USA - Architects, theatre consultants and dealers who specify rigging equipment from J. R. Clancy can now download catalogue pages with the equipment drawings and specs to include in their presentations to clients.

"It's imperative that our customers have up-to-date, practical information about our products at their fingertips while they are drafting or specifying a job," said Tom Young, J. R. Clancy vice-president of marketing. "Our customers want to access accurate information any time, day or night. This new feature on our website gives them everything they need to ensure accuracy in every proposal, no matter when they need the information."

(Jim Evans)

UK - It's been a week of awards ceremonies for the international staging specialist Stageco. As the proverbial curtain fell on Sir Paul McCartney and all the other winners at the Brit Awards this Wednesday, Stageco were starting to dismantle several enormous structures they had erected at Earls Court for the internationally broadcast ceremony. Earlier in the week, as they were building the Brits, Stageco had won a respected industry award for their work.

The company worked with show producers MJK Productions to build three separate projects, turning the blank canvas of the empty Earls Court floor into a world-class venue.

Although this is the 12th year Stageco and MJK have worked together on the Brits, the event always presents new challenges. In 2008 the venue had a split tenancy with another event, offering late access to parts of the hall, meaning much of the work had to be

UK - Stage Electrics reports that it has scheduled a record number of training courses in the forthcoming months. In total 31 courses have been arranged between February and June 2008, says the company.

Courses are available on a wide range of subjects including rigging, sound, stage lighting, working from heights, moving lights and the ever popular pyrotechnics safety awareness. New courses for 2008 include Introduction to Sound Training, Advanced Moving Lights Training and Legislative Guide to Rigging.

Stage Electrics' training manager Sara Alarabi comments, "Our January courses sold out in record time, I think this is a clear indication that the requirement for formal, structured training within the industry is increasing. Our courses are designed as a direct result of what our customers have asked us for. They are constantly evolving driven by latest technology and le

UK - Flightcase manufacturer 5 Star Cases has recently supplied Leicestershire based Hawthorns with 17 specialist trunks to house its new Clay Paky Alpha Spot 1200 moving light fixtures.

The 'Split Body' twin trunks feature a new design by 5 Star, complete with integral cradles which secure the lighting fixture when packed head down in the case, keeping them completely steady during transit. Hawthorns' 17 'Super Tour' trunks were finished in their corporate navy blue laminate together with HTH screen printed identification.

Hawthorns supplied full lighting production including 140 CP Alpha Spots and their new trunks for the recent Liverpool, the Musical event, marking the official opening of the city's new venue, the Echo Arena Liverpool.

(Jim Evans)

USA - J. R. Clancy has announced the availability of offline editing capability for the SceneControl 500 automated motion control system.

SceneControl 500, in use in theatres, performing arts centres and concert halls, provides top-of-the-line motion control. SceneControl 500's accurate, 3D display of the theatre lets technicians easily select the sets they want to control on the touch screen. The user-friendly interface lets users develop simple or elaborate cues and modify them to match the flow of each performance. Using SceneControl 500, operators can move scenery, lighting, acoustical banners, reverberation doors, travelers, speaker clusters, winches, revolves, orchestra lifts and more.

Scenic designers can now prepare SceneControl 500 by downloading a show from the SceneControl 500 console to a laptop computer, and using SceneControl's intuitive 3D interface to select ba

Saudi Arabia - Serious Stages, working with Atlantic Enterprises, saw one of their Space Roof buildings air freighted from East Midlands Airport to Saudi Arabia aboard an Antonov AN-124 heavy lift cargo plane. The full kit - totalling over 210 tonnes - was amassed and supplied at very short notice, necessitating the need for the airlift.

The roof was erected in Thuwal, a small village on the Red Sea coast to the north of Jeddah, and was the setting for a foundation stone laying ceremony to launch KAUST - the SR10 billion King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.

King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud himself laid the cornerstone. The occasion was marked with a groundbreaking ceremony. KAUST is intended to help Saudi Arabia have a world-class independent scientific research centre that acts as a scientific base and a driving force for the national economy.

Serious was

UK - Arena Seating has launched its new parabolic seating system. clearview is a demountable system designed to offer uninterrupted sight lines for every audience member, says the company.

clearview is the first system of its kind, a parabolic reconfigurable seating design that allows each row of seats to be altered to deliver optimum sightlines for different events or venues. For event organisers in live music, stadia and sporting events, the system also affords the flexibility to increase capacity in restricted areas, while offering audiences a better view in comfort.

clearview is the result of three years research and development by the UK-based company's team of engineers and the new product has already been awarded international patents for its numerous engineering advances.

Arena director John Poyner comments, "At the core of clearview is some relatively simple bu

Czech Republic - Milos has launched its new MR5 Roof, its largest roof system to date that builds on their successful MR3 Roofs. It utilises Milos' M950 QuickTruss in combination with six of their MT3 towers, and is designed for large indoor and outdoor events needing a serious amount of space, headroom and weight-loading, says the company.

The MR5's maximum dimensions are 27.8m wide by 17.8m deep, which offers 13.5m of headroom - enough to accommodate a wide range of large lighting and sound rigs and video systems. The maximum loading on this version of the MR5 is 15 tonnes.

Milos' M950 trussing is the largest system in the current trussing range and is designed to make long spans and for flying heavy loads. It utilises 60 x 5 mm main tubes with 32 x 3mm bracing spars, and is available in Quatro and compact Folding versions as well as a variety of standard lengths.

(Jim Eva

Belgium - Showtex has introduced its latest innovation: the TrusSleeve, designed specifically to cover truss constructions, allowing trusses to be used "as decorative elements, instead of being a technical necessity only", says the company.

The TrusSleeve is made out of Trevira CS, an inherently flame retardant (FR) yarn. The fabric is seamless and can be perforated to attach lights and hide cables.

When a TrusSleeve is lit up from the inside, the light is equally distributed, due to the ribbed fabric structure. TrusSleeves are available in black or white to create different atmospheres. Thanks to the fabric's elasticity one sleeve can fit various truss sizes.

The ShowTex Group is provide rental, sales and installation of showbiz textiles and draperies on a top international level and aims at offering a complete fabric product range with the highest flame-retardanc

UK - Litestructures Studios has kicked off 2008 with a series of concert production rehearsals from Editors, Westlife and X Factor Live.

While X Factor rehearsed in the Studio, the Litestructures stage and set department were busy putting the finishing touches on a custom stage set for Westlife. Litestructures has built Westlife's stage sets for the past five years, but this year's was the biggest yet with a 72ft wide, 40ft deep and 12ft high stage. It also featured Litestructures' 3.5m high modular climbing leg lift made of LitePro 4 Heavy Duty truss which was specially designed for the show.

Fresh from their US tour, Editors dropped into Litestructures Studios for two days in February to prepare for their European tour which started on 26 February in Glasgow.

(Jim Evans)

USA - After 15 years of in-depth training for industry professionals, Tomcat USA launched a new series of courses for 2008. A team of instructors and about 70 participants from all over the United States, Canada and Mexico converged on Midland, Texas for the launch of Tomcat's Hoist & Truss workshop and Rigging & Truss workshop.

The Hoist & Truss workshop featured the disassembly and reassembly of a one ton Lodestar as well as a Prostar with Dave Carmack of Columbus McKinnon. Dave Sowa of Tomcat USA led a discussion on control systems and also coached an advanced troubleshooting session. Instruction was rounded out by Dana Bartholomew of Fisher Technical Services, Inc. who gave instruction and demonstrations on automation.

Rocky Paulson, retired president of Stage Rigging Inc., taught safe rigging practices and principles while Morgan Neff of Mine Safety Appliances gave instru

Germany - Kinesys will be exhibiting with new company Rigging Europe at ProLight & Sound this month in Frankfurt.

Rigging Europe has been formed by two of the largest and most well respected entertainment distributors in Europe, Sonoss of France and Louis Reyners of the Netherlands. Both are long-standing CM distributors and have been jointly distributing the Kinesys range in mainland Europe up to this point.

Dave Weatherhead of Kinesys explains further: "While both Sonoss and Louis Reyners have done a great job of representing and distributing Kinesys products so far, having two companies covering similar territory could lead to potential confusion as to which company to contact for information and products. The formation of Rigging Europe means that there is now a single point of contact across the whole of mainland Europe for both existing and new customers while still

UK / South Africa - Wirral-based Lift-Turn-Move (LTM) has just staged two motor schools in Johannesburg. The first was at leading lighting and rigging sales company DWR Distribution and the other at the country's largest rental and production facility, Gearhouse South Africa.

LTM's John Jones taught his first South African Motor School in 1999 at Gearhouse and has returned three times since then to do Motor Schools. He says: "I really enjoy the energy of South Africa. The thirst for knowledge here is incredible, and it's great to see such a wide cross section of people wanting to take their technical knowledge and understanding of such an important part of the industry forward."

The motor schools took the standard format of 16 places - with a couple of extras squeezed in. They were presented by LTM's Dave Ward, who did the majority of the technical talk, while Jones

UK - Arena Structures has been awarded new contracts signalling a positive start to 2008, whilst also being recognised for last year's achievements.

The Company was awarded the Business of the Year award at the 2008 Performance Textiles Awards held this month. In presenting the award to Arena Structures managing director Grahame Muir, Colin Bryer, managing editor of Performance Textiles magazine, commended Arena "for showing significant growth and innovative development throughout the year following the management buyout of January '07."

Arena Structures also collected a silver award in the Project of the Year category for its input into the BCIC exhibition at the Sage Centre, Gateshead.

Grahame Muir commented: "These awards reflect the efforts of everyone at Arena Structures, who are continuously looking to improve the service we can deli

Germany - Prolyte will present five new products at ProLight & Sound in Frankfurt. Mark Hendriks, technical director, states: "Working on product and process innovation is a continuous process within Prolyte. We heavily invest in product improvement and the use of new materials and production techniques. The hard work and constant pressure is rewarded when it all comes together at the exhibition and we can enjoy the exposure this creates."

The new products from Prolyte will include the Mammoth Truss, Rotating Stage, Hybrid coupler, Stage DEX Easy frame C and the PRO-Wheels truss dolly.

(Jim Evans)

UK - For the third consecutive year, Stage Electrics supplied staging and lighting for the Laurence Olivier Awards, presented annually by the Society of London Theatre.

Stage Electrics provided crew together with 36 Source 4 lanterns, four MAC 250 Entours, 12 MAC 300s, 10 MAC 500s, six MAC 700s and 14 MAC 600s for the awards held on Sunday 8 March. Lighting design was by Matt Evered, the awards were project managed by Stage Electrics' Andrew Loveday.

Production Manager Andrew Loveday said, "This is Stage Electrics' third night in a row in the Great Room. We provided equipment for Revolution Awards, Variety Club Awards and the Oliviers."

(Jim Evans)

The Netherlands - XLNT Advanced Technologies has announced a strengthened distribution, sales and customer support structure for CyberHoist motion control products in Germany.

Sales distribution for Germany will be handled by Hagen-based CAST, headed by managing director Heinz Siller.

A new company, CyberHoist Germany GmbH, will become the country's CyberHoist Service Point, responsible for all service and rental support in Germany. The company has been set up by the team from current CyberHoist rental dealer Lightcompany of Neuss, Germany, and is headed by managing director Peter Nellen.

CAST and CyberHoist Germany GmbH will together form the complete team that will support all CyberHoist clients in the fast-growing German market, says the company. Meanwhile, Lightcompany will continue in its existing role as CyberHoist rental dealer, supplying full productions using CyberH

USA - Stage Technologies has confirmed its platinum sponsorship of the forthcoming North American Theatre Engineering & Architecture Conference. The two day conference will be held in New York 20-21 July 2008.

Based on the model of the London TEA conferences, produced by Richard Brett in 2002 and 2006, NATEAC promises to bring together many world-leading theatre consultants, architects, engineers, technicians and technical managers. The conference will offer a forum to address issues concerning planning, design, construction and equipping all manner of entertainment venues, from grand opera houses through to school theaters.

Stage Technologies' decision to become platinum sponsor of NATEAC, follows the success of the London TEA 2006 conference, for which it was the sole platinum sponsor.

Kevin Taylor, CEO of Stage Technologies Inc said, "By supporting the conference as

USA - A small, portable Saxis control unit and BigTow winch, from Stage Technologies, is being used to create effects for the touring production of Rapunzel. Following a sell-out tour in the UK, the Kneehigh Theatre's non-traditional production has opened at The New Victory Theater in New York.

Stage Technologies worked with production manager and lighting designer, Alex Wardle, on this project, and provided a simple, easy to use system, capable of flying a small platform carrying two performers. The red, oval-shaped piece of floor is flown to stage level during the show, to bridge a gap in two circular stages. The same oval piece is also flown approximately six feet above the stage and supports the two performers who use the platform as a swing.

Alex Wardle commented: "Part of the reason we chose the system is that the Saxis is simple to programme and operate. Dur

UK - An entire walk through experience for international brand, Hitachi provided Stage One with their latest logistical challenge. This extensive scenic build contract for their client, The Liquid Way, involved the total fitting out and masking of the QE2 Centre's third floor, to create eight distinct areas.

The walk through experience was entitled Inspire Life 2008 and was attended by top business executives, MEP's and Government representatives, amongst others. Products from across Hitachi's entire range were exhibited through the area.

"We had several challenges to contend with," said Simon Wood, sales director, Stage One. "Both of which are hardly unique; the first being access and the second, time. However, we worked hard to overcome both and delivered the project on time, on budget and to the high specification required."

The eight different

UK - 5 Star has supplied another flightcase solution for DJ equipment manufacturer Pioneer - this time for the new PRO-440FLT DJ console, launched at ProLight& Sound, Frankfurt last week. The new console houses two CDJ-400 players and Pioneer's DJM-400 mixer and follows on from the success of the PRO-400FLT launched in 2006.

5 Star worked closely with Pioneer's Paul Beardsall on the design of the new case which although identical in size to the 2006 version, includes some additional features.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Litestructures has been building Westlife's stage sets for seven years now, but their latest is the biggest yet. Designed for their 2008 Back Home tour, the three-tier stage is shaped in their signature 'W' format, and measures an impressive 72'(w)x40'(d)x12'(h).

Following an original concept by Alan MacDonald, it took the Litestructures design team just six weeks to complete the technically advanced structure.

Features within and around the stage's 55 LiteDeck platform modules included a new 3.5m high modular leg lift, constructed using LitePro 4 heavy duty truss. This lift passes through all three tiers. In addition, Litestructures built a 10m 'totem pole', also using LitePro 4, which sits centrally atop the highest tier, and which houses a laser feature.

Rollability for the lower tier was achieved using legframe snap-on bracing. Some 32m of handrails, with per

Czech Republic / Qatar - Trussing manufacturer Milos designed, manufactured and built a special trussing exhibition stand system for its client Digital Print Centre, which was supplied to energy multinational Shell for the Doha Natural Gas Conference in Qatar.

Digital Print Centre - with whom Milos has worked on many previous projects - approached them with a basic brief, explains project manager Milan Kolousek. They had a quick turnaround time and needed a fairly complex design to accommodate various graphics and AV displays along with some sound and lighting equipment. Above all, the client wanted a structure that looked aesthetically stunning.

"This was the challenge" says Kolousek, "Our technical department did a good job to deliver all the drawings from a complete blank piece of paper to the final product in so short a time". The initial design also un

UK - Abingdon and Witney College has enjoyed the use of Metrodeck staging for the last few years. Thomas Mindenhall originally approached Maltbury as he wasn't happy with the old fashioned wooden system the college had always used and wanted something safer, more versatile and easily stored and transported.

The college started with a straightforward package of Metrodeck in standard sizes. Thomas has returned to Maltbury over the years, ordering a few decks every time which slowly added to their collection as the budget allowed. "The great thing is that when I put the older pieces and the new ones together for a show there's no difference between them," he says.

(Jim Evans)

Latest Issue. . .