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USA - There are strong evocative feelings tied to time and place in Jane Chambers 1980 landmark play, Last Summer at Bluefish Cove. That’s often the case with cultural milestones, a category this play certainly fits into, being the first major lesbian drama.
Lighting designer R.S. Buck and the rest of the production team appreciated the significance of this when they worked on a recent production of the 43-year-old classic at the Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles, but their vision extended beyond the play’s historical context to focus on the stories of the eight women portrayed in this drama.
"As we worked on the play, we were less interested in highlighting it as a period piece, and more in showing the authenticity and relevance of these women’s stories,”

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Australia - While visitors to the BBC Earth Experience in Melbourne are being transported on a journey through the natural world, a new video explains the technical magic behind the scenes.
The BBC Earth Experience is an immersive exhibition narrated by Sir David Attenborough which has recently opened at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Produced in collaboration with Moon Eye Productions, Live Nation, BBC Studio and Tinker Imagineers, the multi-room digital art experience guides visitors through Earth's diverse ecosystems across seven continents.
What sets Melbourne’s BBC Earth Experience apart is the playback technology used for this installation Australian video technology and production supplier, TDC, harnessed the innovative BeeBlade media server from HIVE to power the entire project.
Michael Hassett, managing director, TDC begins the b

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Sri Lanka - The production of Kuweni the Musical by Charitha Attalage showcased the seamless integration of Allen & Heath's audio equipment with the multidisciplinary performance.
A captivating multi-sensory experience uniting a diverse team of composers, musicians, visual artists, songwriters, and more to create an immersive performance, the musical took place over four days with five sold-out shows at the Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksha Theatre.
Allen & Heath's audio solutions played a pivotal role in bringing the production to life, with the equipment line-up including a dLive S7000 Surface, two DM64 MixRacks, four DX168 expanders, and three networking cards (gigaACE, Waves V3, and Dante 128x128).
Handling both FOH and monitors on the dLive S7000 was audio engineer and founder of rental company Universal Sound Productions, Malinda Lowe. Lever
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Indochine X PixMob Fan Immersion

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's - 40 thousand LED pixels on a ceiling!!! Indochine's whirlwind tour transports fans to another level of the live experience - immersing them from floor to ceiling with PixMob's X4 wristbands, and an LED ceiling made entirely of its NOVA Minis! With the vision of Indochine's creative team, PixMob used its LED fan-technology to turn attendees and venues into an ocean of effects, and a starry sky of LED magic. Très très cool!

Read more about the Indochine tour in the latest issue of LSi

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USA - In a recent survey of professional audio manufacturers whose product lines span the gamut of audio specialties, half the respondents said immersive audio now ranges from a significant to a solidly pervasive and permanent component of audio production workflows, while all respondents expect to reach that level of pervasiveness within five years.
The Professional Audio Manufacturers Alliance (PAMA) conducted the survey, asking its member companies to assess the impact of the burgeoning immersive audio movement on their product development and business. Two-thirds of participating companies reported significant current overall demand for products with immersive audio capabilities. Eighty per cent of the respondents expect products with immersive audio features to be a growth area in their company's portfolio of products over the next five years, with a third of all respo

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USA - Fulcrum Acoustic has introduced Fulcrum One, a system design and simulation software available for Windows and Mac. This comprehensive software environment streamlines the design, deployment, and management of both traditional sound reinforcement and immersive audio systems within a single, user-friendly interface. The all-in-one nature of Fulcrum One saves time, reduces the need for multiple software applications, and caters to the needs of diverse audio projects.
Incorporating the Fulcrum Acoustic loudspeaker catalogue, Fulcrum One enables users to accurately plan and position loudspeakers within a 3D venue model. The software will also facilitate the creative design of active acoustics and object-based mixing components for immersive audio installations powered by the Fulcrum Immersive Venueflex processor.
A key feature of Fulcrum One is its acoustic simulat

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Belgium - VRT, the public broadcaster of the Flemish Community in Belgium, is paving the way for a new era of media production with its latest cutting-edge studio. The new multifunctional studio of VRT represents a pivotal leap into the future of media production.
Equipped with an immense U-shaped LED wall, measuring an impressive 33m in width and 4m in height, crafted from Leyard Europe's VEM Series LED solution, the studio promises to ‘usher in a wave of creativity, efficiency, and accessibility in the production proces’s. It will also allow VRT to stay relevant in a rapidly changing media landscape and fully explore the potential of virtual technologies for broadcasting.
Stijn Lehaen, general director of technology & infrastructure at VRT NWS, explains, “This multifunctional studio is a logical continuation of the innovation work VRT has been doing in rec

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USA - GAT3, an audio facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, has transformed a former stereo tracking room into a 9.1.6 Dolby Atmos studio equipped with PMC Ci series monitors.
Established 27 years ago by Glenn A Tabor III and his wife Susan, GAT3 is renowned for its outstanding facilities and equipment. The facility has five studios handling a range of audio projects, from music recording, mixing and mastering to voice overs, ADR and post production for film and television. It also has two sound stages, two video stages and a recording academy, teaching the next generation of audio engineers the skills of their trade.
Each of the facility’s studios are named after a precious stone (Opal, Onyx, Ruby, Emerald and Sapphire), and take their interior décor colour palette from the colour of the stone they represent. GAT3’s centrepiece, the new Dolby Atmos Sapphire Room

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UK - Provider of AV and IT services Tateside, is marking 15 years of operations. In 2008, amid the challenges of a global recession, Tateside emerged out of a conversation among the co-founders, Andy Sullivan, Graham Agambar and Richard Day, who were all previously employed by Astro Communications, based in Kent. The trio recognised an opportunity to deliver fully managed services encompassing telecommunications, networks and audio-visual solutions. Their inaugural client, Time Inc. (formerly IPC Media), entrusted Tateside with a comprehensive service contract, marking the beginning of the young company's success story.
Based at the Blue Fin Building, nestled behind the Tate Modern on Bankside, Time Inc.’s offices were the focal point of Tateside's early operations. Under the direction of Andy, Graham and Richard, the team managed an extensive technology infrastructure, f

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Germany - As the current fiscal year draws to a close, Neumann & Müller Veranstaltungstechnik presented an initial assessment at its shareholder meeting and examined the prospects for 2024.
The conclusion reached by the N&M managing board was that, following the disruptions caused by the corona pandemic, the company is now on an "absolutely stable long-term course". In view of this assessment, the shareholders of the service provider for technology for live communication expressed their confidence in the management.
Following on from a period lasting almost three years in which the event sector was forced to absorb considerable losses due to the COVID19 pandemic, commissioning has picked up significantly in the current fiscal year.
N&M can also look back on 2023 with satisfaction: "We are on an absolutely stable long-term course," said Christoph Rup

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USA - In-ear monitor specialist Jerry Harvey Audio LLC (JH Audio) has filed for Chapter 11 reorganisation protection with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Florida.
Although the specific details and terms of the filing currently remain undisclosed, JH Audio Founder Jerry Harvey has issued the following statement: “The recent global pandemic created unparalleled challenges for businesses across the nation, and our company was no exception. Despite the resilience and determination of our team, the prolonged closures within the music and live sound industry, combined with reduced customer traffic, made it increasingly challenging to sustain normal business operations.
“In those unprecedented circumstances, we sought financial assistance through federal loans. Unfortunately, the complexity of the federal loan terms and the uncertainty surrounding the economi

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USA - An accomplished painter when she isn’t busy as a LD, Denise Simpson says that she often likes to play with colours to do things a little differently when designing shows. This was evident this December when she lit The Christmas Experience, a well-orchestrated one-hour musical programme at the Lexington Baptist Church.
“Often one of the unique ways that I create looks is by slightly offsetting colours in some of my big monochromatic looks,” remarked Simpson. “I generally lean towards monochromatic looks as I am building up the end of a song, and also for those big high energy numbers. I love building bright saturated colour scenes.
“In this case, I chose my colour palettes based on how the music felt to me and how the performers and musicians presented the piece. Also, very important to this event, my palettes were chosen by working closely with

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UK - The festive period is a busy time for the riggers at Unusual. The team certainly has its hands full with Christmas lights being hung in Regent St, more than 20 pantomimes taking place across the UK and a big Christmas musical on the West End.
Based on the Hollywood hit movie starring Will Ferrell as Buddy, Elf opened at London’s Dominion Theatre on 15 November for a limited eight-week run, with production manager Stuart Tucker bringing the Unusual team on board to handle the rigging requirements.
Stuart commented: “This is quite an involved show from a rigging perspective as the venue is actually quite tight for space. With everything from drift ladder beams off fly bars for lighting and rigging for flying pieces overhead to Kinesys, storage hoists, front of house trusses for snow machines, etc.”
With drawings completed by Unusual’s Emily Egl

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Germany - Samsung has collaborated with KSCAPE to transform the meeting room experience at the Samsung Display Experience Centre in Frankfurt. The result is a solution based around KSCAPE Rail, which aims to eliminate the chaos of cables via integrated lighting and audio capabilities within a single dedicated product.
The inspiration for this project can be traced back to conversations between Kris Hogg, head of partnerships at Samsung, and Tom Ríby, global sales and marketing manager at KSCAPE.
“Kris and I shared a frustration with modern meeting room disorganisation and complexity. It was clear to us was that the productivity buzzkill caused by cable clutter and technological issues during video calls was a massive time and money drain to businesses,” explains Ríby. “We started discussing how Rail and Samsung could be used together to create an intelligent, e

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Germany - The upper Franconian town of Wunsiedel is not only home to the largest rock labyrinth in Europe, but also the oldest open-air stage in Germany, which is used by the Luisenburg Festival every year during the summer months. The performance area of the main stage extends over several levels amidst rocks and forest. In this natural setting, the technical team at the Luisenburg Festival once again used weatherproof spotlights from Fusion by GLP this year.
Twenty-four X-PAR 12Z, 24 Fusion Stick FS20, 12 Fusion SuperNova SN70 and four GLP impression X5 washlights formed part of the lighting design for the 2023 season, with the Sticks FS20 having been specified for the third year in a row.
The lighting of the rock stage is redefined year after year based on the performance plan, with the position of the material defining the requirements, as Michael Lindner, assistan

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Germany - Harmonic Sound has chosen to expand its inventory by investing in Prolights' Astra Hybrid330.
Matthias Führer, head of the lighting technology team at Harmonic Sound, had clear ideas about the projector: "We were looking for a compact and lightweight moving light that still offered high brightness and precise optics; of course, it also had to be silent," he explains. "Furthermore, the projector was not only intended for illuminating performances but also for projections. Additionally, the quality of craftsmanship and ergonomics are important aspects that should always be considered."
The specifications set by Harmonic Sound were met by the Astra Hybrid330 from Prolights. After delivery, the company immediately put the projectors into action during the Allgäuer Festival 2023 in Kempten.
"The Astra Hybrid330 impressed us from the start," Matthias stated

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Slovenia - GR-Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre (GR) is a bustling 23-hall venue operating in the middle of the Slovenian capital, hosting a variety of national and international expos and trade fairs. It is also used for television productions, special live events, and some music concerts.
Recently, the venue has boosted its Robe moving light stock with the purchase of Esprites, LEDBeam 350s and LEDBeam 150s which have been added to their existing ParFects, Spiider LED wash beams, MegaPointes and LEDBeam 150s. All this equipment has been delivered by Robe’s Slovenian distributor, MK Light Sound.
“We own a quantity of equipment which is available site-wide for different events as needed, and if more is required, we cross rent,” explained Boris Kutin, the venue’s head of AV and part of a technical team ensuring all GR productions are delivered smoothly

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USA - Alec Morris from Anthrolight Productions in the UK embarked on a North American tour this autumn with guitarist and ex-Genesis member Steve Hackett, illuminating the performances using an NX1 lighting console from Obsidian Control Systems.
The 31-show tour, Foxtrot at 50, commemorating the 50th anniversary of Genesis's Foxtrot album, kicked off on 3 October in Montreal and concluded on 18 November in Los Angeles. It marked Morris' first time designing and operating lighting for the guitarist, with tour manager Adrian Holmes overseeing the logistics.
Alec began designing lighting on a Martin LightJockey and M-Series consoles years ago, transitioning to Obsidian after Elation took over the console line. “The software kept developing and improving,” he says. “I saw improvements in functionality and the support was excellent, so I continued to use it.

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UK - The close of Entec’s 30th anniversary year as the first-call production supplier to The Bootleg Beatles has coincided with the Fab Four themselves returning to the top of the singles chart.
The Bootlegs are currently traversing the UK on another successful Christmas tour as they wrap up 2023 - a year that witnessed the passing of co-founder and partner, and original ‘George Harrison’, Andre Barreau.
“It’s hit us all hard and I miss Andre so much, as we all do,” says management partner Neil Harrison who, as ‘John Lennon’, founded the band with Andre in 1980 after co-starring in the hit West End musical Beatlemania. “He knew The Beatles’ history with forensic detail, and was able to direct the authenticity of the costumes, the video content and the music with absolute precision. He instinctively knew what was right or wrong.”
At a

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France - L-Acoustics is to be the platinum sponsor of the Audio Engineering Society (AES) International Acoustics and Sound Reinforcement Conference in Le Mans France from 23 to 26 January 2024.
Arica Rust, member of the Education & Scientific Outreach division at L-Acoustics is co-chairing the conference, whose objective is to bring together the minds of leading researchers and practitioners to discuss new ideas and to foster the next generation of industry innovators through the promotion of inclusivity and diversity.
The conference organising board consists of members of the AES Technical Committee on Acoustics and Sound Reinforcement, among others: Arica Rust, Manuel Melon, Adam Hill, Elena Shabalina, Marcel Kok, Hannah Goodine, Etienne Corteel, David Williams, Peter Mapp, Eddy Bøgh Brixen, and Pierrick Lotton.
The event will be hosted at and is being

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UK - Focusrite plc has announced the acquisition of UK-based Sheriff Technology Limited, trading as OutBoard, the company behind both TiMax immersive audio solutions and OutBoard stage rigging motor control products and PAT4 enterprise electrical safety testing. They will join the Audio Reproduction division of the Focusrite Group alongside Martin Audio, Optimal Audio, and Linea Research.
Founded in 2001 by Robin Whittaker and David Haydon, OutBoard is a UK-based company specialising in innovative entertainment technologies, which it sells globally. Operating under two sub-brands - TiMax and OutBoard - its products are vital for professionals in the audiovisual industry, particularly in live performances, event management, and the rapidly expanding sector of immersive sound experiences.
TiMax are pioneers in immersive sound, specialising in innovative audio and show co

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Eurovision 2024 - Olly Alexander will represent the United Kingdom at next year's Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden. The former Years and Years frontman will hope to improve on the UK's disappointing performance this year, when Mae Muller came second to last. Alexander is already known around Europe for hits including Desire, King and If You're Over Me.
The star's participation was revealed during the final of Strictly Come Dancing on Saturday, months before the BBC usually confirms its Eurovision plans. "I love Eurovision so much, it's a dream come true," he told host Claudia Winkleman. "I'm just so, so excited." In a press release, he added: "I really can't believe I'm going to be a part of such a special legacy and fly the flag for the UK in the gayest way possible. I'm determined to give it everything I've got and put on an excellent and unfor
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