dynamic of the venue instantly and drastically but without having any roof trusses full of lighting and rigging,” explained Darren. Having invested ste
