Rigging / Staging

Details

14 March 2016

The new systems include a Kaban AA1020 400mm diameter semi automatic up-cut profile saw with a plus and minus 20 degree mitre capability and dual pneumatic holding clamps. This will be used primarily when bulk cutting profiles to length, either prior to being fitted on to the case, or before 'V' notching by other machinery.

The other purchase is a Pertici Visual RF length-stop. This unit has been installed onto an existing GTI Kombimatec 'V' notching twin blade saw and will control the position of the 'vee' cuts that are requi

Details

14 March 2016

The massive job of converting the site of the heritage-listed old town hall fell to Kane Constructions, who through the design of William Ross Architects and Denis Irving of theatrical consultants Entertech, combined the traditional façade of the old town hall, with a modern, practical and visually appealing theatrical space. The task of coordinating the creation of this venue was given to the City of Greater Dandenong's director of cultural faculties, Paul Streefkerk. Having been involved in

Details

14 March 2016

The reverse of the sample card showcases the diverse range of J&C Joel projects. It includes some fabric related projects - like Belfast Opera House, The Coliseum in London and Blackpool Grand - all Matcham Theatres, where J&C Joel's fabric expertise has been instrumental in recreating period internal draping and curtaining. There's also plenty more projects involving stag

Details

14 March 2016

Anton Woodward, managing director of AVW, was presented with the award by Secretary of the ABTT, Robin Townley at the annual ABTT awards dinner, and commented: "We are very pleased to win this award, though of course Mike Barnett should take most of the credit!"

The Pegasus Power Flying solution, comprising the Alpha, Beta, Delta, Omega and Pi hoists is designed to complement the Impressario stage automation system, so that AVW can offer the complete power flying solution. In collaboration with respected mechanical design engineer Mike Barnett, AVW has designed a range of hoists for use in theatre and entertainmen

Details

14 March 2016

Star rigging consultant Phil Broad's brief to Out Board was to provide a failsafe system that would halt all the hoists if it detected any one or more of them stopped or failed to move. This was achieved by fitting each of the hoists with Out Board's high-resolution optical encoder modules, the outputs of which were all connected back to the new LiftSafe Hoist Controller Safety System located in the CM6 controller rack high in the roof of the Arena.

LiftSafe provides a bridge for the CM6 hoist controllers' linked Remote GO button which gets interrupted immediately if the system senses a break in transm

Details

14 March 2016

Hawthorn's installation team specified 20 Prolyft motors and over 120m of Prolyte S36R truss, along with motor controllers and cabling.

Prolyft motors are backed by a world-wide network of service points, and Hawthorn is one of 25 service points there to offer a complete back up and peace of mind, wherever the motors are being used. Hawthorn will have a state of the art test facility for load testing, complete with computerised testing and a complete database of records linked to Prolyte's own system.

As well as Prolyft, Hawthorn is also an approved service centre for many of the key industry manufacturers such as Clay Paky and Martin Professional, and offer a complete maintenance and testing service for

Details

14 March 2016

Serious has supplied the stage - including decking and access ramp - and roof for this event since the Festival began 13 years ago with IMG as clients and Keith Morris as production manager, and has designed a bespoke flat roof structure tailored exactly to fit the Base Court area deep in the heart of the Palace grounds. This is scenically dressed to complement the surrounding architecture, brickwork and colouring.

The flat-roofed stage is built from a combination of MaxiBeam trussing for the box at the top and GS

Details

14 March 2016

Less than a year ago, Star Events Group came up with the inspired idea to create a mobile orbit dome stage. The idea was to provide the outdoor event scene with a versatile stage that has all the benefits of the Orbit roof's high weight loading capacity and elegant aesthetics, combined with the flexibility and quick build times of the mobile trailer stages. The final result was a 13m dome stage that can be built from start to finish in around five hours by just five crew. The erection of the roof is simple and quick and the PA system can be suspended from the two cranes that are an integral part of the stage, positioned either side of the unit, negating the need for expensive forklift hire and PA towers.

Helen Ma

Details

14 March 2016

Through a growing stock list which has with the entertainment industry in mind, all the leading brands are brought together onto one site, including: Petzl, Troll, Miller and Bacou-Dalloz. Whilst items can be directly purchased by credit card on the site, TRP also run a telephone advice line and phone shopping service.

TRP also specialise in performer flying and a section of the site is dedicated to the large range of hire and sale stock of performer flying equipment and service

Details

14 March 2016

Making its third appearance - after becoming a huge success among participants over the last two years - will be the Advanced Workshop. This two-day workshop covers a variety of interesting topics on hoist motors and truss design and is meant for those who have already completed Tomcat's four-day workshop and/or those with extensive experience working with motors and truss in the field. Advanced workshop dates are 23-24 February, also in Midland, Texas.

(Lee Baldock)

Details

14 March 2016

"The most versatile attachment to truss on the market", according to Vertigo, Flightdeck is a flexible, modular and lightweight system, designed and engineered by Vertigo Rigging and available exclusively to Vertigo's rental and sales clients. The system is available complete with load-bearing hand rails for safety, and can be supplied with access hatches if required. The Standard Flightdeck system comes in 1m x 2m deck sections, and bespoke sizes can be fabricated on request.

The company says Flightdeck is available from stock

Details

14 March 2016

Having been trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Gemma has been involved in the theatre entertainment industry for over 10 years. She has extensive experience managing technical departments both onboard a multitude of Carnival cruise ships and as technical coordinator ashore in Carnival Corporation's headquarters in Miami. Subsequently, as technical sales manager for Harbour Marine Systems' Miami office, she has interacted with many cruise lines, theatre facilities and manufacturers. Her extensive experience in management and sales has given her firm foundations from which to develop this new role within Stage Technologies, say the company.

(Lee Baldock)

Details

14 March 2016

Judged on the grounds of their 'Innovation' alone, the nominated products are closely assessed by a panel of expert industry practitioners, chaired by L&SI magazine's Technical Editor, James Eade. There are nine awards available in total - eight Awards for Innovation of equal standing, plus an Award for Environmental Impact, which

Details

14 March 2016

Despite some unexpected crowd disturbance that took place during the first England match, Canary Wharf Group took the decision to keep the screen tower, and its huge screen provided by XL Video, in situ to broadcast the forthcoming events such as Wimbledon, Royal Ascot and other popular BBC programmes and events.

Sian Astrop, manager of Arts & Events for Canary Wharf Management Ltd said: "The screen and screen tower together looks like a huge television in the

Details

14 March 2016

This was the Laureus World Sports Awards Welcome Party for 800 VIP guests from the realms of Sport, Cinema and Music. Some of the famous people in attendance were His Majesty King Juan Carlos of Spain, actors Teri Hatcher and Morgan Freeman, and Edwin Moses who represented the Sports interest.

"Blackout provided StarLED starcloth and new pipe and drape system which were instrumental in providing the flexibility needed to achieve another dimension within the confines of the space," said designer Adrian Smith. "They also helped to create a setting for both formal and informal seating areas to suit the various moods that we invoked."

The use of Blackout's s

Details

14 March 2016

The Retford based company had a giant two metre square snakes and ladders board on the back wall of their stand. Visitors were invited to test their knowledge of the LOLER regulations as they progressed up the board. Completion of the game with all questions correctly answered wonthe player one of a number of prizes from new rigging gloves to head torches, Frogs, to Rope Assemblies unique rigging multi-tool.

Having counted the number of prizes given out at the end of the show, a knowledgeable 200 people had played and won.

"We were delighted to win this award, it was quite a surprise when our name was called out at the ABTT Dinner. Many thanks t

Details

14 March 2016

Incorporating ten 5000 capacity green-field sites, the 21 concerts over 10 weekends feature four different formats of entertainment - a Queen / Abba tribute night, the Blues Brothers party, a Rat Pack tribute and a Glenn Miller Band. The shows are tailored to attract families and holiday-makers across the region.

Tour production manager John Radford is working with a team of up to 28 people and three 45 trailers of equipment plus a selection of site vehicles, landrovers, people carriers and cars. Other key personnel include Jono Rose (technical project manager/lighting designer) Jon Rimmer (site manager), Chris Vass (sound design), Brian Clear

Details

14 March 2016

This was the hottest ticket in town, quite literally with the soaring temperatures in the intimate venue packed with 2,100 fans. The band showed why they're still at the top with a set comprised of classic tunes spanning the bands four decades inter-dispersed with new material from the soon to be released Wire & Glass rock opera.

Leeds University recently appointed Showsec to manage crowds at all of the shows at the famous Student Union Refectory venue and associated events (such as the recent Tetley Hall Ball) for at least the coming two years. Showsec worked at the venue through the nineties until four years ago.

Details

14 March 2016

For the London Moonwalk, Hawthorn provided lighting, staging, rigging and power distribution for the whole site, plus a sound system for the interior of De Boer's pink 8,500.00sq.m marquee, which was large enough to host over 15,000 bra-clad walkers for a pre-marathon pasta party.

Hawthorn's rigging specialists installed Prolyte ground support truss which supported over thirty 6m long banners, as well as PSL's LED videowalls. "We are thrilled to be working on the Edinburgh and Bristol events and look forward to continuing our relationship with Walk the Walk over the coming years," said Hawthorn's MD, Martin Hawthorn.

"Moonwalk is

Details

14 March 2016

In addition to being asked to review the document to see if it offers adequate advice, reviewers are asked to look for protected intellectual property in the draft standard. ESTA does n

Details

14 March 2016

Described by the judges as "magic in maple", the full award citation reads: "This building has been delivered on an exceptionally tight budget but is none the poorer for that. Set in the green belt and within earshot of the M25, the hall is conspicuously located in a prominent position on a site that slopes gently away from the loose collection of school buildings strung along the skyline.

"The Hall is the building. Externally, it is simple, econo

Details

14 March 2016

The first items on the list are a series of Dance Towers - an item that has become a favourite with production electricians and has been used in productions like The Lion King, The Producers and Wicked. On stage left and stage right, three hanging towers plus one rolling tower provide an endless number of lighting positions. Unistrut installed in each tower allows the designer to position lighting instruments anywhere in the tower and an adjustable centre pick-up point on top of the towers ensure that the towers remain straight after the equipment has been loaded.

The second part of the order is the front-of-house catwalk truss. Six 10' sections of truss (custom built spans of 30" X

Details

14 March 2016

Specialising in conference and live event production, as well as AV equipment hire and sales, CPL has seen massive growth recently. During this frenetic period, they were forced to consider all the facets of their business; from office and warehouse space to the modernisation of the old paperwork systems used to track and invoice its kit.

Increased investment in equipment meant the manual paperwork system began encountering problems - items were mislaid or left on site with no obvious way to trace them, as manual administration systems became time-consuming and laborious

Details

14 March 2016

Promoter Live Nation's production director for the shows, John Probyn says: "Showsec mixed well with crowds, production teams and artists and maintained a good, safe atmosphere for all of the shows at Hyde Park this summer."

Showsec's Simon Battersby and Steve Reynolds managed up to 400 staff for the Foo Fighters and Hyde Park Calling concerts, headlined by Roger Waters and the Who, when they looked after the pit, backstage and artists areas. They also managed crowds and security for the whole site for the five nights of the Wireless Festival.

(Chri