Lighting

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UK - Disney and Cameron Mackintosh's eagerly anticipated theatre production of Mary Poppins, now playing at the Prince Edward Theatre, has been nominated for nine Olivier Awards, including one for best lighting design. Wowing London critics and West End crowds, the show's lighting artistry is achieved in part with the help of 35 of ETC's Source Four Revolution automated luminaires.

Chosen for their flexibility, the Source Four Revolutions, each with a shutter module, were specified by lighting designer Howard Harrison and supplied by Stage Electrics. Because the production's elaborate scenery limited its lighting positions, Harrison opted to use an automated rig, including the Revolutions, to ensure that each position could be worked to its full potential. The S4 Revolutions also appealed to the stringent acoustic demands of Richard Eyre, reportedly the most noise-sensit

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USA - Wybron's Nexera CDM dichroic colour changing fixtures are now shipping with a five-year warranty on the accompanying Aromat ballasts. As of 2 February 2005, Aromat Corporation has authorized the Nexera CDM units to ship with a five-year warranty on all ballasts. To attain the warranty approval, the fixtures underwent temperature testing in Aromat's Poway, California laboratory. Both the Profile and Wash versions of the CDM Nexera passed operation well within warranty specifications.

This warranty marks the next step of Wybron's journey toward the development of being the leading product line in lighting, featuring fixtures built to the highest standards, say the company.

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - DMX-To-Go can be the ideal solution for wireless lighting control when a project calls for Wireless DMX, but doesn't have the need or budget for "Rock-and-Roll Tour" wireless lighting packages.

DMX-To-Go is designed to be small, light and self-powered via two "AA" batteries (or AC Adaptor), which makes it suitable for lots of stage applications like props, costumes, moving scenery and more. Other applications include providing data to remote lighting fixtures, easy mobile DJ setups, link for portable consoles during programming, quick data cable backups for technicians, and much more.

Using the latest in advanced long-range Bluetooth wireless technology, DMX-To-Go transmits up to 330ft (100m), providing quick response times and reliable operation.

Other features include: Cost effective design, point-to-point Transmitter/Receiver pairs, choose to tra

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UK - Toby Alington's Richmond Studios team took on one of the biggest challenges in its history last night when it recorded the BRIT Awards' largest-ever lineup of live bands - 12 bands in a two-hour, non-stop live show at Earl's Court. Alington and an audio team of 10 recorded the complete 25th anniversary live show in an array of recording mobiles parked in a secure area next to Earl's Court 2, which was transformed into a spectacular 5,500-seat arena for the BRITs by event producers MJK Productions.

The bands' performances, awards presentations and speeches were recorded onto digital multitracks. An overnight post-production at London Studios will see the show trimmed to its broadcast length, ready for broadcast on ITV this evening. Finally, Alington will create an 'international' version of the edited show, with the English commentary and voiceovers removed.He comments: &qu

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UK - Since previewing the Frog 2 console at PLASA and LDI last year, Zero 88 has been busy gaining user feedback, and is in the final stages of software development before production ready release in a couple of weeks. The response to the desk has been phenomenal, say Zero 88, with advanced orders from the UK, across Europe and the US, with existing Beta consoles in high demand. Stage Electrics has ordered six - three for the rental stock another two for sales demos, whilst the first end-user sale was made to Derby Assembly Rooms.

Zero 88 says that the Frog 2 is designed to be used in the most demanding lighting control environments and will appeal to users looking for ease of programming, comprehensive playback choices, live busking, theatrical or stand-alone control of architectural type events. In terms of out put the Frog 2 will run up to eight universes, four via DMX or up

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France - Following previews at major trade shows in the UK, America and in Australia, ETC made SIEL 2005 the official launch platform for its latest console, the fruit of its relationship with the Avab brand and called Congo.

The development team spent time talking to board operators, rental companies, theatre lighting technicians and lighting designers to ensure they got exactly what they wanted. Feedback from the previews is now being implemented into the software, to hone the development of Congo further. The console has been designed "to be the most complete theatre and moving light hybrid - without losing the feel of a classic lighting control system," according to Avab software developer Anders Ekvall. Other team members included Jean-Louis Pernette and Christian Rezgui of Avab France, who were instrumental in directing product development.

Congo offers unclutt

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USA - OptiLED's Linear Optical Array LED lamps were chosen by the Jacksonville Transportation Authority's (JTA) Board to illuminate the Main Street Bridge as part of a city-wide beautification effort in anticipation of this year's Super Bowl championship played at the Alltell Stadium in Jacksonville. Based on its successful track record working with linear LED product, award-winning lighting design firm Stone Mountain Lighting Group was subcontracted by Miller Electric to integrate, install and program the lights on the bridge with almost 1,200ft of OptiLED's Linear Optical Array LED lights, which have been assembled together to form an impressive LED matrix to create various graphics and designs.

The project is a joint effort between the JTA, the City of Jacksonville, the Florida Department of Transportation and the First Coast Metropolitan Planning Organization. Spanning 1,680

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UK - Hawthorn Theatrical hosted their 18th birthday in style when they transformed their Leicester premises into a party venue. Around 300 invited clients and Hawthorn's staff moved between the main bar (complete with table football and giant Jenga), a nightclub with live band stage, karaoke room, second live band room, and a chill-out room as they partied the night away to the early hours.

After 18 years providing technical and creative solutions for events of all shapes and sizes, Hawthorne's general manager Simon Wood, working with MD Martin Hawthorne, applied their experience to produce a stunning party. This included supplying everything from their own décor, lighting, screens, sound and power, having considered all of the health and safety issues.

Martin Hawthorn, founder commented: "It seemed an ideal opportunity to thank our customers and 60 full-time staff for

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Denmark - Copenhagen Opera House, Denmark's new opera house, opened with a royal performance in front of Her Majesty Queen Margarethe of Denmark on Saturday 15 January. Located in the harbour, on the small island of Holmen, the Opera House was a gift to the city from Danish shipping magnate Maersk McKinney Møller.

The €337m ($442m) building has already been the subject of controversy, the architect complaining about "architectural compromises" he had to make when McKinney Møller demanded that the building be changed to incorporate his ideas. Despite that, the public seems to have taken the building to their hearts, with all opera and dance performances for the coming season completely sold out.

At the heart of the venue is the main stage, with seating for an audience of nearly 1,500. Alongside this are five adjacent stages constructed in a modular design enabling

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UK - White Light has been selected as lighting supplier for the stage production of the smash-hit British film, Billy Elliot. The story of a boy from the north of England who discovers the joy of dance, Billy Elliot became one of the most successful British films ever made upon its release in 2000. The film was nominated for three Oscars and thirteen Bafta awards, breaking box office records around the world.

The film is now being turned into a stage musical by its original creators, director Stephen Daldry, choreographer Peter Darling and writer Lee Hall; the music for the show is being written by Elton John. To create the stage production, Daldry is working once again with the team behind his acclaimed, long-running stage production of An Inspector Calls, designer Ian MacNeil and lighting designer Rick Fisher.

To light the show, Fisher has specified a rig featuring eleven Va

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Italy - Sony recording artist Gianni Morandi is a pop phenomenon in Italy: from his days as a gangly 1960s teenager through to the present, he has drawn packed crowds throughout the country. His popularity was confirmed recently when a show to celebrate his 60th birthday, produced in collaboration with Ballandi Entertainment, was staged in Rimini's new indoor sports arena, 105 Stadium.

Although Morandi's best-known songs are his older ones, there's nothing dated about his concerts from a technical point of view. 'Stasera Gianni Morandi' had a huge cutting edge audio and lighting rig supplied by contractor Agorà of L'Aquila, as well as an eye-catching multiple LED screen set-up by Eurovideo.

Sound designer Daniele Tramontani is rightly proud of having set a trend followed by other artists when he designed Morandi's first (1996) concert-style rig in a TV studio in Rome, after t

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Germany - In early December, TV station Kabel 1 presented a major evening show, running through the '100 best films of all time', including classic blockbusters like Alien, Das Boot, E.T., Platoon, Schindlers List, Spider Man and Lord of the Rings. More than 350 Pulsar ChromaPanels were used in the set design, supplied by Procon and installed by Schall & Shein Design, Münich. They were used to create the matching atmosphere for the show in Bavaria Studios, Unterföhring. The set and design for the ChromaPanels was originally designed by Florian Wieder for the Pro7 production Geniale Erfinder-der Wissenspreis.

Daniel from Schall & Schein commented: "LED lights have high efficiency, their effects are produced through RGB colour mixing, they radiate homogeneous light and are absolutely lightweight. The whole design of the set was designed so the LEDs could be controlled in c

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Portugal - BackLight, based in Lisbon and run by the charismatic Luis Pedro, is one of Portugal's leading lighting rental companies and is seeing a definite upturn in business following the recent slump. With Rock In Rio Lisboa, Euro 2004 and every major touring artist now visiting, Portugal is now well and truly on the European leisure and entertainment map.

BackLight was formed in November 2000 by Pedro with his brother Paulo and his father Américo Luis, former bassist with acclaimed Portuguese progressive rock band, Tantra. Luis Pedro always wanted BackLight to offer something unique to its clients, explaining that the company trademark is to keep a keen 'eye to the ground' and offer the latest technology to designers and technicians. This commitment to innovation, and the ability to deliver consistently to a variety of high profile projects has seen them embrace major succe

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The Netherlands - Lumileds Lighting has announced that it will issue an advisory to the solid-state lighting industry later this month regarding its intellectual property (IP) that pertains to the manufacture and assembly of mirror substrate LEDs. The action comes in response to reports that certain die manufacturers and LED packagers are violating Lumileds' patents. Users and manufacturers of LEDs have a responsibility to avoid infringement of Lumileds' patents. All LED package manufacturers and resellers should investigate whether their mirror substrate LEDs use Lumileds' patented technology and whether the source of their mirror substrate LEDs is authorized under Lumileds' patents.

Lumileds recently announced the upcoming expansion of its Luxeon high-power LED family with new emitters that the company claims set industry-wide performance standards for light output, temperatu

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UK - For the past three years, those in the north east of England have witnessed a giant concrete, metal and glass construction rising in Gateshead, on the south bank of the River Tyne. Now The Sage Gateshead - a brand new £70m home for musical education and entertainment - is open for business.

Gateshead Council is extraordinarily keen for the arts to be inclusive, encouraging as many people as possible to be involved. The purpose behind The Sage is to mix education and inspiration, combining state-of-the-art facilities for hands-on learning and performance spaces.

Beneath the metal and glass outer shell there are six separate buildings, which contain four main performance venues, a 26-room music education centre, ExploreMusic (a high-tech hands-on education facility run by Gateshead Libraries), a shop/box office, five front of house bars, a café and brasserie.

Interestin

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Germany - Since the beginning of 2005, all MA lighting consoles (excl. LC 12/2) are technically upgraded and are delivered with a specially developed LED gooseneck desk lamp. The new desk lamps feature two special-LEDs offering a string of advantages such as, a long service life with a thungsten-similar, very bright, light output.

MA Lighting say that although this new desk lamp is nearly double-price of the previous version, the company will not increase the price for the lighting consoles. Users can also order the new LED lamp separately, and can choose between straight or right-angled XLR3 connectors.

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UK - A.C. Lighting supplied Neg Earth Lights with the Thomas Broadway Truss back wall lighting and much of the other lighting rig equipment used on the recent 14-date UK arena tour for rock band The Darkness. The spectacular show took four days of pre-production and a further two days of rehearsals to create, and visited Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Sheffield, Cardiff and Birmingham, finishing off with three nights at Wembley.

For the ambitious stage lighting rig, LD Rod Clay required a dramatic backdrop to complement the band's very theatrical performance style and provide effects for the more 'epic' songs in the band's set list. Clay specified a Thomas Broadway Truss system originally racked with seven rows of 10 High End Studio Beam PCs to create a dramatic wall of light. Neg Earth Lights used custom clamps to join the truss structure, which was flown on three two-tonne C

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UK - Following a highly successful 2004, Specialz Ltd has started off 2005 with a contract to remove 189 hoists from Carlton Studios Nottingham and transport them to Pinewood Studios. The project was completed on schedule in five days. Dave Smith commented: "This is the type of project we really excel at; the whole project was planned and executed in 10 days which pleased the client as they had allocated over a month to complete the job!"

2004 saw Specialz making major technical contributions to projects as diverse as kids' TV show, Fun Song Factory (set lights installation), Phil Collins (five DMX controlled Louvre panels), Morrissey (the 12ft high illuminated sign) and two stage sets for Daniel O'Donnell, each including a lightweight electrically operated scissor-lift drum riser, designed and built in-house. Other projects included BBC Proms light boxes, the Scissor

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Italy - Martin Professional A/S has announces that, as of late April of this year, Pio Nahum, managing director of Martin's Italian subsidiary, will be seeking new challenges outside of the Martin Professional organization. Nahum joined Martin in 1996 and, since that time, has held a variety of key positions at the company's Danish headquarters and subsidiary offices.

As a long-time lighting veteran, Nahum is a well-known personality in the industry and he was an important player in Martin's rise to the top of the intelligent lighting market. Pio's contribution to the success of the Martin Professional organization is greatly appreciated, say Martin Pro, and the company wishes him success in his new endeavor.

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - Software provider Stardraw.com will formally launch its latest application, Stardraw Control, at NSCA 2005. Previewed at PLASA in London, the application has already generated a huge amount of excitement amongst manufacturers and systems specialists who have welcomed Stardraw's new approach to solving the problem of controlling heterogeneous systems.

Stardraw Control generates standalone, customized control programs that can manage any type of addressable equipment from any manufacturer over any communications infrastructure. Instead of being locked into closed architectures wherever system control, monitoring or signal routing has been required, Stardraw Control offers systems integrators an open, software-based, unified control framework that can manage the entire system with a single application, regardless of system complexity.

Stardraw Control is fast, powerful,

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UK - Lighting and sound rental house HSL kicked off 2005 as it means to continue, purchasing a large quantity of Vari lite VL1000TS framing units for hire stock. This is in response to the steady and continuing growth of HSL's hire division and to service several immediately up-coming productions.

Other recent lighting purchases include Avolites dimming and control - with more Pearl 2004 consoles and rack mount optical splitters joining the inventory. Additional WholeHog II and Hog 1000 consoles have also been added to HSL's stock, plus a series of power distribution units from SES Ltd.

Blackburn-based HSL also continues to invest heavily in LED technology, and the number of James Thomas Pixel LED units continues to increase. HSL now offers access to over 250 JTE 1044 PixelLine battens and 150 PixelPAR 90 units - making HSL the largest European supplier of LED lighting.

MD S

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UK - A.C. Lighting's Special Projects division programmed BT's Tower logo with Olympic colours for a London 2012 Olympic Bid launch event held last November and preparations for the IOC's official visit to London this month to review the Capital's Bid plans. BT is a premier partner of the London 2012 Bid and is playing an integral part in the campaign to promote the Bid to the UK public and International Olympic Committee. As a follow-up to this event, the Olympic colours scheme will again light up the London skyline this week to commemorate the IOC's short visit to London.

London creative agency Rufus Leonard designed the original BT "connected world" globe logo lighting concept last April and also provided the new Olympic colours scheme. Design and events company Imagination developed and implemented the original design of the lighting system. A key requirement of t

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UK - Hadley vs. Fry & ABC (starring 1980s superstars Tony Hadley from Spandau Ballet and Martin Fry from ABC) are using Robe ColorSpot 250 XTs on their four-month UK theatre tour which kicked off last week. The fixtures were specified and highly recommended by lighting designer Dave Gibbon, who also used them on last year's marathon Hadley vs. Cox (Go West) tour.

"Robe is the most reliable and value-for-money moving light on the market" he states, "I've used Robe fixtures on numerous occasions - both on tour and on one-offs and special events, and they have always just worked and worked whatever the conditions and however hard". He adds that when it came to specifying kit for the Hadley vs Fry tour, he had no hesitation in again choosing Robe.

Gibbon is using the eight Robe ColorSpot250 XT's on the tour as his main 'specials'. Each day they are rigged on

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Denmark - Stage Cyclo, a full colour mixing luminaire from Martin Professional for the stage, studio and event lighting market. An adapted version of Martin Architectural's successful Cyclo luminaire, Stage Cyclo is specially designed for installation in theatres and television studios with the flexibility to be hung and re-hung on a regular basis.

The Stage Cyclo features four 54W high output fluorescent tubes in red, green, blue and white with full colour mixing capabilities. It also features a double parabolic louver reflector for maximum output and even illumination coverage. In its standard finish the beam angle is approximately 55 degrees.

With the Stage Cyclo, subtle colour changing effects can be achieved on a piece of set or scenery and its rugged construction makes it suitable for touring purposes. In order to integrate with any set piece, fixtures are available in

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