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Rigging / Staging

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USA - Stage Tools Truss America LLC has introduced a line of TÜV-approved aluminum trussing that is not only very strong and durable, but is also priced affordably to fit the budget of virtually any lighting user. By offering high-quality aluminum trussing at a down-to-earth price, Stage Tools is opening the way for smaller clubs and DJs to take their lighting set-ups to a new level of professionalism, says Kenneth Kahn, general manager of Stage Tools Truss America: "In the past, many smaller performers, DJs and clubs haven't been able to rig their special effects and lighting fixtures on high quality truss, because it was priced beyond their means," said Kahn. "But now Stage Tools is changing all that with our new line of highly affordable aluminum trussing."

Stage Tools is designed to accommodate the growing market of lighting users who would like to move

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UK / Ireland - Rigging and lifting specialist PCM, based in Prenton, Wirral, kicked off 2003 by announcing that Dublin-based Stage Lighting Centre has been appointed sole agents for all PCM equipment for the Irish Republic.

All service, back-up, spares and orders for PCM equipment in Ireland will now be processed by Stage Lighting Centre under the contract, which was finalised during a recent PCM Lodestar Motor School in Dublin. The Stage Lighting Centre was founded in 1987 by Pat Walsh and Pat Farrell. The company is one of the most respected sales, hire and installation operations in Ireland, and works in all areas of the professional entertainment industry. PCM and the Stage Lighting Centre have steadily engaged in more business in recent years, particularly in the last 12 months, so the distribution deal was a logical progression.

Pat Walsh comments: "We've used PCM a

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UK - A regular and long-standing supplier to the UK's leading electronic retailer QVC, Triple E was back there towards the end of 2002 installing its lightweight, but strong Unicyc track in Studio One of the channel's London headquarters.

Prior to this installation, Studio One had a make-shift rig on which a cyclorama and lights were hung, but as it was outdated and inflexible, Mike O'Brien, QVC's backstage manager, approached Triple E to come up with a solution. Unicyc was created especially for TV studio applications and allows for a vast degree of versatility as it can be curved and assembled on site. Replacing Studio One's original track, the new U-shaped Unicyc system also incorporates ladder-frame lighting crossbeams, a points system and storage areas. "The system provides the opportunity to hang two cyclorama curtains from it, whilst the crossbeams allow better light

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UK - Columbus McKinnon has announced the addition of Adrian Forbes-Black to its international sales team. Forbes-Black, who will be regional manager for Europe, was previously general manager at Tomcat UK, a distributor of Columbus McKinnon products. Ned Librock, vice-president of sales, commented: "The Lodestar chain hoist continues to be the theatrical market leader and we believe this appointment will further support our European distributors, customers and users."

Adrian will be based in the Wirral, UK and will be supported by Columbus McKinnon's UK and European-based subsidiaries.

(Lee Baldock)

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The Netherlands - Prolyte Products, a well-known manufacturer of high quality truss, will kick off the year 2003 with a stunning action. Under the name 'Axion X' Prolyte Products launches a permanent price reduction of 25% on the standard lengths and corners from the X30-series that will be effective from 1 February 2003.

Prolyte Products has always heavily invested in their production facilities. Through the years this investment was paid back in high quality trusses and an outstanding reputation for reliability and durability. Making the production process more efficient is a constant challenge, not only for the engineers, but for the welders as well. Based on these insights in the complete production process, Prolyte gained an enormous effectiveness by intelligent routing of the production line of standard truss from the X30 range.

After a period of intensive try-outs and t

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UK - In a move that will be welcomed throughout the industry, Chris Cronin of Total Fabrications Ltd (TFL) and Mark Surtees of Outback Holdings, have announced the merging of Slick Systems into TFL. "With rigging at our core, we had taken on Slick and really knocked it into shape over the past few years," said Mark Surtees, "but now's the time to take it to the next stage. As the biggest stockist of Slick trussing in the UK, we can't think of a better, safer pair of hands than Total Fabrications for the company to be in."

Chris Cronin was equally animated: "We will be maintaining all Slick's excellent product line. There will be consolidation - for us as manufacturers, and for the wider client base who will see real benefits from the sharing of technologies and expertise. It's a real matrix of talent, skills and trussing."

The change is effective

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South Africa - On 28 December, 2002, 10 of Bollywood's biggest stars - including Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Karisma Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Rani Mukherjee and Shilpa Shetty - performed in a major extravaganza at Durban¹s ABSA Stadium. The concert, called Now Or Never Live, was put together by Anant Singh's Videovision Entertainment and Amitabh Bachchan, Indian cinema's biggest star.

Gearhouse Durban was awarded the contract to provide all the technical aspects of the show. Aside from the massive stage, and three enormous screens, the Gearhouse team managed the technical requirements of live singers, a band of 18 musicians (on a raised platform on the stage), dancers and chorus singers as well as the retinue of stars. The concert aimed to convey that sense of Bollywood opulence and extravagance and the Gearhouse team had to not only create this opulent stag

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UK - The nominations for the 2003 Laurence Olivier Awards were announced yesterday. The awards, now in their 27th year, are presented by the Society of London Theatres. They reward the best productions and performances to appear in London's West End during the previous 12 months. The award winners are decided by panels consisting of both theatre experts and ordinary theatregoing members of the public.

In the award's technical categories, this year's nominations are:

Best Set Design:
A Streetcar Named Desire designed by Bunny Christie at the Lyttelton
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang designed by Anthony Ward at the London Palladium
A Play Without Words designed by Lez Brotherston at the Lyttelton
The Coast of Utopia designed by William Dudley at the Olivier

Best Costume Design:
Bombay Dreams, costumes designed by Mark Thompson at the Apollo Victoria
Taboo, costumes d

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USA - BSR E1.6, Entertainment Technology - Powered Hoisting Systems for Places of Public Assembly, is available for public review until the end of the business day in New York City on 11 March 2003. This draft American National Standard establishes safety requirements for the design, manufacture, installation, and use of motorized rigging systems in theatres, theme parks, studios, and other places of public assembly and performance. This document does not address manually powered systems or lifting equipment used in the construction of these spaces.

People interested in reviewing the draft BSR E1.6 standard may access it by visiting the website below or by requesting information from Karl Ruling via the e-mail address below.

(Lee Baldock)

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USA - Tomcat Global is pleased to announce a newly designed website for a new year. The website not only offers a new look, but many new features as well. For the people who love to feed their visual brains, a comprehensive flash presentation featuring recent Tomcat custom projects is provided. For the people who crave the technical information, a Palm OS Tomcat catalogue can be downloaded as well as product load data and dimensions. For the people that desire training, Tomcat Hoist and Rigging Workshops information and applications are available. For the people that need to voice their opinions, an online survey can be submitted. As always, the CAD file library is easily accessible. And last, but certainly not least, for the people that want to know who, what, where, why and when, all the latest Tomcat news and archives are at your finger tips.

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - Fifteen months in the job, and already the Fairfield Hall's new technical co-ordinator Ian Locke is beginning to make his presence felt; not least in the realms of safety. "Before I took the appointment I could already see this was a very, very busy venue; sometimes three performances a day, so I knew safe working practices would be paramount."

Consequently there have been "huge changes", not least the recent installation of a new rigging grid above the famous Fairfield stage. "The existing grid was well past its sell-by date, so in September of 2001 I visited PLASA to see what was available. At the time I didn't even know Total Fabrications' T2 system existed (hardly surprising as it was barely a year since launch) so when I stopped by their stand I was more than impressed with the system."

Being a prudent shopper, Locke looked around all th

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UK - The Blue Room is a brand new web discussion forum, set up by two keen, dedicated industry professionals, where advice may be sought and offered by anybody working in, entering or just plain interested in any aspect of life behind the scenes in the Entertainments Industry. All are welcome to visit and browse, and register as members should they wish to take part in discussions and debates about industry issues.

Forums have been created for all major industry disciplines, as well as for students, health & safety and useful outside sources of information, all alongside a place to just chat with other like-minded people. There is also a private messaging facility, where members may communicate with each other personally. Up-to-date security measures, together with sensitive, responsive moderation of the forums, help to maintain a relaxed and friendly atmosphere in which people

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UK - Orange, in association with Esquire and Harpers and Queen, launched the Orange Business Awards 2002 in celebration of the best of Britain's entrepreneurial talent. This year, staging automation specialist Stage Technologies has announced that they have not only been nominated but also short-listed for the 'Excellence in Exporting' category with their managing director, Mark Ager, also in the frame for the Businessman of the Year award.

The formal judging day took place in early January when an expert panel of leading figures from industry and business met to decide the winners of each category. However, the results are to be kept under tight wraps until the award ceremony due to take place early next week at Le Meridian Hotel in Russell Square, London.

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - Automation specialists Andy Cave of Entertainment Innovations and Dave Weatherhead of Gravity Control have joined forces to establish Kinesys, a new company providing motion control and automation systems.

Kinesys is dedicated to providing fully featured, high quality products to cater for all motion control requirements. The standard, modular product range includes control equipment for motors, hydraulics, pneumatics and steppers, as well as a full range of power distribution equipment, emergency stop modules and high speed networking products. All this is controlled by a similarly in-depth range of controllers from the top-of-the-range PC-based Vector control system to the single-axis Pulse controller. All equipment is designed to integrate simply and seamlessly to provide a quick to assemble, quick to program, flexible and reliable control solution.

Kinesys products ar

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Sweden - Tomcat UK recently hosted a Hoist School at Woodlite Sweden A.B. in Karlstad, Sweden. The one-day event consisted of motor instruction led by Jim Marshall of Tomcat UK which included the stripping and reassembly of a one ton CM Lodestar chain hoist to demonstrate trouble-shooting techniques. The hoist school was requested by Woodlite to improve their employees' ability to work with Columbus McKinnon motors. A number of Hoist and Rigging workshops are planned for other countries in Europe, and Tomcat UK will conduct workshops on request.

(Ruth Rossington)

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UK - Orange announced the winners of their Business Awards earlier this week in a ceremony that paid tribute to the entrepreneurial passion and dedication that goes into making a business truly successful. The 'Excellence in Exporting' category was specifically dedicated to those companies that have "excelled in the international market place and that have understood the importance of overseas growth as a way of expanding their business."

The short listed companies for this category included Stage Technologies, Reynolds Geo-Sciences Ltd, Blue Chip Feed Ltd and Nucoda. Despite this stiff competition, the judges - including Trade Partners UK and Emma Crosby from CNBC - voted Stage Technologies the clear winner, with their international approach and implementation of trading practices being hailed as 'outstanding'.

Stage Technologies was founded in 1994 by Mark Ager and

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The Netherlands - Prolyte Products, in conjunction with the Stageco Group, have developed a range of stage decks, called Stage DEX, which they claim are among the strongest and most versatile demountable staging systems on the market. The Stage DEX is an efficient and lightweight stage system with high loading capacity. The decks can be assembled quickly and easily and are available in several standard sizes and different heights.

The Stage DEX consists of an aluminium frame with a plywood top bolted and glued to it to reduce noise and vibration. The legs can be fitted to the frame and fixed with one simple handle, without the need for tools. Rails and other accessories can easily be attached to the by inserting a spigot in a pre-bolted hole on each corner of the deck, allowing the rails to be assembled after the decks are built.

Apart from the standard sizes 2 x 1 m and 1 x 1

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UK - Sister companies Tomcat USA and Brilliant Stages recently came together to create a stage system for the 'Curtain Up' show designed by Joe Ragey for Princess Cruise Lines. One of the challenges of the project was a very demanding stage system. Its complexities included the need to change several times during the run of the cruise. With this in mind, the design teams of Tomcat Global created a system which could be easily assembled and disassembled using their own bolt-free hook and channel system.

The multi-level stage system is made of a series of decks on aluminum frames. Each deck has a birch plywood surface covered with a black dance floor surface from Harlequin Flooring. As space is limited, two of the main upstage risers may be turned on their sides and used as dollies to store the remainder of the stage.

Fourteen collapsible 2ft x 2ft x 6ft dressing room lockers we

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UK - The Professional Lighting and Sound Association (PLASA) has warned its members in the past about scams in which companies are approached by organizations claiming to be 'collectors' for Data Protection Act registration. The approaches are often in the form of a letter, and carry demands for a registration fee (often £95 +VAT) along with erroneous 'reminders' that failure to register could result in a fine of up to £5,000. Other 'collectors' have even visited companies in person, and displayed convincing-looking ID tags.

It seems that the practice is still continuing, with up to 18 bogus agencies known to be engaged in the scam - for a full list, visit the web address below. Anyone being approached with a similar request is asked not to make any payments, and to contact their local police.

(Lee Baldock)

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Germany / UK - Columbus McKinnon has announced a change to the distribution of its entertainment products within Europe. With immediate effect, Pfaff Stage Technology, based in Augsburg, Germany, will concentrate on industrial lifting solutions only, while their UK-based subsidiary, PCM, will now be servicing all of Europe for Columbus McKinnon's entertainment products, including the market-leading Lodestar chain hoist. PCM will now also be manufacturing specialist Lodestar hoists in the UK. These specials include models to meet the German BGV C1 standard and were previously produced by Pfaff in Germany.

In order to maintain a mainland Europe stock of product, CM has also announced the addition of Sonoss of Lille, France to its Master Distribution network. "Sonoss has sold the Lodestar and our other products for some time, but they are now investing in stocks of our most po

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UK - Le Mark has developed a new fire retardant gaffer tape. Manufactured from high quality, waterproof, vinyl-coated cloth tape, with a natural rubber based adhesive, it has a special flame retardant coating. Offering high tensile strength, it conforms to Ford specifications - ESB-M3G71-B and S95GG14K024CA.

On a separate note, Le Mark's custom printing division had an incredibly busy start to 2003. January saw the production, for the first time, of a uniquely complicated multi-text identification label system for the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Le Mark adapted its heavy-duty PAL Label identification system to meet the Philharmonic's requirement that every single piece of flight-cased equipment be uniquely named and identified with a reusable label. This required a total of 73 individual stencils to be produced and then screen printed.

(Ruth Rossington)

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Australia - Sydney Opera House recently celebrated the opening of its sixth venue, the Forecourt - one of the city's most spectacular outdoor venues, situated on and around the Opera House steps. Throughout the summer, the Forecourt will host a diverse range of free and ticketed events - from the Sydney Symphony, jazz and rock concerts, folk and country music to unique large-scale participatory performances, all set against Sydney's impressive harbourside backdrop.

As the Forecourt will stage a diversity of productions, each with differing requirements, it was decided to initially hire the staging, starting with a domed stage supplied by Edwin Shirley Staging.

When it came to the lighting and audio equipment, the choice of equipment was driven by the fact that a versatile and modular production package could easily be utilized in other venues within the Opera House. "It's

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UK - Capital Radio's Capital Christmas Live event returned to Earls Court at the close of last year. All of the artists perform a live 20-minute set, rather than relying on playback, which requires some pretty nifty footwork from the production team.

John Probyn headed up the ClearChannel Entertainments team, working alongside Emma Hodgetts, who managed the event on behalf of Capital Radio. The two assembled a team of trusted suppliers with production manager Mark Ward and Kahren Williams at its vanguard.

Mark Ward explained: "There was a major transformation to this year's show, because for the first time it was televised on Christmas Eve. This brought changes to several aspects of the production, and meant that lighting became a major priority. We also added a second satellite stage to allow the presenters to be filmed whilst the stage was being set for the next act, re

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UK - Rigging specialists Summit Steel constructed and flew a huge grid built from over a kilometre of trussing in London's ExCeL Centre for the spectacular launch of the Toyota Avensis, for show producers PCI:Live. The grid - which spanned three of the ExCeL's halls - used a combination of Thomas 52cm and 30.5cm Supertruss and Superlite trussing, and was suspended with 125 Lodestar hoists; a further 15 Lodestar's were used for sound points. The area covered by the grid included a large exhibition area to the rear of the stage housing 44 cars - which was revealed at the end of the show.

The launch was also the first outing for Summit's new rack-mounted 6-way hoist controllers. Constructed by Ibex to Summit's specification, they are fully compliant with all safety standards including Category 4 E-stop. The project was managed for Summit by Chris Walker, who worked with a team of 1

  1. Siemen's catch the fashion wave with Stage One
  2. Total Fabrications: telephone correction
  3. black light opens operation in Glasgow
  4. Tomcat’s Hoist & Rigging workshop celebrates 11 years
  5. p-wave cleared for production
  6. Two additions to Stage Technologies’ Board of Directors
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