Business

Details
UK - From designing and manufacturing unusual creations in drapes and starcloth for worldwide music tours, to installing complex truss structures at award ceremonies, Blackout have been working their magic all over the world for 15 years.

Established in January 1991, Blackout has come a long way since sewing the very first black drape. Today, Blackout are proud to be the largest supplier of drapes, rigging, starcloth and track to the theatre, media, event and corporate industries. Blackout have encountered every possible challenge that can occur in this fast-paced industry, and as a result this has made them stronger and more innovative.

Steve Tuck, managing director and founder of Blackout, puts the reason for their success over the past fifteen years down to the sheer dedication of the whole Blackout team: "From seamstresses to senior management, great pride is taken in

Details
UK - Cadac's flagship analogue console scores a full house in the Best SoundDesign category. All the nominations for the 2006 Olivier Award for Best Sound Designfeatured a Cadac J-Type Live Sound Production Console, reports Cadac Electronics Plc, demonstrating the J-Type's enduring position as the console of choice for leading sound designers around the world for major productions.

The nominees included Paul Arditti for Billy Elliot The Musical, Christopher Shutt for Coram Boy and, on Guys and Dolls, Terry Jardine and Chris Full, with Paul Arditti scooping up the Best Sound Design Award at yesterday's gala presentation.

Managing director Bob Thomas believes that more than 75% of the current Broadway and West End shows feature a Cadac analogue console, reflecting Cadac's continuing supremacy in sound quality, reliability and bullet-proof performance,

Details
France - Kinesys' new K2 automation control system was used to fly an impressive 16 metre high spiral staircase reveal, which was the centrepiece for Karl Lagerfeld's highly visual Ice Princesses show for Chanel during Paris Fashion Week. This was staged in the elegant, newly renovated Grand Palais, just off the Champs Elysees.

Flemish rental company EML supplied sound, lighting and rigging equipment for the event which was production managed by Alain Van Isacker. The stage was a Stageco structure and the show's technical aspects - including the staircase - was conceived by Hans Willems of Stageco. The staircase was constructed by French company Devineau, with the truss tower and all the load bearing mechanical elements supplied by Stageco

The highly versatile K2 system - which EML purchased last year and debuted on the Clouseau show in Antwerp (see the January i

Details
UK - The Theatrical Guild (TTG) is delighted to announce that it is exhibiting for the second year running at the forthcoming ABTT Theatre Show 14th-15th June 2006.

The Theatrical Guild is the only registered charity in the UK providing help and support to anyone who works or has worked Backstage or Front of House, be it general staff or management.

Offering an extremely valuable service, TTG gives financial aid to those who are unable to work due to illness, accidents or to those who have retired.

Karen Nichols, Chief Administrator, explained: "We found exhibiting at The ABTT Theatre Show enormously worthwhile. It gave us the opportunity to meet with theatre professionals from around the country. It was invaluable meeting face to face and being able to let them know that The Theatrical Guild exists and explain how our charity can make a dramatic difference should they

Details
UK - Jake Vernum, one of the UK's youngest LDs, is the 12 year old son of Pearce Hire's owner Shaun Pearce.

Jake independently designed and programmed the lightshow for his school's production of "Grease the Musical" on an Avolites Pearl 2004 console.

Pearce Hire 'sponsored' a lighting (and sound) rig for the show at Orton Longuevile School, Peterborough, that would have made many larger productions green with envy - incorporating 10 Martin Mac 500's, 2 x Mac 600's, a Martin Destroyer, several Par 64, 32 and 16 lanterns, 2 cell moles and a Jem hazer with fan.

Jake has always spent a lot of time with his father on events and in the company's Peterborough premises. Being popular with all the staff, he has been able to watch and learn and has clearly an aptitude to pick things up very quickly.

Father Shaun says: " Jake's taught himself the Pearl since Christmas

Details
UK - Maltbury Staging has supplied many theatres, schools and numerous other performing arts venues in its history, but it is not very often that a martial arts federation approaches with a staging request.

Peter Chin, of The International Tang Soo Do Federation came to Maltbury with a request for some staging for the upcoming World Tang Soo Do Championship. He wanted to use the staging as a platform for the judges, and to display awards. It was also important that the staging be versatile enough to use in other situations, and be able to be stored easily when not in use. The staging was needed in a hurry as the championship was coming up fast.

Maltbury supplied the federation with a number of Steeldeck sections so that they could construct a presentation area. Peter Chin says: "The staging supplied to the International Tang Soo Do Federation was excellent, very versatile

Details
UK / USA - Cirque du Soleil has always known how to pull a crowd but never before has the company gone to such remarkable lengths as for the creation of KÀ. The World premiere at the Las Vegas MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in February 2005 grabbed everyone's attention with its stunning automated sets, special effects, elaborate choreography and performer flying.

Now, one year on, the show is still amazing its audiences. KÀ is the first show of its kind to successfully integrate advanced technologies seamlessly into a show on such a grand scale. Stage Technologies' Nomad console controls over 200-axes of automation that are an integral part of the show. The automation was incorporated so successfully that Cirque has developed new creative applications that have never before been seen in live entertainment.

Cirque du Soleil is renowned for the energy and skill of its

Details
UK - SPS has recently adopted an account-team organisational structure. "In doing this, it is our goal to better support our clients; to work more efficiently; and to improve the way we communicate," said MD Robin Coles.

The new structure will see an account director head-up each account team - supported by a team of account managers, project managers and technical crew. The teams are responsible for a shortlist of key clients with whom close working relationships can be developed and built upon. Closer working relationships will allow teams to better anticipate client needs, to be proactive, and to provide cost effective, intelligent solutions.

"It's a very positive, customer focussed move that will also benefit all of our people. Everyone is very excited about the changes to our way of working, and the advantages it offers at many levels," said Coles.

(

Details
UK - Lighting designer Jason Taylor has once again opted to use Martin Mac 2000 Performances supplied by Sparks Theatrical Hire for the current National tour of the musical Anything Goes.After lighting a successful national tour and West End residence of High Society, produced by Mark Goucher Ltd in 2004, with lighting equipment provided by Sparks Theatrical Hire, Taylor and his associate Chris Clarke were keen to repeat the successful combination.

Taylor explains the brief for the lighting: "It concerned the size of the rig due to the fact that the show is doing weekly touring with only a one-day fit-up. This is where the MACs have proved useful, as it has allowed me infinite colours from their side lighting positions. I also knew we would have to light specific areas and so the shuttering facility proved very good. The show has several dance sections, which

Details
Hungary - On the southern fringe of Budapest sits the city's new Palace of Arts. The new complex, among the largest of its kind in Europe, has transformed the cultural life of Hungary's capital city since opening last spring with its 1,700-seat philharmonic concert hall, 450-seat Festival Theatre multi-purpose auditorium, and arts museum incorporating the Hungarian national music library.

A sound reinforcement system comprising more than 20 Meyer Sound self-powered loudspeakers was installed in the Festival Theatre. The venue posed several aesthetic, acoustical, and logistical challenges to the system design, such as the unusually large and adjustable stage opening - measuring more than 18 meters wide - which allows seamless integration of the audience area and the stage area, when necessary, and the movable ceiling panels above the audience, which open to add volume to the hall

Details
UK - London-based lighting rental company Neg Earth has recently purchased 12 High End Systems DL2 digital lights, which are currently touring with several major artists.

Katie Melua is carrying four DL2s, Studio Beams and a Wholehog 3 console with LD Chris Lambourne. The tour started in January and draws to a close at the beginning of April. DL2 operator Oli Metcalfe says: "The DL2s have proved to be very reliable and easy to set up - and quite bright. The media server is very versatile with many interesting effects. The Wholehog 3 Personality is good, and allows for easy access to all the attributes."

The Strokes' LD Chris Ragan of IPS Creative Group has specified two DL2s and two Catalyst Pro Media Servers for the tour which started in the UK/Ireland in January. Ragan is also adding five Studio Spot 575s when the tour hits the US this month. Ragan says: "The

Details
UK - Starlight Express's latest tour opened in Torquay in February, and is utilising the quiet and versatile Martin Mac 700 moving heads, 24 of which have been supplied by Stage Electrics.

Fully equipped with all the industry standard Martin features; a compact, light, fixture with power and optical precision; the Mac 700 also combines a full CMY colour mixing system supplemented with an 8-position colour wheel and a gobo animation system for dramatic projection effects. The MAC 700 contains head and base temperature sensors to ensure that fan speeds are kept to a minimum, bringing noise levels right down to suit theatre and TV studio applications.

Stage Electrics is supplying all the lighting for the tour: the rig includes the 24 MAC 700s, plus 33 MAC 600s, six MAC 250 Wash, 12 Atomic Strobes, 110 scrollers, 150 generic lanterns controlled by a Wholehog II with Hog PC

Details
USA - Lighting designers Matthew Timoszyk and Steve Odehnal specified Elektralite my250 lighting fixtures from Sacramento Theatrical Lighting (STL) for the Bibleman tour. The my250 units, which use either the MSD 250 / 2 (2000 hours) or HSD 250 / 80 (3000 hours) lamps, feature a 21° beam angle, one colour wheel with bi-colour and rainbow settings, two gobo wheels - one with rotating indexable gobos - and focus and dimmer. On this production, two were flown on top of custom lighting towers, the remainder were used base down.

Timoszyk says: "The my250s were perfect for this production, offering excellent light output and a useful 16bit pan and tilt range of 630º and 265º, or 540º and 265º. Their small size and light weight made them an obvious contender."

Although it is standard STL policy to carry a minimum of one spare unit for each fixture type, this proved an

Details
Slovakia - Martin Professional's Maxedia Digital Media Composer is seeing service on an ever broader variety of shows and events. It is also being specified in an ever expanding number of geographic markets. In Slovakia, Martin distributor Adam A Syn has incorporated the user friendly digital media server into several shows and events of late, mostly for Slovakian television.

For Zlaty Slavik (Golden Nightingale), a singing competition that airs on Slovakian channel STV 1, Adam A Syn technicians Michal Brna and Dusan Rybar programmed the Maxedia to manipulate - divide, rotate and fly - a series of images for an LED videowall. Dagmar Pastorkova of Adam A Syn commented: "We use the Maxedia because of the variety of unique visual effects it is capable of creating through image manipulation. Nobody else can offer such diverse imagery here in Slovakia. For Zlaty Slavik

Details
Australia - The newly developed Melbourne Central has quite a few surprises up its sleeve, including the innovative new 3on3 complex - the latest instalment from leading entertainment developer EDG. Located on Level 3 of the Centre, 3on3 is a complete entertainment venue that incorporates Kingpin Bowling centre, Barcode 'Game Bar' and the Van Gogh Vodka bar.

But what separates this location from your typical bowling alley and games venue, is the atmosphere. From the LCD screens playing music video clips above the lanes, to the funky and comfortable décor scattered around the place; you feel more like you have stumbled into some Hollywood star's lounge room rather than a commercial entertainment venue.

A major contributor to the overall ambience of the place is the stunning lighting effects. Lighting designer Andrew Livingston of Bluebottle 3 Pty Ltd, was able to incorpo

Details
UK - A.C. Lighting's Audio division has supplied a Nexo GEO S line-array speaker system to Sound2light Productions, which offers a UK-wide full event production service, including lighting and sound design, hire and consultancy for events of any size ranging from small shows to large concerts.

Sound2light director Mark Rivkin was looking to increase their existing hire stock inventory with a permanent PA system that would give the company access to much larger-scale client events ranging from indoor theatre shows to outdoor rock concerts. After auditioning many different systems he contacted the Audio division of A.C. Lighting to discuss the Nexo GEO line array speaker system.

After providing a quote for a GEO S system, A.C. audio sales manager Peter Butler arranged for a demonstration at company's Northern offices to enable Mark to hear its capabilities in a suitable controll

Details
New Zealand / Europe - Selecon has announced the opening of the Selecon European Service Centre, as of 1 March 2006. This new stocking warehouse and distribution centre is located in Enschede in the Netherlands and presents the opportunity for a whole new level of service and delivery to Selecon's many European dealers and their customers, the company says.

"The opening of Selecon Europe B.V. marks the beginning of a long road that all of us at Selecon have walked since we first started doing serious business in Europe." said Michael Goldberg. "In the nine years that I have been sales and marketing director for Europe, there has been steady growth and demand for Selecon product and our commitment to the European market requires that we stock our products close to the customer base. I am delighted that our new facility is now open and that we have the potential to

Details
Italy - EtherSound is the primary audio distribution and control network for both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Winter Olympic Games in Turin. Gary Hardesty, director of Sound Media Fusion, designed the complex audio system, which serves multiple live audience areas and broadcast production feeds simultaneously. "EtherSound's low latency, audio quality and flexible functionality make it my choice for digital audio networking in these demanding special event productions," he says.

Hardesty is no stranger to the unique challenges of special events that combine live performance and worldwide broadcast: he has worked on the Super Bowl as well as previous Olympics. A pioneer in the use of digital audio distribution for special events, Hardesty was among the first sound designers to distribute audio in digital rather than analogue format, using CobraNet. This yea

Details
New Zealand - Celebrated Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti has given much to the world. However, at the age of 70, he made the decision to conclude his performing career with a farewell tour. With a career spanning more than four decades (including a record 40 years with a single record label, Decca), the master tenor chose to step down and devote his attentions to his family, who are accompanying him on his world tour.

The global tour included five shows in Australia and New Zealand, with a sold-out concert before 15,000 fans at Auckland's North Harbour Stadium. Performing with Pavarotti was acclaimed Italian tenor Simona Todora, accompanied by the 66-piece Auckland Philharmonia, conducted by Leone Magiera.

Reproducing Pavarotti's oversize voice properly requires that no compromise be made in either the sound system or the technicians. Grammy-winning, former Decca Records engin

Details
Canada - A Soundcraft 48-channel MH3 has been commissioned by the progressive Trinity Baptist Church in Kelowna, BC, Canada. The console completes another stage of ongoing upgrades to the technical infrastructure in the 2,300-seat -seat auditorium. The desk was selected by technical director of Randall Paul - himself an experienced sound engineer and the man responsible for all the AV communications technology on the 100,000sq.ft campus.

The desk was supplied by Genesis Communication Inc in Edmonton, Alberta, a leading systems integration firm in Canada, with the assistance of Lance Spratt, Genesis' senior systems consultant for houses of worship. "Our needs were driven primarily by features - but we really needed a competitive price point to meet the budget that had been approved," said Paul.

The MH3, says Paul, met the criteria for a console with the operational fl

Details
UK - This year the Global Infusion Group (incorporating Eat to the Beat, Chevalier Event Design and e2B Logistics) has committed its support to the 'One Water' charity, which aims to provide access to free, clean water in third world areas by generating profits from the sale of 'One' branded bottled water.

By supporting this charity, Global Infusion has pledged to buy 80,000 500ml bottles in 2006. This in turn will raise £5,000 to buy a village a well, a pumping system and a 'magic roundabout'. The children of the village play on the roundabout, and each revolution pumps a litre of water into storage tanks, so water can be freely available.

The concept was launched to the team at Global Infusion Group at their AGM in January this year by managing director Duncan Goose. The team wholeheartedly bought into the concept without exception.

Currently, one billion people in t

Details
South Korea - The monetary governing body of South Korea - the Bank of Korea - has recently had an exterior face-lift incorporating Tryka luminaires. The imposing façade of its head offices in Seoul is being lit with a total of 48 Tryka Strip Module 1200mm IP67 with 6° optics, which are being run by Tryka Modulation Drivers and then programmed via a DMX controller.

Lighting designer Yeon-so Lee was responsible for the design, whilst Tryka's Korean distributor, C&C Electronics Company Ltd, supplied the products and carried out the installation. The designer's wish was to use LED lighting to create subtle pastel colours on the front of the building, to be visible as high as the third floor.

The Strip Module Optic from Tryka was able to achieve the very specific hues requested by the designer. Furthermore, the choice of optics available allows directing the light output as need

Details
Canada / Finland / Norway - Following a worldwide review of Rycote's distributor network, the company has appointed a number of new distributors for its microphone windshields, shock mounts and accessories.

From 1 March 2006 Sennheiser Nordic has been appointed as exclusive distributor in Finland and Norway. Rycote's USA distributor - Redding Audio - will also now be taking on exclusive distribution in Canada.

According to Rycote managing director, Vivienne Dyer: "We wanted to ensure our product range was maintaining a high profile and our products were truly available on a worldwide basis. Accordingly, we have felt it necessary to make several new appointments and are confident this will help improve our product accessibility."

Among the latest on-going product developments and enhancements are the company's new zip-less windjammers: these work on a drawstring des

Details
UK - Stagetec Distribution has supplied a Compulite Vector Lite (Orange) control system and Hippotizer Stage media server to BBC Studios, part of BBC Resources Ltd, in London for the current production of Davina, the mid-week BBC1 talk show.

The Vector is used to control five Clay Paky Stage Zooms, 49 Martin Mac 500, 20 Martin Mac 600s, six Vari*Lite VL1000, two Vari*Lite VL2416, two sets of Pulsar ChromaStrips and the Hippotizer media server.

The VL1000s are the key lights for the chat area and band, with two of the 500s as back lights on the chat area. The 600s colour the upper set and stairs and the Zooms put gobos on the set behind the chat area. The remaining 500s are used for the band.

The Hippotizer is run in dual output mode - one output feeds the big LED screen hanging above the band, the second output feeds five projectors on the floor, rear projecting on to

  1. PSL provides backdrop to TP Awards
  2. Wireless-DMX in Turin
  3. Digidesign provides mix for medals
  4. JTE'S PixelBricks on UK's tallest advert
  5. Pyro Awareness course for theatre technicians
  6. Arena Group launches Arena Scaffolding
Page 779 of 1813

Latest Issue. . .