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

Rigging / Staging

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USA - Global Truss America LLC has filed suit against GLP German Light Products, a Delaware Corporation and Mark Ravenhill, president of GLP, alleging trademark infringement, misappropriation of trade secrets, unfair business practices and other violations of the Lanham Act.

Global Truss America LLC has accused GLP of falsely stating that it is "an authorized distributor of Global Truss products in the United States and falsely stating that Mr. George Lee is the CEO of Global Truss" and wrongfully "implying that Global Truss is the source of the products that GLP is advertising, distributing, offering for sale and/or selling."

In the suit, which was filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California on 6 January, 2011, Global Truss America LLC states that its established and federally registered trademarks identify "Global Truss stag

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Qatar - The State of Qatar has recently celebrated achieving a production capacity of 77m tonnes per annum of liquefied natural gas and Stage One were invited by Tim Elliott from the Qatar office of international production company WRG, to provide their technical expertise for the official celebrations.

Stage One were asked to create an in-the-round performance environment for the 45-minute celebratory show, which included a 360º seating block, 360º projection screen (160m x 10m) to the rear of this, a central pool that was used as a performance area and 20 different Qmotion controlled elements.

Steve Dolan, account director for Stage One, said, "The scale of this job was huge, with on-site assembly requiring over 1000 man days. However, a close working relationship with our client, along with extensive experience of working in Qatar, meant we were able to facilitate a

Doughty - Banner - from 4 July 2025

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UK - Creative production agency Lodestar recently collaborated with Nissan to create the Nissan Innovation Station at the 02 Arena. The Innovation Station is staffed and managed by experiential agency RPM and features an advanced audio-visual infrastructure created by Feltech Electronics, which encourages interactivity and is built largely around GestureTek gesture-controlled technology.

As the O2's official automobile partner, the attraction is part of the brand's three year partnership with O2 owners, AEG. This entertainment experience showcases Nissan's new zero-emission, fully electric car LEAF, with a number of pods and kiosks designed to inform and entertain visitors, who are able to ride in driving simulators, design a car virtually and play interactive games aimed at boosting understanding of electric vehicles.

Feltech won a competitive bid to provide full multimedia i

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USA - David Taylor, the theatre consultant and lighting designer, died in Taipei, Taiwan on Monday, January 17. He was 48. He died falling from the 14th floor of the Howard Plaza Hotel. Early newspaper reports suggested that the death was a suicide; however, updated reports indicate that the police have refused to speculate on the cause of death. A full police report is said to be pending.

A popular, well-connected, and highly involved member of the industry, Taylor was born in London. He studied theatre aesthetics at the University of London, followed by attendance at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and graduate studies at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Taylor spent 21 years at Theatre Projects Consultants where he was involved in a number of acclaimed and high-profile projects, including the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, New Amsterdam Theatre in New York, Hyper

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USA - Elation Professional has introduced the Antari F-3 Fazer. This new DMX-compatible 800W water-based dry fog machine comes integrated in its own steel flight case. The F-3 Fazer's case design also makes it easily stackable, so it can be packed up and transported with no fuss and hassle - and ready to roll anytime the show goes on the road, says the company.

Featuring Antari's pump system, it produces "a fine, dry fog with minimal fluid consumption". For example, just one liter of fog liquid will provide five hours of continuous fogging, so each bottle of fluid lasts longer and less time is spent re-filling the machine.

"The Antari F-3 Fazer is an advanced water-based dry fog machine that's ideal for a variety of applications," said Eric Loader, director of sales for Elation Professional, the exclusive North American distributor for Antari products. &quo

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UK - When Sonalyst MD Rory Madden was asked to supply full, new build audio distribution and ground control infrastructure for the We Will Rock You tour in just nine weeks, he knew time was against him. "Normally, for a show of that scale and complexity, you'd feel up against it given three or four months to prepare. In this case, we had just nine weeks so our choice of technical partner was absolutely vital."

One of the first things Madden did was drop in to VDC's premises in North London. He reports, "I'd worked with VDC before on a few smaller projects and had a strong feeling they would be the right choice, based on the technical expertise, manufacturing quality and ability to work to very short deadlines. But I just wanted to drop in for a chat and see their facilities for myself, before even talking about the We Will Rock You project. When I le

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UK - Le Mark Group's new entertainment division Le Mark Performance Floors featured at the international Dance Show held at the Birmingham NEC in early December.

As exclusive distributors for the all new Manero modular spring floor system, Le Mark chose the inaugural Dance Show produced by Haymarket Media Group to launch their new modular portable sub floor. The entire 10m x 16m central stage area had a Manero subfloor laid, with a Consor vinyl top surface to further improve performance. Le Mark partners ISS installed both the central stage and all the dance studios with Consor performance vinyl dance floor to offer total dance surface continuity.

Stuart Gibbons, Le Mark's managing director comments, "Professional feedback was incredible and was all we could have hoped for. A cross-section of performers, from hip- hop, ballet through to bollywood were commenting on the no

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UK - The PA system which underpinned London's New Year sound and light spectacular, produced by Jack Morton Worldwide on behalf of The Major's Office, was planned and designed by Delta Sound, working closely with A/V specialist VDC Trading.

The system, built almost entirely on VDC products and Van Damme cable delivered "flawless performance" according to Delta Sound technical manager, Mark Powell. "We spent a month in pre-production and five days on site preparing and working through our plans for the night," says Powell. "It's a very high profile event, seen on TV screens all over the world, so total reliability is a minimum requirement.

"That is exactly how it turned out. We did not experience a single glitch on the day and some thanks must go to the technical manager at VDC, Nick Chmara. He provided the honest and reliable advice we have come t

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Saudi Arabia - When Princess Nora bint Abdulrahman University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, opens its campus to students early in 2012, its three theatres will be equipped with J. R. Clancy rigging systems.

Within what will be the world's largest university for women is a theatre complex with a 2500-seat performance hall, a 700-seat drama theatre and a black box theatre for lectures and small productions. While each theatre has different requirements, the contractor sought a single, proven supplier that could manufacture the complete package of under- and over-stage rigging for all three venues. Clancy's broad equipment portfolio and international experience in managing projects of the largest scale earned the company this project.

Clancy worked closely with Michael Burgoyne of Schuler Shook to provide the appropriate rigging system for the consultant's design concepts. Schuler Sho

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UK - Lift Turn Move has announced two additions to its product range - The C-Force Manual Chain Block and C-Force Beam Clamp. These new products are all black in colour which makes them suitable for venue and touring rigging applications.

With this range, LTM is aiming to make the manual chain blocks as affordable as possible, whilst maintaining a very high build quality. These professional duty blocks come complete with swivelling load and suspension hooks, lightweight, low headroom, safe and easy operation. In addition to this costs are kept low by offering them pre-chained to 10m as standard. This reduces labour costs and these savings are being passed onto the customer, says the company.

The Chain Blocks are available in capacities from 250Kg - 1,000Kg all tested and certified and available from stock in the UK and Germany.

LTM has also supplemented its existing product

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UK - The Le Mark Group team raised £5,934.00 for the RNLI. Managing director Stuart Gibbons welcomed Mark Spruce from the RNLI and received their official thanks on behalf of the entire staff of Le Mark. "Despite difficult trading conditions for many companies, Le Mark continued to grow and expand their workforce during 2010" stated Gibbons. "We felt that as an established company blessed with staff originating from different parts of the world, who all showed excellent social awareness, we wanted to help those less fortunate in some way."

The company raised the money by committing a percentage of their net profit to the RNLI. This way every person in every department contributed through their own individual efforts to make a definite difference to the overall sum raised.

(Jim Evans)

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Qatar - Stage One were brought on board recently for the inauguration of the first three phases of Qatar's new Nakilat Shipyard, located in the port of Ras Laffan. Invited on board by Tim Eilliot of WRG Qatar, Stage One were asked to provide a package of scenic items for the event, which was attended by The Emir of the State of Qatar along with 650 guests and held within the new facilities.

The Martin Sutherland designed set made the most of the event venues vast interior, with a performance area extending 75m away from the guests. Stage One were asked to provide the 45m x 13m seating block, a 50m x 10m stage, a mother grid and truss; tracking dollies, four performer flying points complete with Qmotion control, several large-scale props, and the interface with a temporary De Boers structure (used as an exhibition and dining area).

The props included a trucking 11m high Dutch-s

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Italy - Two more low-environmental impact events have featured Axiom - the concerts organised for Festambiente in Rispescia, Grosseto, and the FIOM rally in Rome's San Giovanni Square.

Ecoluce, the technical service provider, chose alternative energy production sources to power Proel's Audio equipment. Ecoluce's system is composed of two photovoltaic panels that turn solar energy into electric power. During the events the system is located directly on stage where it constantly charges the accumulation batteries. With its 'eco-monitors' Ecoluce continuously updates the data pertaining to consumption and saved CO2 to raise the audience's awareness on energy produced with renewable sources and good energy-saving practices.

For over two weeks, the XXII edition of Festambiente (Environment Festival) featured shows and concerts by artists such as Pino Daniele, Max Gazzè, Peppe Volt

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UAE - The Arena Group International Division received a boost when the organisers of the 2011 Abu Dhabi Golf Championships praised their event overlay capabilities and awarded the event structures supplier a new three year contract.

The Arena Group's Dubai based Harlequin Arena company was entrusted to provide the golf tournament's double hospitality structure, public village and temporary exhibition hall. All temporary structures were designed to reflect the branding aspirations of the Championships' new headline sponsor, HSBC.

Sponsors and VIP guests top golf, watching from Harlequin Arena's double decker structure overlooking the 18th green, which incorporated the latest air-conditioning technology introduced by Arena.

Each guest area was individually designed and the new temperature control system proved very responsive to each chalets individual requirements. The new in

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USA - Hamish Dumbreck from JESE recently attended the fifth Control Protocols Plug Fest held in Westlake, Texas. The event was well attended with more than 36 devices from 16 manufacturers being put through their paces.

Simon Newton of the open source project (OLA) attracted a lot of interest in the development of an RDM responder test suite, running tests on equipment at the event as well as drawing on the experience of those present to enhance the tests. Ryan Fletcher of ARRI joined the world of RDM, bringing a studio luminaire, demonstrating the wider industry interest in and application of RDM.

Matthias Hinrichs of Martin Professional and Peter Kirkup of Zero 88 used the opportunity to start work on a website to promote and provide information to users of RDM enabled equipment. The website will provide general information about the functionality of RDM along with a categor

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USA - StageCo has been sued in Texas state court by Christie Lites for damages sustained when a 90ft lighting tower erected by StageCo collapsed prior to a nationally televised motocross event at the historic Fort Worth Stockyards in June, 2009.

Christie Lites alleges that StageCo was negligent in the design and construction of the tower. A specialised lighting array and equipment owned by Christie Lites, elevated atop the tower was totally destroyed.

Christie Lites' CEO Huntly Christie commented that it was extremely fortunate that the collapse of the

tower occurred just days prior to the scheduled event, with only physical damage to the lighting array,

grandstands and general admission area. Had the tower collapsed during the event it might have caused severe injury and possible loss of life to spectators and field personnel.

"Christie Lites has an outstanding saf

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USA / Europe - Mojo Barriers ensured the safety of millions of fans and famous acts from six out of 10 of the top grossing worldwide tours during 2010, the company reports.

As Mojo Barrier's US office wrapped up 2010, the barrier specialists, led by J.B. Dolphin US manager, were delighted to learn the company had provided barriers and expert crowd safety services at over half of the top ten tours during the year.

"We pride ourselves on being industry leaders; during 2010 Mojo Barriers, as a company, provided product and services over 750 touring shows," says Dolphin. Six of these made the top 10 list for highest grossing world tours and the fact they trusted us with the safety of their audiences and acts reflects our investment and ongoing efforts to improve concert safety."

The barrier company created bespoke parts for both the top grossing act Bon Jovi and t

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UK/USA - When ETC developed the iRFR app, which turns any iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch into a remote controller for ETC lighting desks, the intention was to provide convenient and affordable facility-wide lighting control to venues around the world.

The iRFR has accomplished much more than that, however. All the proceeds from purchases of the £30 app are donated to Light Relief and Behind the Scenes, organisations which provide emergency funds to entertainment-technology industry professionals dealing with illness or injury. When buying the app, users choose either the LR or BTS version, depending on which charity is closer to home.

In the year and a half since it became available, the iRFR app has raised some £21,500 for Behind the Scenes and Light Relief. That money has gone directly to workers in the industry who are going through crises and has been used for much

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China - The recent opening and closing ceremonies to mark the 16th Asian Games, held on Haixinsha Island, Guangzhou, differentiated from similar events seen previously - with the spectacular event making the city as the background and the Pearl River as the stage. In fact the event started on the river, with a ship sailing from east.

In order to make the ceremonies a success, the island was equipped with a series of public address systems, with QSC's Q-Sys control chosen to provide tourists from all over the world with "crystal clear sound reinforcement".

A Q-Sys network provided coverage to every corner of the island, with a powerful Q-Sys Core as the engine, and Q-LAN's low-latency Gigabit Ethernet network implementation as the transmission network.

There were eight control rooms on the island, two of them based centrally and the remainder as satellites. Two Core

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Italy - Organisers of the Italian professional entertainment technology exhibition ShowWay have announced that the long-awaited second edition of the event will take place in Bergamo, Italy, from 15 to 17 May 2011.

Having put the show on ice last year, allowing its exhibitors to "concentrate their efforts on optimising their businesses during the peak of the world recession," organisers feel the time is right for a recovery-boosting show.The show will follow the same format as the successful 2008 debut event, which saw 65 exhibiting companies attend - 60% coming from outside Italy - and 6,783 visitors from 35 nations.

APIAS, the Italian association of manufacturers and importers of equipment for the entertainment industry, which represents some of the most important and distinguished firms in the trade in Italy, confirms its utmost commitment to working together with

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UK - Le Mark Group's new entertainment division, Le Mark Performance Floors, will guest on the stand of Independent Studio Services stand at this week's Event Production Show.

Le Mark, the exclusive distributors for the all new Manero modular 'spring floor' system chose the December Dance Show at the NEC Birmingham to launch their new modular portable sub floor.

The entire 10m x 16m central stage area had a Manero subfloor laid, with a Consor vinyl top surface to further improve performance . Le Mark partners ISS installed both the central stage and all the dance studios with Consor performance vinyl dance floor to offer total dance surface continuity.

Stuart Gibbons Le Mark's managing director comments, "Now a portable stage or steel deck can have a better dance floor then a traditional sprung wooden floor. A cross section of performers, from hip hop, ballet through to

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The Netherlands - D-Tools has announced that D-Tools has joined the Control4 Solution Provider Programme to provide Control4 dealers worldwide with their l comprehensive system design, documentation and project management software package.

"Control4 is a leading provider of intelligent operating systems, and we are pleased to be selected as a participant in the Solution Provider Programme," says Adam Stone, president and CEO of D-Tools. "We are like-minded in our goal to provide our customers with a platform to fuel their growth, and we look forward to assisting Control4 dealers in expanding their businesses and maximizing their bottom line."

"We are committed to providing Control4 dealers with the best project solutions in the industry and the D-Tools software package is no exception. Their comprehensive software package is an excellent tool for syste

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World - PLASA is pleased to announce the launch of its Facebook pages. Visitors to PLASA Focus, The PLASA Show, members of PLASA and anyone interested in the industry can join (or "like") the Facebook pages from today.

Members of the pages will be the first to find out about industry news, PLASA news and show news and content Plus, PLASA 2011 is offering the first 1000 members the chance to win a pair of Sennheiser HD 380 Pro collapsible high end headphones! To be in with a chance of winning all you have to do is "like" the PLASA 2011 page, then a winner will be picked at random.

To view the PLASA Facebook page, click here.

For the PLASA Focus page,

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USA - When the Boston Conservatory began the Hemenway Project, a $30m renovation and expansion of its instructional and performance space at 31 Hemenway Street, one directive was clear - The theatre would be equipped with motorised rigging.

"Students usually operate the rigging during performances by the Dance, Theatre, and Music Divisions throughout the private college's academic year," said Richard Parks, senior project manager for the theatrical dealer I. Weiss. "Until the renovation began, the Conservatory's theatre had a counterweight rigging system that required students to have considerable training to use it safely.

"Motorised rigging gives the college the ability to have all the students work on various aspects of the show. Not only can the students be trained quickly on how motorized systems work, but they will be ready for the rigging they will f

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  2. Le Mark's StudioTak for NRK Norway
  3. Brilliant Stages in Pollstar's top 2010 tours
  4. James Thomas Engineering launches X Truss
  5. Arena Group restructures
  6. London 2012 Ceremonies recruiting creatives
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