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Rigging / Staging

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UK - In a bold move likely to impact on the region for years to come, the management of Cheltenham Racecourse has decided to go 'all out' in their development programme with the construction of a flagship new 4,000-capacity entertainment venue - The Centaur at Cheltenham.

The Centaur is a multi-purpose indoor venue, and ranks as one of the most modern and flexible entertainment centres in the South West of England. The response to initial marketing of the arena has been quite remarkable, and the bookings diary is already looking extremely busy for the next 24 months.

This purpose-built auditorium can accommodate 2,200 people seated and 4,000 standing. The state-of-the-art LiteDeck staging system from LiteStructures forms the basis for a variety of function layouts, ranging from sporting events and concerts, to conferences and exhibitions.

Peter Allison, technical manager for

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UK - ELP recently installed a temporary theatre grid into The Royal Festival Hall (RFH) which the company says will significantly improve rigging efficiency for touring theatre productions.

Although normally a concert platform, with no proscenium arch or flying grid, the RFH does host traditional theatre, including recent productions of The Nutcracker and Swan Lake by Russia's Stanislavski Ballet. Typically, rigging contractors are brought in to transform the hall into a working proscenium arch theatre, with a flying grid and track system for moving scenery and lighting during performances.

However, ELP's MD Ronan Willson, AutoCAD specialist Tim Williamson and project manager Toby Dare came up with a unique approach which eliminated most of the problems encountered by previous systems.

A Supertruss structure, interlaced with a series of aluminium 'I' beams, increased the he

ISE 2026 - Banner - Oct 2025

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UK - Continuity was the key to this year's BRITs, with the familiar and experienced production teams brought in once again by producer Mick Kluczynski of MJK Productions to create what was perhaps the slickest BRITs show to date. Presented by Cat Deeley, the show included performances from Black Eyed Peas, The Darkness (who stole the show with three awards) and 50 Cent, as well as a duet of the Cure's 'Lovecats' from newcomer Katie Melua and jazz sex-thimble Jamie Cullum.

Sound

The hugely experienced Derrick Zieba was brought in again by MJK to design and co-ordinate the sound system. Also returning to the fray, Britannia Row Productions provided the sound and co-designed the system with Zieba, this year fielding an EV X-line speaker system. Zieba has been an enthusiastic user of Yamaha mixing desks for many years and was one of the first designers to make the transiti

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Italy - Proel S.p.A. export department has recently been expanded with the arrival of Stephen Smith as technical sales support for the Sound Reinforcement and Lighting product divisions. UK born but living in Italy for the past seven years, Steve has a degree in Psychology at BSc level. In Italy he has gained a wide range of experience working with P.A. and lighting rental companies, participating in several European and World tours as well as many local live and television productions.

His jobs have included collaborations with: MTV Italia 'Supersonic'- (a live program which has hosted important international artists such as REM, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Mana, Alanis Morrissette and The Cranberries) and numerous other festivals.

His work has mainly involved mixing sound both on stage and FOH and as backline/ stage technician although he also has experience as a production elect

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UK - Stage engineering and automation specialists Stage Technologies was recently presented with the official grant and emblem for the Queen's award for enterprise. The company was granted the award last April for excellence in the International Trade category and was officially presented with the accolade on behalf of her Majesty The Queen by Colonel Kay OBE, TD DL.

Originally introduced in 1996 The Queen's Award for Enterprise is one of the most highly competitive and sought after accolades a UK business can achieve. Thousands of applicants from some of the most successful businesses in every industry apply for an award but only a few achieve a high enough standard to warrant such an honour.

Mark Ager and John Hastie founded Stage Technologies in 1994 with a mission to develop and supply theatres and entertainment venues internationally with computer-controlled systems to mo

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UK/Romania/Germany - As a result of increased business in mainland Europe, together with steady growth in its custom design and build operation in the UK, LiteStructures has announced the formation of a joint venture manufacturing operation in Romania, LiteStructures RO. Based in Slatina, 200km west of Bucharest, LiteStructures RO will manufacture a range of standard aluminium products, principally for sale in Germany and Central Europe, including two of its brand leading truss products, AstraLite and LitePro.

Adrian Brooks, managing director of LiteStructures in the UK and chairman of LiteStructures RO, said: "We have a highly skilled workforce in Wakefield and the factory has benefited from significant investment over the past two years. Manufacturing standard products in Romania means that the UK operation will be able to concentrate on higher margin, specialist construc

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UK - Drapes and rigging specialists Blackout announces the launch of a new website. Designed by London based Orangutan Design, the visually engaging virtual environment is a comprehensive overview of the company's range of products and services, complete with user-friendly navigation system.

Homepage links provide detailed information on Blackout's exhibitions and corporate events services, themed environment creation, parties and permanent Installations. Each section is energized with a mix of HTML text, high-res photos and subtle use of Flash animation giving online visitors a first-hand impression of Blackout's extensive creative and practical capabilities for all types of events.

The Products section provides details of Blackout's vast range of drapes, materials, rigging and effects, together with a wealth of information including charts showing colour, types and sizes of

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UK - Atomic Kitten's recent tour - which kicked off at the Plymouth Pavilions on 18 February and closed at the Ice Arena in Hull on 11 March - was suitably geared to ensuring a memorable performance, with much of the glitz and glamour added with a selection of staging from LiteStructures. Working for Productions North, LiteStructures has provided a range of rental and custom-manufactured products including industry standard LiteDeck staging plus bespoke staircases and ramps.

Steve Levitt, director at Productions North explained: "We approached the team at LiteStructures with some sketches, which were a combination of our ideas and those of the girls in the band, and they quickly turned the drawings into CAD designs. We wanted this stage to look very feminine and glamorous and as such LiteStructures manufactured two staircases, one a centre staircase and the other positioned

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USA - Tomcat US celebrated 12 years of in depth industry training courses with another successful Hoist and Rigging Workshop in Midland, Texas. Top-notch instructors and 83 industry professional participants from all over the United States, the United Kingdom and Puerto Rico attended.

Don Dimitroff of Columbus McKinnon, as well as TOMCAT's own Dave Beard, coached participants through the Lodestar electric chain hoist. Rocky Paulson of Stage Rigging Inc. a Freeman Company and Morgan Neff of Mine Safety Appliances stressed safety in rigging techniques and fall protection equipment while Keith Bohn, Tomcat design manager, and Will Todd, Tomcat project manager, offered a course in truss theory and design. Not only did participants receive four days of power-packed, informative classes, but also four nights of fun filled entertainment, including the traditional factory night at Tomca

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USA - London-based automation specialist Stage Technologies will collect a Staging and Projection Product of the year EDDY award from Entertainment Design magazine, when the awards are presented in New York in June. Judges singled out the company's latest software innovation - Visual Creator commenting that it is "remarkably intuitive and greatly expands the notion of what can be moved where on stage."

Visual Creator is an advancement of the award winning Pathway technology that was used to create the spectacular flying effects in the The Witches of Eastwick, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the Millennium Dome. The latest in software design architecture, this motion design tool allows two- and three-dimensional effects to be drawn as imagined. Combined with position maps and profiles this new software makes the previously complex task of calculating cues a thing of

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UK - The participation by María Pagés in the first ever flamenco festival to be held in London was also a first in the use of a Harlequin Liberty floor for this form of dance. Recognized as one of the leading innovators in the development and redefinition of modern flamenco, María Pagés and her company of dancers performed 'Flamenco Republic', 'Bulerias and 'El Perro Andaluz' as part of the recent Sadler's Wells flamenco festival.

As a leading exponent of modern flamenco, María Pagés had been searching to replace traditional 12mm plywood flooring with a new type of floor that could offer the purity of sound demanded, and at the same time reduce physical stress on the dancers. Patrick Lesage from Harlequin International already had an idea that Harlequin Liberty floor could provide a modern solution to this problem and discussions were opened at the company's studios in Tor

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UK - Tower Productions of Edinburgh has opened an hire facility just South of Oxford at Watlington to better serve an ever increasing client list in the South and Midlands. Offering a full dry hire service of; lighting, dimming, control, rigging, mains distribution, and event heating equipment, hires can be delivered at very cost effective rates, or may be collected from the warehouse just off the M40 and only an hour from North London.

Tim Shaw of Tower Productions said: "The company aim to offer the slightly less usual items like; single phase Prostar motors (run 11 from one 13a socket) and rated keder clamps for tent rigging, white minuettes and birdies, 240v exterior birdies, exterior par cans etc."

(Sarah Rushton-Read)

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USA - Britney's hotly anticipated Onyx Hotel tour in support of her album In The Zone is currently taking America by storm. A three-month international trek, the tour kicked off in early March in San Diego and has so far proved to be a storming success.

Britney's show features an extravagant set based around the theory of the mysterious Onyx stone. The theme of the show is a hotel on the edge of reality - the Onyx hotel - that Ms. Spears checks into. A magical "wonderland of the subconscious" where, according to a creepy character that plays the M.C, your ''darkest side'' can be explored, with ''titillation'' guaranteed.

Stage Technologies, in conjunction with Ocean State Rigging and The Rigging Partnership, helped create the scenic wow factor for the show, with Stage Technologies providing an automation system to fly Ms Spears backwards and forwards over the

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USA - A new company has been formed to chronicle, produce and distribute a shared history of production touring from the perspective of industry professionals. Roadcases, founded by Paul Dexter and Larry McNeny, is in its early stages of development, beginning with a website along with a new idea for a cable television series and a future book.

Dexter has been writing steadily in American industry magazines since early 2000. "I wrote an article early on called 'Is there Life After Rock'n'Roll Touring?'" says Dexter. "After touring, going out into the real world with rock'n'roll attitude was a huge shock. I need freakin' therapy now and I've discovered that I'm not the only one."

McNeny and Dexter met on Ozzy Osbourne's 'Diary of a Madman' Tour in 1981-82. McNeny was the tour manager, as he had been for the BeeGees and Eric Clapton, and Dexter was Ozzy's l

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Decima's distributed product lines include Look Solutions' range of tiny smoke machines and Le Maitre's more heavy duty models; also represented were hoists from Verlinde and rigging hardware from Doughty Engineering, as well as ETC Europe and Transtechnik Lichtsysteme. New from ETC was the CEM+ (Control Electronics Module) which, the company says, takes dimming to a whole new level. Designed to connect directly to the ETCNet2 Ethernet system, the CEM+ equips the dimmer rack with an Ethernet control signal input that is fully configurable with a range of patching and priority programming capabilities. ETC also showed its new RRFU (Radio Remote Focus Unit), which joins the RFU (cabled Remote Focus Unit) and WRFU (Wireless Remote Focus Unit) in the company's range of hand-held tools.

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Another SIB exhibitor quietly enjoying significant growth is Dutch company Highlite International, which now produces a huge range of lighting, audio and trussing products. Company owner Huub de la Haije told me that since the company was founded in the early 90s, it has doubled its turnover every two years. Highlite has always manufactured its products in China, and has more than 10 years' worth of relationships with Chinese manufacturing interests under it belt. Consequently it is somewhat ahead of the game now that everyone's eyes turn are turning eastwards.

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UK - For performing arts professionals and students based in Scotland, it's a long trek to trade shows in the Midlands and south to see the latest products and talk to equipment manufacturers. So this year the Department of Technical and Production Arts at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) added a Sponsors Trade Show to run alongside its annual graduate exhibition. Spearheaded by Ros Maddison and David Ripley (RSAMD's head of Technical and Production Arts and production manager respectively), the combined event was held on 24-25 March.

The show fulfilled three functions: to give the Academy's sponsors something in return, by bringing their products out 'to the market' and providing a forum to informally talk direct to the students; to give the students the opportunity to talk to the companies, to discuss products, working practices, work placements and employ

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UAE - The Middle East is an exciting market for lighting, sound, AV and systems integration providers. For example, the UAE is slated to invest $28billion in new architecturally-driven projects over the next five years. Across the Middle East region, research has indicated that the sound and lighting industry will be worth $2billion per year within five years.

This huge level of investment aims to open up massive new income streams to these previously oil-dependent states, with tourism and leisure on the grandest of scales being the big earner of the future. All good news for suppliers and installers of entertainment, presentation and communication systems.

Against this background, IIR Exhibitions has put the Pro Audio & Light Middle East - PALME - exhibition firmly on the international trade show calendar after just two events. This year's show, which took place in February,

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UK - The Coliseum, home to the English National Opera, was in the final stages of its £41m refurbishment when I visited in early February. Having experienced hideous delays resulting in both the cancellation of Nixon in China and the advertised first night of Rheingold, ENO tentatively opened its doors on 27 February with the first part of Wagner's pioneering tetralogy, The Ring Cycle. Whilst the opening show received mixed reviews the interior itself procured gasps of admiration from FOH staff and punters alike.

Originally a variety house designed by the renowned architect Frank Matcham, the Coliseum has been home to the English National Opera since 1968. This restoration is the first major programme of repair since it opened in 1904: the venue has undergone several face-lifts in the past, some of which have eradicated many of the theatre's beautiful original features.

Respo

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UK - Experienced industry executive, Garry Broadbent, has been confirmed as the new MD of CRS Ltd and Powerent. Broadbent will take the reigns at two of the Longville Group's specialist equipment rental companies after a complete restructure by the new board which was appointed at the end of last year. CRS is one of the country's leading climate control hire specialists and Powerent provides power and generator solutions.

Broadbent was one of the original founders of CRS in 1995 and moved with the company, becoming sales director, when the Longville Group acquired it in 1999. Broadbent not only has a background in sales but also mechanical engineering, which is crucial in what is a technical, installation and solution driven market.

Broadbent said: "The restructure at Longville has created a great opportunity for our businesses to focus on their own unique strengths and c

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Ireland - On 19 February, Pink, the bad girl of pop, made a dramatic entrance onto the stage at the Point Theatre Dublin as she was lowered smoothly to the stage in a rusty steel bird cage (pictured right). Pink opened her show with the hit song There You Go, telling the 8,000 strong crowd that the evening was to be an 'illusion of music'. . .

Brilliant Stages were approached by production manager Rich Barr to work on the Mark Fisher design for the European leg of Pink's world tour. The company supplied two 'smart' hoists - to lower the cage to the stage - preferred for their ability to ramp up and down from a soft start to produce a smooth descent. The set pieces include two exaggerated speaker stacks mounted to an upstage raised walkway, accessed via two open-tread aluminium staircases on stage left and right.

The 64 speaker cones, constructed from fibreglass, are up to 3ft

  1. Metallica tours with ChainMaster
  2. Fun Company launches E.GO
  3. Nock joins Blackout Team
  4. Summit Steel rigs Cliff's RAH Run
  5. Stage Technologies awarded UL Listing
  6. Proel and Litec sign agreement
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