Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025
City Theatrical - Banner - July 2025

Rigging / Staging

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Theatre Projects Consultants has worked all over the world, but never created a drive-through theatre - until now! At the eleventh hour, the Emir of Abu Dhabi has called in Theatre Projects Consultants to work on a new 500-seat waterfront theatre being built for the Royal Court, one of the requirements being enough space between the stage and the stalls to allow the frail leader to be driven to his seat.

Although the original plan had been to erect a tented theatre, this was abandoned when the Royal Court decided it wanted a more permanent structure and contracted local company Algeemi Code to design, build and fit-out the new facility. Soon after the metal framing had been put in place, it was realized that there were opportunities to improve the design and one of the Public Works Department's architects contacted Theatre Projects: within a week Mark Stroomer, design director, was in

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S. Leonard Auerbach, ASTC, founder of Auerbach + Associates Inc. has announced that both of the company’s divisions have changed their names to more accurately reflect recent company expansion. The name of Auerbach + Associates, Theatre and Media Facilities Design Consultants, has been changed to Auerbach · Pollock · Friedlander, Performing Arts/Media Facilities Planning and Design. Auerbach + Glasow, Architectural Lighting Design, is now Auerbach · Glasow, Architectural Lighting Designers and Consultants.

"The new name recognizes the firm’s growth and evolution from a San Francisco-based consultancy to a national entity with a thriving New York City office and a busy Minneapolis project office, marking yet another step in the ongoing development of the firm," said Len Auerbach.

The change of name also reflects the rise of two of the company’s principa

LSi 40 - Banner - July-Nov 2025

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TeleStage Associates Plc has secured the contract to provide stage engineering equipment for the prestigious Wales Millennium Centre. The contract calls for the design and supply of a wide range of stage equipment, covering multiple orchestra elevators, seating wagons, fire and acoustic doors, counterweight flying, powered hoists, movable auditorium towers, house curtain and adjustable proscenium.

The Wales Millennium Centre will be the focal point of the redevelopment of Cardiff Bay and will provide a world-class venue for the full range of performing arts. As part of the contract, TeleStage will work closely with Sir Robert McAlpine - the design and build contractor. Carr and Angier are the Theatre Consultants and this project also marks the next step in the long and productive relationship that has existed between the two companies.

(Ruth Rossington)

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Guests on board Crystal Cruises' Crystal Serenity, which goes into service June 2003, will be able to watch first-run movies in a luxury 200+ seat projection theatre with state-of-the-art audio visual systems, including audio enhancement for the hearing-impaired. Responsible for the entertainment design and installation for the Hollywood Theatre is MAVCO, whose Director of Engineering, Rob Shuard, asked Triple E to design and supply a custom projection screen, with variable pre-set masking using the company's Chaintrack system. Shuard said: "We needed a system that allowed for multiple masking presets including anamorphic 2.35:1, widescreen 16:9 and standard 4:3. Given the restricted space on board the vessel, Triple E's Chaintrack system was chosen for its ultra-low profile and its ability to turn tight corners."

The 4.7m wide x 2m high screen required black masking panels t

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Gearhouse South Africa was extensively involved with the Auto Africa show (23-27 Oct) - Africa’s biggest motoring event. Bill Lawford was Gearhouse SA’s project manager for the event, running a team of 30 Gearhouse technicians. The bulk of the company’s work at Auto Africa 2002 was in providing sound, audio-visual equipment, rigging and decking. In particular, rigging the trussing proved no small feat - Gearhouse SA rigged over 500 different hanging points throughout the three main Auto Africa exhibition halls.

Among the 25+ stands that Gearhouse SA was involved in were Land Rover, Ford, Mazda, Alpha Romeo, Fiat, Chrysler Jeep, Renault, Honda and Porsche. The range of equipment was extensive: for example, a cube wall on the Mazda stand involved 48 separate cubes. "To set that up they had to be perfectly balanced and stitched together which was quite a job,"

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PCM’s famous Lodestar Motor School continues its on-going world tour, with the first, highly successful event to be held in Dublin. The School was co-ordinated by top Dublin-based lighting sales and installation company Stage Lighting Centre, run by the charismatic Pat Walsh, assisted by Paddy Farrell. It was held in the prestigious Abbey Theatre in central Dublin - the National Theatre of Ireland.

28 people attended the School, presented by PCM’s tutor-in-chief Tony Dickson. They came from all areas of the professional entertainment industry from across the country. The two-day Motor School covered many topics. A king pin of the PCM course is the complete stripping down and re-assembling of a Lodestar motor, enabling students to learn about the role and significance of the machine’s electrical and mechanical components, and how they inter-relate. Working in pairs, st

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Star Hire (Event Services) Limited joined the cream of the pop world once again when it installed the staging for the 2002 Top of the Pops Awards in Manchester.

The Awards, hosted by Ronan Keating, attracted a veritable A-List of pop stars, from Best Newcomer Will Young, to double- winner Kylie and Lifetime Hall of Fame winner Sir Elton John. They also performed live sets alongside Miss Dynamite, Blue and the Manic Street Preachers.

The set, designed by Miranda Jones of Mermaid Design, was in keeping with the look of the televised weekly programme, but expanded to fit the dimensions of the enormous Manchester Evening News Arena. Star Hire was contracted to supplement the Arena’s own staging system to house the huge production. This included building the awards platform sited to one side of the stage and a temporary ‘bridge’ and red carpet walkway connecting the plat

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PCM’s Projects division has supplied the main theatre space in Dublin’s Liberty Hall Centre for the Performing Arts with specialist lighting bar winches. The new venue has been completely refurbished - along with the rest of this historically significant building. It was re-opened as the Performing Arts Centre by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, TD.

Installation of the new lighting and technical infrastructure was undertaken by Dublin lighting supplier Stage Lighting Centre, who also supplied a full set of stage curtains, complete dimming system and stage lanterns. They worked very closely with Brian Tracey, Liberty Hall’s head of technical, throughout the installation period. When it came to custom engineering and installing the specialist lighting bars required at the FOH and forestage positions, Stage Lighting Centre’s Paddy Farrell approached PCM.

Working to the s

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The Jewish Free School's new campus in North London was officially opened by PM Tony Blair in October. Designed by leading UK architects Terrence O'Rourke, the new campus provides a base for approximately 2000 students.

In charge of the development of the 22,224sq.m facility was Jarvis plc, a facilities management and infrastructure services group, and the first company to win a schools project under the government’s Private Finance Initiative. The Jarvis team worked in partnership with the local education authority to create the facility, and also with a number of sub-contractors - amongst them Maltbury, who fulfilled the staging part of the contract.

As the facility's main hall is used for school presentations and exams, the Jarvis team wanted to provide under-stage storage for the exam desks without lifting the height of the stage. To achieve this, Maltbury designed and buil

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Could LDI capitalize on the renewed focus on business demonstrated at PLASA just a few weeks earlier?Ruth Rossington headed to Vegas to find out.

With PLASA providing a much needed fillip to the business, the question everyone wanted answering about LDI was whether it could pick up the baton and continue where PLASA left off. Well the jury’s marginally out on that one - certainly, the first day got off to a blistering start, but there were definitely times when things felt quiet on the show floor. That said, all the exhibitors I spoke to reported good levels of business and that’s the only yardstick a trade show should be measured by.

Much of the product on display had already made its presence felt at PLASA, but there were some real innovations and some noticeable trends. The undiminished homage to all things LED continues, to the point where Ellen Lampert-Greaux, part o

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Fifteen months in the job, and already the Fairfield Hall’s new technical coordinator Ian Locke is beginning to make his presence felt; not least in the realms of safety. "Before I took the appointment I could already see this was a very, very busy venue; sometimes three performances a day, so I knew safe working practices would be paramount."

Consequently there has been, in his own words "huge changes", not least the recent installation of a new rigging grid above the famous Fairfield stage. "The existing grid was well past its sell-by date, so in September of 2001 I visited PLASA to see what was available. At the time I didn’t even know Total Fabrications’ T2 system existed (hardly surprising as it was barely a year since launch) so when I stopped by their stand I was more than impressed with the system."

Being a prudent shopper, Lock

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Star Rigging joined a star line-up in December 2002, rigging the set and production for the Top of the Pops Awards, as they celebrated a successful year for the pop world. In a year that brought us Pop Idol and Fame Academy and more pop tours and radio roadshows than ever before, the Top of the Pops Awards gave its own accolades to the most successful acts of 2002. The show attracted the year’s hottest property, from Miss Dynamite, winner of the best R&B act, to Kylie and the Manic Street Preachers. Star Rigging was once again contracted to supply the rigging for the entire set, lighting, sound and screens for the awards, held in the Manchester Evening News Arena.

Phil Broad was head rigger for the show and worked with the organizers from the concept of the stage set to the practicalities of the rigging on the day. Phil worked with the client, BBC Worldwide, production manager St

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USA - Stage Tools Truss America LLC has introduced a line of TÜV-approved aluminum trussing that is not only very strong and durable, but is also priced affordably to fit the budget of virtually any lighting user. By offering high-quality aluminum trussing at a down-to-earth price, Stage Tools is opening the way for smaller clubs and DJs to take their lighting set-ups to a new level of professionalism, says Kenneth Kahn, general manager of Stage Tools Truss America: "In the past, many smaller performers, DJs and clubs haven't been able to rig their special effects and lighting fixtures on high quality truss, because it was priced beyond their means," said Kahn. "But now Stage Tools is changing all that with our new line of highly affordable aluminum trussing."

Stage Tools is designed to accommodate the growing market of lighting users who would like to move

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UK / Ireland - Rigging and lifting specialist PCM, based in Prenton, Wirral, kicked off 2003 by announcing that Dublin-based Stage Lighting Centre has been appointed sole agents for all PCM equipment for the Irish Republic.

All service, back-up, spares and orders for PCM equipment in Ireland will now be processed by Stage Lighting Centre under the contract, which was finalised during a recent PCM Lodestar Motor School in Dublin. The Stage Lighting Centre was founded in 1987 by Pat Walsh and Pat Farrell. The company is one of the most respected sales, hire and installation operations in Ireland, and works in all areas of the professional entertainment industry. PCM and the Stage Lighting Centre have steadily engaged in more business in recent years, particularly in the last 12 months, so the distribution deal was a logical progression.

Pat Walsh comments: "We've used PCM a

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UK - A regular and long-standing supplier to the UK's leading electronic retailer QVC, Triple E was back there towards the end of 2002 installing its lightweight, but strong Unicyc track in Studio One of the channel's London headquarters.

Prior to this installation, Studio One had a make-shift rig on which a cyclorama and lights were hung, but as it was outdated and inflexible, Mike O'Brien, QVC's backstage manager, approached Triple E to come up with a solution. Unicyc was created especially for TV studio applications and allows for a vast degree of versatility as it can be curved and assembled on site. Replacing Studio One's original track, the new U-shaped Unicyc system also incorporates ladder-frame lighting crossbeams, a points system and storage areas. "The system provides the opportunity to hang two cyclorama curtains from it, whilst the crossbeams allow better light

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UK - Columbus McKinnon has announced the addition of Adrian Forbes-Black to its international sales team. Forbes-Black, who will be regional manager for Europe, was previously general manager at Tomcat UK, a distributor of Columbus McKinnon products. Ned Librock, vice-president of sales, commented: "The Lodestar chain hoist continues to be the theatrical market leader and we believe this appointment will further support our European distributors, customers and users."

Adrian will be based in the Wirral, UK and will be supported by Columbus McKinnon's UK and European-based subsidiaries.

(Lee Baldock)

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The Netherlands - Prolyte Products, a well-known manufacturer of high quality truss, will kick off the year 2003 with a stunning action. Under the name 'Axion X' Prolyte Products launches a permanent price reduction of 25% on the standard lengths and corners from the X30-series that will be effective from 1 February 2003.

Prolyte Products has always heavily invested in their production facilities. Through the years this investment was paid back in high quality trusses and an outstanding reputation for reliability and durability. Making the production process more efficient is a constant challenge, not only for the engineers, but for the welders as well. Based on these insights in the complete production process, Prolyte gained an enormous effectiveness by intelligent routing of the production line of standard truss from the X30 range.

After a period of intensive try-outs and t

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UK - In a move that will be welcomed throughout the industry, Chris Cronin of Total Fabrications Ltd (TFL) and Mark Surtees of Outback Holdings, have announced the merging of Slick Systems into TFL. "With rigging at our core, we had taken on Slick and really knocked it into shape over the past few years," said Mark Surtees, "but now's the time to take it to the next stage. As the biggest stockist of Slick trussing in the UK, we can't think of a better, safer pair of hands than Total Fabrications for the company to be in."

Chris Cronin was equally animated: "We will be maintaining all Slick's excellent product line. There will be consolidation - for us as manufacturers, and for the wider client base who will see real benefits from the sharing of technologies and expertise. It's a real matrix of talent, skills and trussing."

The change is effective

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South Africa - On 28 December, 2002, 10 of Bollywood's biggest stars - including Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Karisma Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Rani Mukherjee and Shilpa Shetty - performed in a major extravaganza at Durban¹s ABSA Stadium. The concert, called Now Or Never Live, was put together by Anant Singh's Videovision Entertainment and Amitabh Bachchan, Indian cinema's biggest star.

Gearhouse Durban was awarded the contract to provide all the technical aspects of the show. Aside from the massive stage, and three enormous screens, the Gearhouse team managed the technical requirements of live singers, a band of 18 musicians (on a raised platform on the stage), dancers and chorus singers as well as the retinue of stars. The concert aimed to convey that sense of Bollywood opulence and extravagance and the Gearhouse team had to not only create this opulent stag

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UK - The nominations for the 2003 Laurence Olivier Awards were announced yesterday. The awards, now in their 27th year, are presented by the Society of London Theatres. They reward the best productions and performances to appear in London's West End during the previous 12 months. The award winners are decided by panels consisting of both theatre experts and ordinary theatregoing members of the public.

In the award's technical categories, this year's nominations are:

Best Set Design:
A Streetcar Named Desire designed by Bunny Christie at the Lyttelton
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang designed by Anthony Ward at the London Palladium
A Play Without Words designed by Lez Brotherston at the Lyttelton
The Coast of Utopia designed by William Dudley at the Olivier

Best Costume Design:
Bombay Dreams, costumes designed by Mark Thompson at the Apollo Victoria
Taboo, costumes d

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USA - BSR E1.6, Entertainment Technology - Powered Hoisting Systems for Places of Public Assembly, is available for public review until the end of the business day in New York City on 11 March 2003. This draft American National Standard establishes safety requirements for the design, manufacture, installation, and use of motorized rigging systems in theatres, theme parks, studios, and other places of public assembly and performance. This document does not address manually powered systems or lifting equipment used in the construction of these spaces.

People interested in reviewing the draft BSR E1.6 standard may access it by visiting the website below or by requesting information from Karl Ruling via the e-mail address below.

(Lee Baldock)

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USA - Tomcat Global is pleased to announce a newly designed website for a new year. The website not only offers a new look, but many new features as well. For the people who love to feed their visual brains, a comprehensive flash presentation featuring recent Tomcat custom projects is provided. For the people who crave the technical information, a Palm OS Tomcat catalogue can be downloaded as well as product load data and dimensions. For the people that desire training, Tomcat Hoist and Rigging Workshops information and applications are available. For the people that need to voice their opinions, an online survey can be submitted. As always, the CAD file library is easily accessible. And last, but certainly not least, for the people that want to know who, what, where, why and when, all the latest Tomcat news and archives are at your finger tips.

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - Fifteen months in the job, and already the Fairfield Hall's new technical co-ordinator Ian Locke is beginning to make his presence felt; not least in the realms of safety. "Before I took the appointment I could already see this was a very, very busy venue; sometimes three performances a day, so I knew safe working practices would be paramount."

Consequently there have been "huge changes", not least the recent installation of a new rigging grid above the famous Fairfield stage. "The existing grid was well past its sell-by date, so in September of 2001 I visited PLASA to see what was available. At the time I didn't even know Total Fabrications' T2 system existed (hardly surprising as it was barely a year since launch) so when I stopped by their stand I was more than impressed with the system."

Being a prudent shopper, Locke looked around all th

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UK - The Blue Room is a brand new web discussion forum, set up by two keen, dedicated industry professionals, where advice may be sought and offered by anybody working in, entering or just plain interested in any aspect of life behind the scenes in the Entertainments Industry. All are welcome to visit and browse, and register as members should they wish to take part in discussions and debates about industry issues.

Forums have been created for all major industry disciplines, as well as for students, health & safety and useful outside sources of information, all alongside a place to just chat with other like-minded people. There is also a private messaging facility, where members may communicate with each other personally. Up-to-date security measures, together with sensitive, responsive moderation of the forums, help to maintain a relaxed and friendly atmosphere in which people

  1. Stage Technologies nominated for Orange Business Awards
  2. New automation supplier takes to the stage
  3. Tomcat UK hosts Hoist School in Sweden
  4. Stage Technologies collects Orange Business Award
  5. Stage DEX from Prolyte
  6. Cruisin' with Tomcat Global
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