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UK - The Natural History Museum hosted a New Year celebration for 600 revellers to make history and be part of the final event with the iconic Dippy the Diplodocus in the Hintze Hall.

The evening saw indulgent entertainment provided by Guilty Pleasures in the form of shamelessly delivered classic pop ballads whilst the Dinosaurs gallery formed a well themed break out space. Party food was delivered by approved supplier Benugo, whilst the production by Halo focused on lighting, staging and sound in the Hintze Hall.

The Hinzte Hall will now be closed until August as Dippy departs ready for a UK tour in 2018 and the installation of the dramatic diving Blue Whale skeleton commences. The museum's wealth of additional spaces are all still available providing the chance for events to be hosted in previously undiscovered locations.

Robert Wetherell, head of venue hire at Natur

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UK - Truss UK is one of the few remaining British manufacturers of load- bearing aluminium trussing products; they design and manufacture structural aluminium products for the entertainment industry as well as other specialist industry sectors worldwide.

Having recently launched their new aluminium space frame product, Truss UK have announced that they have supplied the National Theatre (NT) with a large OBLIK system.

OBLIK is a modular space frame system consisting of only three main component types, the largest of weighing in at less than 16kg. The system is lightweight, compact for transport and storage and simple to erect using conventional fixings (nuts and bolts) to create complex aluminium structures that are extremely strong.

Truss UK director Paul Jordan says, "The OBLIK space frame system was deployed in the grid of the NT's Lyttelton theatre and is suspended

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USA - The Historic Masonic Theatre is an architectural treasure nestled in the Allegheny Mountains in Virginia. Since opening in 1905, the historic venue has boasted eclectic billings over the last century, including Roy Rogers (and of course Trigger), Gene Autry, Count Basie, and even political blunderbuss William Jennings Bryan ("What has been will be again"). Now a performing arts, education, and community facility, a recent renovation includes the new, redesigned Intelligent Marquee Systems (IMS Mk2) LED marquee/festoon lighting system.

Specified by Theatrical Consultants Collaborative (TCC) of North Carolina and installed by Productions Unlimited, Inc. of South Carolina, IMS V12 "Filament" lamps were the perfect way to achieve programmable marquee lighting with the warm, golden look of traditional incandescent lamps, plus the benefits of individual DMX control and LED tec

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USA - Founded in 1987, 12Stone Church has grown to include eight campuses throughout Georgia serving the communities in Gwinnett, Hall, and Barrow counties. In their most recent expansion, the congregation completed a full renovation of a large retail location in Snellville, GA, and in doing so they needed to create a full worship environment.

Working with Cason Cleveland Productions, 12Stone Church had a specific vision for the LED video elements in the new auditorium, so together they enlisted the assistance of Nashville-based PixelFLEX and installed FLEXLite NXG 2.6mm LED video technology.

"For our new Snellville campus, we were moving into what used to be a Best Buy retail location, so we really needed to create all of the production elements from scratch for our worship environment," began Dustin Whitt, production ministry lead.

"When looking specifically at the L

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Final Curtain - The curtain is coming down on the most celebrated circus in the US, the Greatest Show on Earth, run by Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey. After 146 years in the business, the owners said declining tickets sales and high operating costs were to blame. Activists who campaigned for decades against the travelling circus's animal acts welcomed the news.

"After much evaluation and deliberation, my family and I have made the difficult business decision that Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey will hold its final performances in May," said a statement from Kenneth Feld, CEO of Feld Entertainment, the family business which has run the circus since the late 1960s.

Sep Outside Love - A life-size bronze statue of Cilla Black has been unveiled outside Liverpool's Cavern Club as the venue celebrates its 60th anniversary. The club, credited with launching

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UAE - When the touring version of the musical Les Misérables arrived at the newly opened Dubai Opera in November 2016, members of Showforce's experienced team of stage crew and event staff were on-hand to assist. Running from 17 November until 2 December, there were 18 performances in total and as the first show of its kind to be held in the UAE, it was hailed a huge success.

Working directly with the team at Dubai Opera, as part of its on-going contract with the venue, and long-standing client, Sports & Entertainment Solutions, the Showforce team supported the touring production throughout the load in, the three-week run of sell-out performances and subsequent load out.

Initially, a team of 10 crew members was tasked with the unloading of no less than 17 40-foot shipping containers, that had arrived in Dubai from Singapore, the previous stop on the tour. Dur

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UK - The Science Museum in South Kensington, alongside London-based event caterer Tonic and live event AV company Matrix UK Solutions, last week welcomed 300 event professionals to an evening of spectacle and discovery to launch its new spaces including Wonderlab: The Statoil Gallery and Mathematics: The Winton Gallery.

Guests attending the exclusive event were able to experience three of the museum's stunning spaces- the Media Gallery, Mathematics gallery and Wonderlab, all in one evening. The event also saw the launch of Tonic's new brand and its experiential catering and service concept.

The event journey began for guests in the Media Gallery where they were able to discover the very latest event production technologies courtesy of Matrix UK Solutions. This included a small, but very impressive selection of the leading edge technology they own. This ranged from their Me

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USA - Founded in Houston in 1912, Rice University is Texas's most prestigious institution of higher education, a veritable ivy of the southern coastal plains! Although football has always been a big deal at Rice - much more so than at the traditional ivies - its importance has grown as the Rice University Owls have earned five bowl game appearances within in the last decade (the most recent appearance before that was 1961!).

To accommodate and even accelerate that momentum, the university recently invested $31.5m in the new 60,000sq.ft Brian Patterson Sports Performance Centre, which includes offices, locker rooms, student athlete lounges, a sports medicine centre, an auditorium, and a strength and conditioning centre. In keeping with the new centre's state-of-the-art facilities, Baton Rouge-based AV integrator Technical Services Group (TSG) installed Danley Sound Labs loudspe

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UK - Middlesex University in London boasts a strong performing arts department and was eager to upgrade both its Ravensfield Theatre and Dance Studio space. Whilst state-of-the-art equipment was a necessity, so was the need to be environmentally-friendly, with the university determined to be as green as possible and change their previous lighting equipment to LED only. As a result, they approached White Light to purchase the perfect set-up.

Bruce Allen is technical production manager at Middlesex University and oversaw the upgrade of both spaces. He comments, "As this was quite a significant investment, we needed to ensure that the equipment we purchased not only fulfilled our immediate aims but would also be sustainable for the long-term.

"The main priority of the upgrade was to ensure that all of the equipment purchased was as environmentally-friendly as possible. We are

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USA - The Observatory North Park in San Diego has quickly gained recognition for both the eclectic assortment of well-known and up-and-coming bands that it hosts as well as the quality of their sound reinforcement. The new Adamson S10 line array system was recently designed and installed by Sound Image, located in nearby Escondido, CA.

The Observatory North Park is located in a building that opened as a movie theatre in 1929 and has continued to be an entertainment venue since then. The current owners took over the 1200-capacity space in 2015.

"The previous owners had a similar idea with the room but failed," explains Garrett Wysocki, audio manager at The Observatory. "The sound system they had in here was seriously under powered. Customers and bands were constantly complaining. One of the first things we did was start checking out reputable systems that would provide the

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USA - Five dedicated families founded Stony Point Reformed Presbyterian Church in the Bon Air suburb of Richmond, Virginia in 1969. A big part of its steady growth and support has been its strong commitment to motivating and punctuating services with music in an ever-changing variety of contemporary and classical styles.

In short, music is a big deal at Stony Point. Different bands play each week with a lot of reliance on the congregation's many musically talented individuals. When the church built a new 500-seat sanctuary, everyone wanted a new sound reinforcement system that could help elevate the impact and emotion of its services. In consultation with the Richmond-based AV integration firm RTW Media, Stony Point installed a robust LCR system composed of Danley Sound Labs loudspeakers, subwoofers, and DSP-enabled amplifiers.

"Despite all the incredible musical talent at

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UK - Following a competitive tender, Adlib was recently appointed by Glasgow City Council to supply a new loudspeaker system to the Royal Scottish National Symphony Orchestra's new home, the RSNO centre.

The impressive new venue forms part of the Royal Concert Hall complex in the heart of Glasgow's vibrant city centre.

The new auditorium was developed by the Council's in-house design team led by architect Kerr Robertson. It is adjacent to the main Concert Hall (home of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra) which opened in 1990 as part of the city's year as European Capital of Culture.

The overall complex features a 600-seater auditorium, a rehearsal space and learning centre, a recital hall and performance space that will be also used for classical and choral recording as well as for folk and other amplified music events.

Following a detailed site survey and subse

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USA - Originally constructed in the late 1960s, the Abilene Civic Centre is a spacious, multi-purpose venue with a live performance theatre, an exhibit hall and a large conference centre that can be subdivided to accommodate as many as four simultaneous events.

In part because of its age, the conference centre's audio system did not meet the voice intelligibility or audio quality expectations of its many banquets, meetings, press conferences and other events, especially those that involved modern presentations or musical performances. Thus, in 2015, the city decided to upgrade the audio system. And, they wanted a system that would provide both highly intelligible voice reinforcement and high-quality music production.

The city contacted Jerrold Stevens, of consulting firm Marsh PMK, who designed a highly flexible system with wireless iPad setup and control. Simple events ca

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USA - With the start of the spring semester at Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic, Connecticut, students in the University's theatre, music, and visual arts programmes are settling into their new Fine Arts Instructional Centre.

A collaboration between Theatre Projects, design architect William Rawn Associates, executive architect The S/L/A/M Collaborative, and acoustician Kirkegaard Associates, the 118,000sq.ft arts centre features a 400-seat concert hall, 250-seat courtyard theatre, and a 120-seat studio theatre, as well as support spaces including rehearsal rooms, scene and costume shops, dressing rooms, and a green room.

"Theatre Projects and William Rawn have a long history of successful collaborations," Scott Crossfield, Theatre Projects' theatre designer, said. "We're excited to add ECSU's beautiful new arts centre to that list and we look forward to

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UK - PLASA members enjoyed a unique opportunity to take part in an informative and fun day backstage at the recently refurbished Sadler's Wells theatre last week.

The venue - one of the most respected and important receiving and co-producing dance houses in the world - recently underwent a major refurbishment, as detailed in the June 2015 issue of LSi.

Emma Wilson and Christian Wallace from Sadler's Wells, plus the specialist teams from Stage Electrics, Stage Technologies, Carr and Angier and GDS led the tours from the impressive auditorium up to the dizzying heights of the grid and flying system. Members then reconvened for a lively networking lunch before taking the opportunity to further explore areas of specific interest. The busy and insightful day finished with tea and cake.

Look out for details of the next PLASA B

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Norway Oslo Opera House frequently hosts events that need sound reinforcement - and it needs a loudspeaker system that's up to the task. To deliver the best possible listening experience for discerning audiences, the venue has installed a flexible solution from d&b audiotechnik.

With regard to acoustic excellence, buildings don't come much more impressive than the Oslo Opera House, home of the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet. The acoustics at this stunning, waterside building are so good that no amplification at all is required for opera performances. Here, the design is literally all about sound, from the interior spaces and the shapes of the walls and stage, to the materials used for construction.

Although the acoustics at the opera house are world class, there are plenty of occasions when a loudspeaker system is needed. Often, recorded music is used in ballet produc

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UK - The Theatres Trust has welcomed changes to the Permitted Development Order (England) as developers now need to address noise impacts before undertaking an office to residential conversion near an existing theatre or live music venue.

From 06 April 2016 local planning authorities will have to consider noise impacts on new residents from existing businesses, under an amended permitted development right that allows offices to be converted to residential use, without the need to obtain planning permission.

The amended Order means developers will now need to seek prior approval from the local planning authority that any noise mitigation measures proposed are suitable to ensure that nearby theatres are protected before a change of use from an office to residential building can be carried out.

Theatres Trust said, "The Trust welcomes the changes to the Permitted Developm

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USA - Chapman University students and faculty and the Orange, California community can look forward to a new era of cultural and educational opportunities with the 19 March opening of the 88,000sq.ft Marybelle and Sebastian P. Musco Centre for the Arts.

Located at the gateway to the university, the new $82m arts centre - designed by architect Pfeiffer Partners in collaboration with Theatre Projects, acoustician Nagata Acoustics, and AV consultant Sonitus - gives Chapman University a characteristic architectural icon designed to meet the needs of their award-winning Conservatory of Music, and the Departments of Music and Theatre.

The building features the 1,044-seat Julianne Argyros Orchestra Hall, a remarkable and versatile multipurpose theatre. Theatre Projects worked with the design team to create an intimate auditorium - with a mezzanine, side boxes, and two levels of b

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USA - Built in 1971, the John Lance Arena at Pittsburg State University (PSU) in Kansas is home to the Pitt State Gorillas basketball team. The University recently received significant contributions, led by Alan and Roberta Whetzel, for renovations to the 6,500-seat capacity arena. Included in the improvements was a wall-to-wall maple hardwood floor covering the main court and two practice courts, new seating, new shooting standards and a VUE Audiotechnik sound system designed and installed by Reliant Media Systems.

The new VUE sound system in the John Lance Arena consists of four arrays and two zones of fill speakers. The two arrays that face the North and South sides of the arena each are made up of four VUE al-4 Subcompact Line Array systems and one al-4SB Flying Subwoofer System. Each of the two arrays facing the East and West ends of the arena are comprised of six al-4s a

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UK - The Theatres Trust responds has responded to the Culture White Paper published by the DCMS on 23 March 2016.

Says the Trust, "We are pleased that the Culture White Paper recognises the absolute importance of the arts and culture in people's lives - in education and the economy; within local communities and internationally. Whilst the ambition of the White Paper shares much with Jennie Lee's paper of 50 years ago, in our own 40th Anniversary year we agree that the economic challenges faced today are very different.

"So we welcome initiatives to promote the role of culture in place making through the new Great Place scheme; improve access to the arts through the new Cultural Citizens programme; and support the development of the historic built environment through the establishment of new Heritage Action Zones.

"We look forward to playing a full and active role in th

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UK - Music and design company GAS Music composed & produced the music and visuals behind the spectacular New Beginnings show of Ashton-Under-Lyne Old Swimming Baths. On 19 in the swim at March a live show revealed the history of the public swimming baths originally opened in 1870 with 11 original pieces of music plus a backdrop of CGI historical images created by GAS.

GAS worked closely with Tameside Council, choreographer Stacey Maurice who directed almost 200 dancers for the performance and creative producers Stone Soup who led the multi partnership project.

The opening event attracted over 10,000 people to celebrate the rebirth of this iconic piece of English history. The large brick Italianate building fell out of use 40 years ago and was on the at English Heritage at risk register but until funding of £3 million from Tameside Council, Heritage Lottery Fun

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India - International theatre consultancy practice, Theatreplan, has been selected to provide auditorium, conference centre and technology design services for Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir (VCM), the world's tallest temple under construction in Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Vrindavan is the birthplace of Krishna and the spiritual capital of India. The project is the result of 30 years of work and investment by ISCKON (The International Society for Krishna Consciousness) who are managing the design and construction process.

ISCKON has built a design team with some of the world's leading design firms. Theatreplan was selected for its "world class pedigree, collaborative and creative approach" to auditorium planning and technology design.

According to Theatreplan's project director for VCM, Brad Maiden, "This project presents a unique opportunity for Theatreplan to emba

  1. Theatres Trust at 40 - a new strategy to protect theatres
  2. PLASA Focus Leeds: Theatres Trust offers strategy to protect theatres
  3. Temporary opera house made to measure
  4. What will our theatres look like in 40 years?
  5. Unusual collaborates with the Shaftesbury Theatre
  6. Eighth round of Theatres Trust grants announced
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