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France - Theatre Projects opened its new Paris office last Thursday 18 June at the Passage de Retz, the art gallery located at the entrance of Theatre Project new studios. Guests from the Parisian cultural and architectural scene attended.

The new studio in Le Marais District of Paris is also the base for two respected acoustic designers who have joined Theatre Projects Paris.

Seb Jouan Victoria and Chavez Thielemann will work with the rest of Theatre Projects' consultants on theatre design projects internationally. They will also provide standalone acoustic design services to architects designing sophisticated performance and entertainment spaces.

They are already working on several projects including the new Yves Saint-Laurent museum in Marrakech, the new Abu Dhabi District Lyric Theatre, the Weltmuseum in Vienna, The Casino de Paris and Folies Bergères in Paris, the next

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UK - Vortex Events' Matt Gourd and Iain Rendle have a combined knowledge of over 20 years in the events industry. Their company provides both dry rental of all their equipment as well as full production support for everything from musical productions, TV shows and dance events to touring productions, festivals and corporate events.

Having recently purchased a Hippotizer V4 Karst media server, Vortex Events will be putting it to the test immediately on the John Peel stage at Glastonbury this coming week.

Matt Gourd, "We looked at many different media servers and having used a wide range onsite for events, it was easy to see that the V4 range was one step ahead in many ways. These include the value for money and great support they offer. The Karst will help us realise some complicated mapping projects and visualise them at the design stage. This means we can easily translat

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UK - Singer-songwriter Ben Howard's UK tour is keeping rental company Nitelites on its toes; with a band full of studio engineers, there really is no room for error. "It's good for us, because it keeps us sharp," says Nitelites' director Andy Magee, who has chosen a substantial L-Acoustics system to deliver the quality of audio his artists demand."

Following his sold out UK tour in November and December, taking in venues such as London's Brixton Academy and Manchester's O2 Apollo, Howard completed a successful UK arena tour in April, with three nights at London's Alexandra Palace, Birmingham's NIA, Glasgow's SSE Hydro and Cardiff's Motorpoint Arena on the schedule.

The team at Nitelites met with tour production manager Chris Pollard, and it was agreed that an L-Acoustics K2 system would satisfy the criteria for nearly all the venues on the December tour.

"

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USA - With strong reviews, word-of-mouth recommendations, and 12 Tony Award nominations, the musical Fun Home appears to be right at home on Broadway. Based on an autobiographical graphic novel by Alison Bechdel, it is an unusual show - a delicate, rather than big and flashy musical - according to lighting designer Ben Stanton, who found himself with a low-tech show in need of high-tech lighting.

Stanton uses shifting pockets of light to follow the action from scene to scene, defining rooms of different shapes and sizes as furniture appears and disappears through a complex series of traps. Using an ETC Eos Ti lighting desk, programmer Alex Fogel built a low-res pixel map encompassing the whole stage, with each lighting area as a separate pixel. By applying a gradient to the intensity parameter of the area lights, he was able to smoothly drag focus around the playing area,

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USA - University of California, Irvine's (UCI) Claire Trevor School of the Arts presented The Electra Project, famed Romanian director Mihai Maniutiu's reimagining of the classic Electra story.

This avant-garde piece followed Maniutiu's minimalist style, using very little scenery to create a provocative production. Under Maniutiu's direction, lighting designer Martha Carter and scenic designer Morgan Price brought this story to life. Carter used Martin Professional's atmospheric effects to play on the audience's emotions as the titular character battles through her story. They used UCI's existing JEM Glaciator X-Stream and paired it with a JEM Ready 365 hazer which Martin loaned to the students to help fill out their production.

The initial planning started with only a 15-page script and notes from Maniutiu to have minimal scenery. While Carter and Price had their work

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USA - Standing out is always important in the world of television, but never more so than during Upfront's Week, an annual event that sees networks pitch their upcoming programmes to potential sponsors.

For the Fox Broadcasting Company this meant renting the historic Beacon Theatre on Broadway, and bringing in a bevy of stars like Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny of The X-Files fame, Lea Michele, Jamie Lee Curtis, and a musical performance by the award-winning cast of Empire, Jennifer Hudson and dancers from the cast of Grease Live! to entertain guests. Adding a dramatic visual element to the high-profile proceedings were two giant video screens set off by the striking light of over 60 Nexus 4x4 panels from Chauvet Professional.

Lighting designers James Schipper and Rachel Miller of Kinetic Lighting (Los Angeles) worked with scenic designer Anton Goss t

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UK - Having already worked with a wide variety of different organisations and venues this year, White Light has provided its services on yet another immersive piece of theatre - the world premiere of Heartbreak Hotel at The Jetty, Greenwich. Produced by Managing Mayhem and Zebedee Productions, Heartbreak Hotel opened at The Jetty on 11 June with White Light acting as a production partner.

The show sees The Jetty, which formerly served as a coal-unloading point for Blackwall Point Power Station, transformed into a purpose built structure which allows audience members to check into what is a unique experience.

Prior to the recent popularity of immersive theatre productions, White Light had already established strong working relationships with companies such as Punchdrunk. Their most recent project, the co-production with the National Maritime Museum entitled Aga

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UK - Adlib has carried out a sound and lighting installation for Manchester Met Student Union (MMU's) new SU Hall - designing a flexible and integrated Harman Professional solution for a multitude of audio reinforcement duties.

Adlib was awarded the contract for the new £10m MMU SU Building, which is situated adjacent to the Union's Salutation pub, based on their design recommendations, and the relationship that has developed since the company first started supporting MMU with equipment rental and sales.

Overseen by Adlib's Ian Nelson, the design concept is aimed to maximise multiple use of a building involving a bar, multipurpose entertainment space, admin offices, a shop, café and conferencing facilities. The system will cater for student union events, from comedy and club nights though to conferences and exhibitions, and be able to cope with numerous room layou

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USA - Big musical numbers, whimsical props, flashy dance sequences - all are key parts of any Broadway musical, and the Roundabout Theatre Company's production of On The Twentieth Century delivers all of these. From the moment the show curtain goes up, RC4Magic Series 3 Wireless DMX and Dimming takes centre stage, supporting a Tony award winning show that was also nominated for four Drama Desk Awards, nine Outer Critics Circle Awards and three Drama League Awards.

"Almost every piece of scenery in this show uses wireless dimming, along with several props, most of which have multiple fixtures requiring wireless dimming," says Brian Maiuri, production electrician at the American Airlines Theatre. "And the show's main scenic element is a life-sized train automated on a free spinning turtle that transports the train up and downstage as well as left to right. Th

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USA - The Manchester Grand Hyatt is Southern California's largest hotel. Its 125,000sq.ft of flexible ballrooms and breakout rooms remain booked without pause. However, that tight schedule, while a blessing in every other respect, became the principle challenge in an extensive renovation of the hotel's AV system. Due to their ease of programming, cost effectiveness and complete flexibility when expanding via Dante, San Diego-based Audio Associates chose a number of Symetrix SymNet Radius 12x8 open architecture networked DSPs and affordable SymNet xIn 12 and SymNet xOut 12 I/O expanders as the audio heart of Manchester Grand Hyatt's new AV system.

"This is a large, multi-phase project," explained Eric Evans, sales engineer at Audio Associates. "Most of the system is up and running, but as the work expands to other floors and other areas, we will be installing more

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UK - A.C. Video, a division of A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) has been appointed as an authorised dealer for the Philips Signage Solutions product range - bolstering the company's line-up of leading-brand complementary video system technologies.

Incorporating the latest advances in display technology, MMD - the leading technology company and brand license partner for Philips Signage Solutions - delivers first-class picture performance along with practical design and convenient features for both integrators and end users, such as SmartPower, SmartControl, FailOver and Clinical D-Image proprietary innovations available across models in the range.

The signage line-up includes the entry-level Q-line featuring eco-friendly SmartPower functionality for power consumption savings of up to 50%; the E-line with FailOver backup and SmartControl technologies for future-proof conn

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Belgium - Lighting and visual design practice Painting with Light's new office in the Paardenstallen (stables) at the C-MINE development in Genk, Belgium was officially declared open by Genk Mayor, Wim Dries, at the weekend.

The restoration of the listed building - once home to the Winterslag mine's working ponies - has been a three-year labour of love by Painting with Light founder and CEO Luc Peumans, working together with local architect Ruben Hermans. It also represents completion of the final element of Stage 1 of the wider C-MINE project -- led by Genk City Council - to regenerate the site of the former mine which is right at the heart of Genk's rich industrial heritage.

Says Luc, one of the best known show and lighting and multimedia designers in Benelux, "I was delighted with just how many people came to the event to share an incredibly proud moment in the company

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Israel - Koltech is a forward thinking lighting and audio rental company based in Beersheva, Israel's seventh largest city and the biggest in the arid Negev desert region to the south of the country.

The company is owned by Yossi Bendavid - popularly known as Zak Zak which means talkative - and Shlomi Auitani. The pair worked together at a previous company for several years and then set up Koltech seven years ago.

Koltech initially specialised in supplying technical solutions to theatre and opera productions. Their reputation soon spread along with their operational scope, and they quickly found themselves supplying concerts, outdoor festivals and a whole range of corporate and business events as well as arts projects.

They decided to invest in Robe for the first time in 2011, purchasing MMX Spots.

They already knew of the brand and its reputation from a couple of sources

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USA/Germany - Funktion-One has delivered upgrades to sound systems at four iconic venues - Cielo and Output in New York, Beta in Denver and Berghain in Berlin. The four nightclubs have benefitted from an intensive period of R&D that has enabled Funktion-One to take product performance to new levels.

The loudspeaker manufacturer's latest development is having a positive impact on owners, operators and their clientele. Company founder, Tony Andrews, reveals, "Funktion-One's continuous quest for fidelity has led to a breakthrough in cone stabilisation, almost eliminating diaphragm breakup and its associated non-linear acoustic behaviour."

All four venues are united by their focus on sound quality. Owner of Cielo and Output, Nicolas Matar, highlights: "Output and Cielo are 100% driven by audio quality and are renown worldwide as such."

Beta's executive direct

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UK- Hire company Richmond Film Services has invested in a DPA d:dicate 4041-SP condenser microphone, making it one of only two companies in the UK to own this product.

Designed to work in a standard 48V phantom power environment, the d:dicate 4041-SP offers a totally transparent audio path with a low noise floor. With a one-inch diaphragm, this microphone is the largest product in DPA's extensive range.

Nigel Woodford, owner and founder of Richmond Film Services, says: "I bought the DPA d:dicate 4041-SP to satisfy a request from a customer who wanted to use it for Foley work. It was teamed with a Nagra Seven recorder, which has sufficiently high quality mic pre-amps to do it justice. Apart from Foley work, I can see a future for it in capturing vocals, particularly in the studio, where its low noise floor and very high SPL handling, will make it a very popular choice.&quo

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UK - Aurora Lighting Hire is supporting lighting director Gurdip Mahal and gaffer James Tinsley on the new BBC One adventure quiz Prized Apart.

Working with production company Electric Ray and set designer Julian Healey, Aurora has provided a full service installation to the extensive studio lighting set up at Farnborough Five.

In keeping with the dry heat of the show's Morocco based location adventures, LD Gurdip Mahal has bathed the set in a desert glow created using a blend of MAC Viper Profiles, MAC Auras plus Vari-Lites VL3500 and VL2000 that mirror the arid on screen conditions.

Adding to both the vibrancy and versatility of the lighting design, Martin Viper Performances and Rush PARS are mixed with Sunstrips and Shapeshifters whilst Super Nova Flowers, Sharpys and Source Fours take care of highlights and keying.

Julian Healey and Gurdip Mahal have previously

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UK - XL Video, working for Production North, supplied all video production - LED Screens, IMAG cameras / PPU and crew - for the most recent UK tour by hi-energy pop-rockers, The Vamps.

The tour included several arena shows and was the largest to date for the rising stars who originally met via You Tube around 2012, as well as the first for Global Live, the new 'live' division of Ashley Tabor's UK-based Global Entertainment - and a co-promotion with AEG Live

The Vamps stage / set and video design was evolved by the tour's technical director Iain Whitehead (Production North) and lighting designer Peter Barnes, and included 145sq.m of XL Video's ROE Visual MC-7T LED screen. The lively IMAG mix was cut by Dan Ormerod, and video was a major part of the overall aesthetic that made the show and its presentation exciting, interesting and enjoyable to watch.

Video screens were the mo

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USA - After taking a year off from the road to concentrate on recording, Kenny Chesney has launched The Big Revival Tour across North America in support of his album released last year. A large complement of Clay Paky Mythos, Sharpy Washes and Stormy Strobes help Chesney amp up the excitement at his arena and stadium dates.

Chesney kicked off the tour at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena with guests Grace Potter, Taylor Swift, Uncle Kracker, Dave Lee Murphy and Joe Walsh. A four-time Country Music Association and four consecutive Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year, Chesney has always worked to make sure his production is as cutting edge as possible.

Production and lighting designer Mike Swinford says the look of the tour is "very typical" of Kenny Chesney's road shows. "It's a relatively simple design that's big and bold," he says. "Ke

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UK - Aurora Lighting Hire is constantly reviewing and updating its available hire products. Most recently, the company turned to Ambersphere Solutions to replenish their followspot stock.

From the Robert Juliat range of followspots, Aurora picked 'Victor', an 1800W discharge spot and 'Alex', a 2000/2500W tungsten model, both from the compact range. Both these units were chosen primarily for their excellent illumination properties, however Robert Juliat has an enviable pedigree in developing products specifically for the television and event markets in which Aurora specialise and the practical, compact styling of these followspots also proved an important feature.

"To purchase a sizeable number of Clay Paky Mythos from Ambersphere was an easy decision for us to make" says Aurora managing director Nick Edwards, "The beam power delivered from such a compact unit is

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UK - After the success of the New Year Eve specials, Jason Manford's latest venture, It's A Funny Old Week has been commissioned for a series with ITV.

It's A Funny Old Week will take a look at the week's news "from international political crisis to bus stop disputes". Each week Jason is joined by a guest stand-up comedian, looking at the funny side of what has been going on in the world in the past seven days.

Filmed at The London Studios, the new show is lit by lighting designer Roger Williams. His plot comprises of Robin 600 LEDWash, VL1000TS, Sunstrips and MAC Auras. The lights which are supplied by Richard Martin Lighting (RML) enhance the bright and bold set which is heavily made up of video screen, used throughout each episode to show the chosen news stories.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - "It's a voice that's so distinctive and familiar. You don't even need to see him. The minute Al Pacino steps on stage and utters his first word you are instantly transported to any number of characters he has played. For me it was Michael Corleone in the Godfather: softly spoken, and with that stillness the camera loves, he conveyed enormous power." No wonder Front of House engineer Chris 'Privet' Hedge was excited. "I have to say I was as nervous doing this as any of the big rock and pop shows I regularly do, certainly more nervous than I have been in a long while."

The event was three live interviews with Al Pacino staged in Dublin, Glasgow and London theatres. Britannia Row Productions was responsible for the sound, drafting in the deft hand of Hedge to manage the show. As director Bryan Grant said at the time, "This was an unusual challenge and

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South Africa / Poland - Johannesburg-based Surgesound and Polish distributor Soundtrade recently undertook successful roadshows across their respective countries to introduce Powersoft's new X-Series, with its worldwide compatible three phase power supply and advanced channel routing system.

Headed by Surgesound MD, Andrew Rowan, and technical product manager, Ruan Joubert, the tour started in Bloemfontein and travelled through Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London and Durban before finishing in Johannesburg. Supporting the event from the manufacturer was Sound School Trainer and Powersoft sound engineer, Luigi Chelli.

The sessions were attended mainly by touring, production companies and consultants who were eager to see whether X Series lived up to its claim. Explaining their approach, Andrew Rowan said, "Although we used conference facilities in the major cities, a lo

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Germany - gerdon MEDIADESIGN's Thomas Gerdon recently created another lighting extravaganza at Dortmund's giant dome inside the Westfalenhalle 1 for Mayday, an event that has become an essential fixture in the calendar of Germany's electronic dance music (EDM) fans.

Since 2012, Gerdon has been igniting the Mayday dancefloor with his far-reaching concepts for promoters I-Motion, often integrating LED fixtures from the GLP catalogue. And this year was no exception.

"It is always a challenge to produce an entirely new design every year - especially as it should never remind guests of something they have already experienced previously," he said. "For this reason, I try to use new and innovative products, and find 'tools' that give me the opportunity to create new looks.

"I also ensure that the design works within the [oval] shape of the venue, because I want

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USA - Legendary FOH engineer 'Big Mick' Hughes, who has mixed more than 1,500 Metallica shows over three decades, is confirmed as a guest speaker on the Meyer Sound Mixing Workshop webinar series. Hughes will be joining programme host and veteran mixer Buford Jones.

In the webinar, Hughes will share his lessons from mixing Metallica, the evolution of his techniques, as well as his approach to selecting equipment from consoles and microphones to loudspeaker systems. An open Q&A will be available for attendees' questions.

The Mixing Workshops take place Wednesday 1 July and Thursday 2 July.To attend these sessions, sign up for free here:

(Jim Evans)

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  3. Soundcraft in the mix for 5 Seconds of Summer
  4. Showforce solutions for Disney in Middle East
  5. Charcoalblue systems for transformed Lyric Hammersmith
  6. Holographic effects augment Einstein's Theory of Relativity
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