Rigging / Staging

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14 March 2016

UK technology company Mantracourt Electronics has launched a new range of load monitoring equipment that targets the requirements of the entertainment industry.

Mantracourt's BroadWeigh system provides accurate, wireless, real-time load monitoring of stage equipment and has been designed to assist rigging professionals within the entertainment sector.

Central to the design of the system is a wireless shackle equipped with a high accuracy load pin that is able to report data wirelessly to a computer or a handheld display. The system is able to monitor multiple loads and trigger an alarm should a load exceed a preset parameter.

"BroadWeigh has been especially developed for riggers to provide simple, effective, accurate and easy to u

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14 March 2016

Stage Technologies has installed a fully integrated powered flying system including four flybar winches, a two line performer flying winch and four moveable point hoists with re-configurable rigging hardware for setting up complex 3D flying applications. Equipment is controlled using the latest Au:Tour equipment as well as an array of desks running eChameleon software.

Nikki Scott, managing director of Stage Technologies commented,"We are delighted

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14 March 2016

The venue, which was a much used event space following its establishment as the Wakefield Co-operative headquarters in 1867, has been closed for the last decade.

Unity House Wakefield Limited formed in 2011 with the intention of raising funds to restore the building and turn it into a major music venue, conference centre and location for creative businesses.

The development team, led by director Chris Hill, raised £4m of funding to restore the structural elements of the venue, but its bid to the Arts Council for £300,000 to finish the interior of the building was declined.

Stage, set and studio company LS-Live, and its affiliated industry training centre Backstage Academy in South Kirkby, Wakefield, hav

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14 March 2016

The new, much larger arts centre will attract more acts to the district as the previous arts centre, which had served the district for more than 40 years, had been too small or inadequate for some acts given the size and quantity of material they required on stage.

Other features of the new state-of-the-art facility include a 15m tower above the stage, to improve management of curtains, lights, scenery and backdrops during performances.

Jands designed, manufactured and installed the all-important safety curtain for the Mildura Arts Centre Theatre including related mechanical components with the specified mechanical, structural and control features.

The 3,000kg safety curtain, appro

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14 March 2016

Providing the artists with a set that could be used in club spaces and toured internationally for festival shows, the Roboscreens can be swapped out and fitted with signature scenic Deadmau5 maus-heads created by the Henson Company during their set.

Automation for the robots was provided by Tait from movements translated by Robotic Arts, based on designer briefs. Pre-programmed movements were able to take place seamlessly during live

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14 March 2016

The Industrial Rack range is currently available in variants of 4U to 20U - in increments of 2U - to offer full flexibility to users and specifiers working in different sectors.

The rack shells are made from 9 mm birch ply with a high-pressure laminate (HPL) exterior, and like all 5 Star products, are built to rugged, high quality specifications and tough enough for the most exacting environments.

Eight standard HPL colours are currently available offering a variety of smart, dynamic finishes.

The main body depth is a standard 550mm, complete with 62 mm deep internal removable doors.

The racks are fitted with f

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14 March 2016

Director of dance, Brigitte Lefèvre was joined by principal dancers, Dorothée Gilbert and Jérémie Bélingard for the interview which is featured on the Harlequin YouTube channel.

Brigitte Lefèvre explained that although a well-established and respected traditional dance company "everything is always evolving, a living tradition and at the same time we are a reflection of an age, of the times." She continued, "You realise that the dancers are all becoming more and more attentive to everything that accompanies them and they are perfectly right. In a reference to dancers' health and well-being she said, "you can speak of att

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14 March 2016

Friday 28 June saw the unveiling of three large dance studios, costume and shoe storage room, an aerial performance room and two singing rehearsal rooms, all in a converted warehouse. The Academy is one of the largest dance studios in the UK and will house rehearsals for thousands of dancers and performers rehearsing for appearances on Carnival Cruises.

Each of the three dance studios were fully equipped with Harlequin Activity Sprung Floor topped with Harlequin Standfast Surface and were built to replicate a ship in a bid to help perform

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14 March 2016

Actus Industries is headed by Andy Martin, and its senior management team includes some of the most experienced and respected practitioners in the production, show and event industry.

The business has three separate divisions; equipment hire, selected sales and project management.

Actus general manager Adam Beaumont explained that they always intended to go into automation and the choice of brand was made because, "Kinesys is easily the best option'.

They recently won the contract to supply the full rigging package to Robbie Williams' Take The Crown tour, and at this point decided to expand their Kinesys elements.

The new Kinesys kit - including Liftket motors, El

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14 March 2016

StageHand is registered with the UK Charity Commission in addition to the name 'PSA Welfare & Benevolent Fund', and donations can be made in either name. The charity is also registered with JustGiving.com, which allows the tax value of donations to be reclaimed under the Gift Aid scheme, boosting the value of individual donations significantly at no extra cost to the donor.

"We don't have many calls on our funds these days, because people have learned that having professional insurance of various types is the sensible way to go," explained trustee Mike Lowe of Britannia Row. "But in certain circumstances it is good to know that there is a fall-back option when a PSA member (or widow or widower)

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14 March 2016

Stage Technologies supplied the full automation package, consisting of counterweight assist winches, floor tracks, trucks, sliders and supplementary motors, while sister company Delstar Engineering supplied the stage engineering and hydraulics.

Production manager Patrick Molony said, "Working with the team from Stage Technologies on Charlie has been an absolute pleasure. The installation of the show into Drury Lane has been incredibly smooth. For a production with this level of automation there have been very few problems. When problems have occurred, which they inevitably will on something of this scale, Stage Technologies have pulled out all the stops, and have ensured that all necess

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14 March 2016

The site is much more interactive and provides the user an easier path to finding the product they require. With a latest news section, company profile, testimonials and much more, the website is now a comprehensive guide to the power distribution manufacturer. The site is also ready to accept a company webshop, which will be released later in the year.

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

Although a new name to the concert touring market, SW19 Production's team is packed with familiar faces and its involvement in the Glassheart tour was the result of close associations with key members of Leona's team.

"I'd worked with creative director Emma Bull and musical director Steve Anderson on Kylie Minogue tours, and with Leona's Front of House engineer Dave Wooster on many occasions," explains SW19 production manager Kevin Hopgood. "Leona had also changed management companies immediately before the tour and they were open to a change and a fresh eye on things.&qu

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14 March 2016

The doors - positioned stage left and stage right - each measure 7.73m high by 6m wide and open and close to allow set trucks with giant heads of the singer to enter and exit the stage.

Kinesys was contacted by the tour's set technical manager Nick Evans and head rigger Jerry Hough and asked to come up with a neat and safe automation solution for quickly opening and closing the doors - that had been mechanically engineered by Tait.

The particular challenge with operating these doors is they are required to tilt back 6 degrees before raising 7m to fully open.

The mechanics of the system were designed and engineered by Tait's Pieter Denijs and Jerry Hough and features a

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14 March 2016

"Taking on the distribution of the German Movecat maintains Jands philosophy of only representing premium world class products," said Paul Mulholland, Jands managing director. "Germany is renowned for making the best mechanical products in the world and Movecat maintain this tradition and arguably provide the best designed and manufactured chain motor in the industry."

"The integrity of the company, the quality of the product, and its value for money and ease of use will excite the market," said Peter Grisard, Jands national manager - projects.

Jands Staging recently supplied 32 500kg Movecat chain hoists for the ANZ stadium in Sydney.

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

Julian Chiverton, sales director, said, "At Doughty we constantly look to improve our methods of manufacture. This investment enables us to engrave higher quality details and logos on our clamps and provide a custom service free of charge in the process."

He added: "Safety is a number one priority at Doughty and our products have always carried the date of manufacture for traceability, safe working load (SWL), TÜV where applicable and the Doughty logo. With the laser engraver these details are clearer and more visible than ever bef

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14 March 2016

"Local One is very excited and proud of our success in the great number of our members who have been certified as ETCP Technicians over the last couple of years," said Local One I.A.T.S.E. president James J. Claffey, Jr. "We believe that this achievement demonstrates our commitment to educating and training our members to provide the best service possible to our many employers, as well as enforcing, enhancing and protecting the traditional jurisdiction of Local One."

Claffey added, "Congratula

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14 March 2016

SHoW Baby 5 now has five SHoW IDs, allowing systems to be scaled up to multi universe broadcasts by using more than one transmitter, or as a way of avoiding interference from other SHoW Babys in the area.

SHoW Baby 5 is still plug and play. Each unit is a transceiver and by plugging a DMX cable IN, it automatically selects itself to be a Transmitter. If nothing is plugged into the DMX IN port, it selects itself to be a receiver.

SHoW Baby 5 is the same price as the original SHoW Baby and is compatible with all existing SHoW Babys in the world.

There are still seven indicator lights on the front of the SHoW Baby, four for signal strength, one to designate whether it is a transmitter, one to designate whether it is a receiver, and a data present light. In th

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14 March 2016

The Astera range features handheld LED controllers for all types of user, from the simple infra-red controller (ARC1) with limited features to the more advanced radio frequency controller (ARC2) with a greater range and extensive control. The AsteraTouch improves the current range with its visibility and enhanced usability. Due to the seven-inch, 1024x600-pixel captive touchscreen, the often complex Astera control system is simplified into easy stages, but more importantly, it still maintains the comprehensive control and customizabilit

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14 March 2016

Brilliant Stages' general manager, Tony Bowern was tasked by the tour's production manager, Wob Roberts, to oversee the design, construction and delivery of elements including a series of replicas of Robbie Williams' head, on-stage tracking solutions, a multi-tiered main stage with protective roofette and a curved header topping the massive back wall.

In collaboration with a number of key partners, including fellow Prolyte Group subsidiary Prolyte UK, Brilliant delivered an exceptionally conceived and constructed product to the specifications of artistic designer Willie Williams and the late stage architect Mark Fisher.

"Tony transformed our requirements into an enormous construction schedule which co-ordinated t

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14 March 2016

Contracted by Production Resource Group, L.L.C., (PRG), Stage Technologies teams in the UK, the US and Australia worked closely with Global Creature Technology to supply the automation system which controls the eponymous ape. The automation package includes over 12 tonnes of steelwork, motors, winches, and cable management systems, which give the Kong puppet its sweeping movements; enable it to lift and rotate; and allow it to travel up, down and across the stage. The on-board winches control the height and rotation of the body, and allow Kong to fly in, leap, gallop, stand, etc.

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14 March 2016

Multiple iPads can be set up by an admin user to give numerous musicians personalised monitor control without affecting each other or the FoH main mix. A musician's own aux monitor mix is assigned and locked into the 'My Mix' layer, and a selection of input splits dedicated to the individual musician can be added. Similarly, all other instrument send levels can be assigned to any of the three extra layers, allowing unique personal monitoring configuration. The range of accessible settings is defined by custom permissions for each layer.

When in User mode, the musician is presented with simple-to-use access and control of their aux m

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14 March 2016

The 52 students currently taking the second annual degree course (validated by The University of Bolton) at the Wakefield training centre enjoyed training sessions, masterclasses and hands-on product demonstrations by leading companies and personnel during their month-long Staging Module.

General manager of Brilliant Stages, Tony Bowern, did his first ever educational talk. He explained: "I discussed the processes that we use to convert designers' dreams into reality involving project management, engineering, design, procurement and manufacturing. I feel it is important to pass on my knowledge of stage set building so it can give the Academy students a clear insight into what is req

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14 March 2016

The success of the projects shows that Black Light has the expertise to be involved in ground-breaking projects involving key decision makers in both government and education.

"The projects have been a great success and the schools are delighted with the equipment we installed," says Black Light's head of company development, Phil Haldane. Haldane explains that one of the key reasons for the project's success was that Black Light met with the end-users early on in the process. "We re-specified certain elements of the project in light of the feed