Australia - The Wizard of Oz was staged recently to sold-out audiences at the 2,000-seat Thomas Hassall Anglican College in Middleton Grange, Australia. To give the school production a professional stage look, technical supplier Showtools Australia specified a host of Chauvet Professional fixtures, including 12 Rogue R1 Spots, 24 x COLORdash Par-Hex 12s, 24 x COLORdash Batten- Hex 8s and two Vesuvio RGBAs to create maximum dimension and atmosphere on stage.

"It was vital for us that the production of the Wizard of Oz look professional in every sense of the word," commented production designer Michael Clisdell. "Each individual element of the Chauvet Professional lighting rig enabled us to really step beyond the realm of the typical school production, and elevate the experience for the audience to that of a genuine theatrical outing."

Together with second prod

UK - Disney's hit new musical Aladdin recently celebrated its West End premiere at the Prince Edward Theatre, opening to critical acclaim on 15 June 2016. Now in its third year on Broadway and with productions playing in Tokyo and Hamburg, Aladdin will also open in Australia this summer. White Light has been called upon to provide the lighting equipment for this dazzling and much-anticipated production.

Aladdin is designed by Olivier and seven-time Tony-winning scenic designer Bob Crowley, Olivier and two-time Tony-winning costume designer Gregg Barnes.

The lighting designer for the show is five-time Tony-winner Natasha Katz whose previous credits include Once, Motown and The Little Mermaid. As the leading lighting supplier to West End Theatre, WL was approached to provide the lighting equipment on the production.

Dave Isherwoo

UK - Harman Professional's leading pro-audio brands dominated the Big Top Stage for the first time at this year's Standon Calling festival in North Hertfordshire.

The fast growing boutique event, which began as a birthday barbecue for founder Alex Trenchard in 2001 before becoming a single-stage, one-day live music event in 2004, has since grown exponentially. Today it occupies the picturesque Standon Lordship site, where Suede, Kelis and Jess Glynne were the main stage headliners.

Dominating the landscape, the vibrant red and white canvas of the Big Top, which was largely used for electronic dance and other diverse acts, could be seen for miles around. Here the line-up included Goldie MBE, Greg Wilson, Theo Parrish, Joey Negro, as well as rising talent Gold Panda, Luke Abbott the Mercury Prize nominated Ghostpoet.

Glasgow-based Alive Sound are the traditional sound sy

South Africa - DWR Distribution has been appointed South African distributor for DMXking. Designed and manufactured in New Zealand, DMXking supplies high quality DMX512 interfaces.

"We were looking for an Artnet solution that would be cost effective and suitable for our market," said Nick Britz of DWR Distribution. "When we first came across DMXking we decided to bring a couple of units to South Africa to have a proper look. They are awesome units, well made, easy to use and capable of both Artnet and sACN.

"In essence, this means that users can expand their existing console outputs, it's capable of doing Artnet out and in so they can use it as an input. It can merge Artnet so when someone is using two consoles and they want a back-up, or they need a quick changeover, this is an ideal solution."

"DMXking is pretty much plug and play out the box. Software is very intuit

UK - As houses of worship strive to improve the audio quality of their services and other hosted events, Yamaha Commercial Installation Solutions (CIS) products are proving popular for a market where ease of installation, cost-effectiveness, flexibility and simple operation are key requirements. Three London churches have recently begun enjoying the many benefits that CIS has to offer.

Yamaha Commercial Audio products already feature in a number of high profile UK houses of worship; these include London's Westminster Abbey and St Martin in the Fields. The CIS range has also seen regular adoption in the German house of worship (HoW) market; the Yamaha MTX3 matrix mixer being leading installer Klartext AV's processor of choice.

The CIS series is now making significant inroads into the UK market, with installer RG Jones Sound Engineering recently equipping three London church

UK - Power distribution specialist ide Systems has launched ide Online (ideonline.co.uk), an online store where customers can buy power distribution equipment. The user-friendly interface and enhanced navigation ensures online orders are quick and easy. Free delivery is available on all orders and, as an introductory offer, all first time orders will qualify for a five per cent discount.

The range of equipment available to buy on the new website includes power distribution units, automatic transfer switches (ATS), site transformers, single and three-phase power cables ranging from 16A-125A, as well as a wide range of electrical accessories.

The new website will also feature an online exclusive in the form of the Vulcan range. This budget range of power distribution units features a high-visibility orange enclosure, making it ideal for outdoor use.

"We've launched ide O

Italy - Kappa FuturFestival is an annual two-day electronic festival in Turin, which features popular and emerging names from the worlds of house and techno.

Attracting over 40,000 fans to the disused warehouse location of Parco Dora from noon to midnight, Kappa FuturFestival gives the audience a chance not only to revel in electronic beats but to enjoy a first class sound system provided by Rome-based Loud Professional. This year they powered the Main Stage PA to large extent with Powersoft's advanced Class D amplification.

The Main Stage, playing through a sound system designed by Michele Azzimonti, was an all-star line-up, including Gandalf, Monika Kruse, Sam Paganini, Solomun , Davide Squillace, Marco Carola, Just a Mood, Kerri Chandler, Sven V

World - James Bay's current tour still has six months to run as the European festivals of the early summer give way to a stint in Asia then on to the USA for an exploratory month. Liam Tully has been at the helm of the lighting design since 2014.

Currently, his full design is stacked full of Clay Paky Mythos and Ayrton Magic BladeTM Rs and he is a firm follower of MA Lighting control using a grandMA2 Light as the main board, onPC Command Wing as back up and MA NPU for DMX distribution.

"From a control perspective, I moved to an MA setup a few months before taking on James Bay," opens Tully. "Everything works seamlessly together. For the festival events on this tour, it is almost a given that there will be a grandMA2 FoH. On those days, we even leave our control in the truck and I just walk up with a USB pen. We have a festival rig that includes 20 of the MagicBlades that a

UK - Sennheiser has announced three upcoming courses from the Sennheiser Sound Academy, which will be run in various locations in the UK in August, September, October and November: Wireless Mics Monitoring Essentials; D9000 Digital Wireless Mastered Seminar; and Wireless Mics & Monitoring : The Master Class.

The Sennheiser Sound Academy offers tailor-made learning systems and expert knowledge for anyone working with microphone systems, whether you are an experienced engineer, or just starting out. Each course offers a combination of classroom training, which includes hands-on practical modules, and eLearning, which keeps things interesting and allows you to learn at your own pace and within the restrictions of your work schedule.

Wireless Mics Monitoring Essentials will be held at SSE's London base and Wigwam in Manchest

UK - Leading visitor experiences company Merlin Entertainments has revealed that it is making extensive use of Audinate's Dante audio networking technology at a variety of its London attractions. These include a number of popular sites on the city's South Bank, including the Coca-Cola London Eye, Sea Life London Aquarium and Shrek's Adventure! London.

The installation at Shrek's Adventure! London - which opened in July 2015 - is particularly notable given that it is "one of the 'heaviest' attractions that Merlin has created in terms of AV," says Simon Casey, who is senior show services manager at the Coca-Cola London Eye and has also been involved in many other Merlin AV system projects.

For Shrek's Adventure! London, Dante facilitates audio processing and playout as part of a set-up that also features Medialon show controllers, 7thSense media servers, BSS DSP, Crown ampli

Edinburgh Rocks - A spectacular light display on the side of Edinburgh Castle marked the opening of the city's International Festival. Dubbed Deep Time, the event, soundtracked by Glasgow post-rock band Mogwai, saw the landmark used as a canvas for animated projections taking in 350 million years of history. A planned live stream of the event malfunctioned, but spectators hailed the event as an "amazing spectacle". A viewing arena was created on Castle Terrace for the show, which marked the start of Standard Life's three-year sponsorship of the Edinburgh International Festival.

Deep Time was developed by 59 Productions with academics from Edinburgh University and will also look at the work of renowned Edinburgh scientist James Hutton (1726-1797), often referred to as the father of geology. Leo Warner, creative director of 59 Productions, said, "Deep Time g

Germany - Southern Germany's Beatparade Empfingen at the A81 continues to attract thousands of fans. This year marked the event's 17th anniversary. In 2013 and 2014 four of the showtrucks were equipped with sound systems from ProAudio Technology. In 2015 a fifth one was added, which was loaded with the VT20 System for this year.

Another VT20 System was employed on the main stage. For this, the event organisers chose a VT20 Grand Venue setup of 2 x 6 VT20s, 2 x 4 VS18Fs and 16 VS18s as infra-array on the ground. The nearfield was covered by two TX20 tops. The PA was calibrated fast, yet precisely, the company says.

Four of the five trucks were equipped with the tried and tested HT16 horn-loaded tops plus SW18 and SW28 subwoofers. MT10 and MT12 multi-purpose loudspeakers were used as DJ monitors and for the truck sound.

(Jim Evans)

UAE - The technical genius of Protec, working with its client and creative production agency HQ Creative, helped to kick off the fourth annual Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament with a spectacular opening ceremony. For the very first time, the ceremony was hosted by NASO, a 40cm high, walking and talking robot.

It entertained the crowd alongside a variety of exciting acts, such as acrobats on hoverboards, a Futsal game in the dark and a special performance from the Lords of Lightning. Lords of Lightning performed magical acts with lightning thanks to the electrical wizardry of tesla coils, which produce high voltage, low-current and high-frequency alternating currents. The spectacle of two wizards battling each other atop two 2.2m high towers is one that thrilled audiences and warped their minds.

Protec deployed BlackTrax to track 16 performers and a moving platform, where NAS

UK - Harman Professional's leading pro audio brands dominated the Big Top Stage for the first time at this year's Standon Calling festival in North Hertfordshire. The fast growing boutique event, which began as a birthday barbecue for founder Alex Trenchard in 2001 before becoming a single-stage, one-day live music event in 2004, has since grown exponentially. Today it occupies the picturesque Standon Lordship site, where Suede, Kelis and Jess Glynne were the main stage headliners.

Dominating the landscape, the vibrant red and white canvas of the Big Top, which was largely used for electronic dance and other diverse acts, could be seen for miles around. Here the line-up included Goldie MBE, Greg Wilson, Theo Parrish, Joey Negro, as well as rising talent Gold Panda, Luke Abbott the Mercury Prize nominated Ghostpoet.

Glasgow-based Alive Sound are the traditional sound system

Italy - Well over 220 Shure wired and wireless microphones, including the Shure SM58 and SM57 as well as ULX-D wireless microphone systems, were amongst the live gear making the dream of over a thousand volunteer musicians a reality on 24 July 2016 in Cesena, Italy.

In May 2015, a small band of fans of the US rock group the Foo Fighters from Cesena, in the central Italian state of Romagna, decided that they were fed up with travelling long distances to see their favourite band every time they toured. The Foo Fighters hadn't played in Romagna since 1997, and had no plans to return.

Led by Fabio Zaffagnini, the friends decided to stage a live performance of the Foo Fighters song Learn To Fly. The plan was to have 1000 musicians playing simultaneously, film the performance, and send the video to the band in a bid to convince them to add Cesena to their next tour.

A

USA - A recent building makeover for Ride Along 2 turned the second-floor rotunda of Georgia's historic and stately capital building into an edgy Miami nightclub, complete with a well-stocked bar, chic guests, VIP sofas and lavish mood lighting, provided by Freedom Par Quad-5 fixtures from Chauvet DJ.

"You would have had a hard time recognizing the rotunda if you saw it during filming; the transformation was amazing," said Noah Hammer, owner of Full Circle Lighting & Productions (Atlanta), which supplied the club lighting for the Ice Cube and Kevin Hart comedy. "The colourizing that was done with the Freedom Par Quad-5s was instrumental in creating the scene."

Hammer, who has supplied lighting for numerous movie and TV projects, got involved in Ride Along 2 after receiving a phone call from the film's gaffer. "We're known for the work we've done on film, so w

USA - When the smash hit musical Hamilton made its highly anticipated Broadway debut at the Richard Rodgers Theatre last year, sound designer Nevin Steinberg knew he was part of something special. Today, as Hamilton gets ready to celebrate its one-year anniversary on Broadway, Steinberg continues to rely on a selection of predominantly DPA microphones to bring the sold-out audiences to their feet each night.

Steinberg has been a part of the show since the beginning. "I was invited to begin working with the creative team when the show was still doing readings and workshops in 2014, and through its critically acclaimed sold-out run at the Public Theatre," says Steinberg. "The show is not new to me even though it's relatively new to Broadway. Lin-Manuel and many members of the creative team were people I worked with on In The Heights about eight years ago, so

Germany - The final leg of German superstar Herbert Gr

UK / Ireland - Two additional d&b Electroacoustics seminars will be held in London and Dublin in September. These events will take place on Wednesday 7 at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London, and on Wednesday 14 at The Leeson Lounge in Dublin. With only wait list spaces currently available on the d&b seminar and workshop programme in Gloucestershire, these extra sessions are a chance to secure a place at this valued industry event.

For 16 years the seminar has focused on 'achieving intelligibility' by better understanding the principles of electroacoustics for sound system design and engineering. Questions will be asked such as: how does sound propagate? and how do sound waves combine? The d&b team, together with partner in Ireland MOSCO, will provide informative, straightforward answers in a lighthearted way, with plenty of practical experiments and demonst

Singapore - The Singapore National Day Parade (NDP) is a national ceremony held on 9 August 9, Singapore's National Day. This year's theme, Building Our Singapore of Tomorrow inspired the Singapore Armoured Regiment, organising the event, to create a Sky City for its show. ShowTex was involved in building this Sky City representing the future development of Singapore.

ShowTex Hong Kong supplied 15 large set pieces, shaped like buildings, making up the Sky City to represent Singapore's vision for 2065. Of the 15 buildings, 10 were futuristic buildings, measuring up to 35m high and five of them illustrated existing landmark buildings of the Singapore skyline. Each had a footprint of about 5m by 5m.

This large scale project was a major undertaking for which ShowTex tackled multiple challenges. One of the main concerns was the lead time given to design, engineer and man

Portugal / Iran - Portuguese manufacturer NEXT-proaudio has announced the appointment of Kish Pishgaman Co., as the company's exclusive distributor in Iran and Iraq.

Based in Tehran, Kish Pishgaman was founded in 1991 and is one of the pioneers of professional sound and light design, installation and commissioning services in Iran. "We are proud to be associated with NEXT-proaudio, and excited to be working together," said Mr. Farhad Amirsaeedi, Kish Pishgaman's commercial advisor.

"We are truly pleased to welcome Kish Pishgaman to our team," added Sergio Pinto, Next-proaudio's sales manager. "They are a very professional company that offers high quality solutions to the market with an unparalleled support in the professional segment. With our product portfolio, we see great potentials in Iran installation market. This is another step for continuing growth in Middle East's

UK - The Knight of Illumination Awards (KOI) Theatre judging panel has announced its eagerly anticipated shortlist for this year's ceremony, which will take place at London's iconic Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith on Sunday 18 September.

Now in its 9th year, the KOI Awards is a celebration of the creative talents of international lighting and digital content designers working in the UK across TV, theatre and concert touring and events. The Knight of Illumination Awards is organised by revered lighting designer Durham Marenghi and his partner Jennie, prestigious industry organisations the Association of Lighting Designers (ALD) and the Society of Television Lighting and Design (STLD) and content creation, communications and events agency The Fifth Estate Ltd.

The Theatre shortlist is the first to be revealed, after a panel of senior critics from national newspapers and magazine

UK - Evans Audio Visual Staging has invested in new LED displays, compact speakers and laser projectors, August 2016.

Part of the company's ongoing investment strategy has seen Evans bolster its already extensive product inventory to expand its rental stock and offer event organisers improved energy efficiency, the latest technology and enhanced performance.

This new investment includes the addition of Panasonic PT-RZ12k 3chip DLP laser projectors with WUXGA 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution. Not only do these offer reduced power consumption, but they produce exceptional picture quality with sharp images and vibrant colours. Evans has also bolstered its stock with new Samsung DM65E 65 inch LED displays, along with Nexo ID24s compact speakers, which can be used as part of a full-range system, or as a single unit in difficult spaces.

Reg Evans from Evans Audio Visual Staging

South Africa - Ten years ago, Kevin Glover, owner of Johannesburg-based rental company Sound Stylists, visited Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt. Almost immediately after, he made his first DiGiCo purchase - a D5 Live. Since then, Kevin has enjoyed an on-going journey with DiGiCo, who are now represented in South Africa by DWR Distribution.

Kevin first started looking for a new control desk in 2006. "I was introduced to the guys from DiGiCo at Frankfurt," he says. "We already had digital mixing consoles, but were looking for something bigger, as many shows we were doing were over the 100 channel mark."

After looking at a number of different products, Kevin decided that DiGiCo made the most sense. "I had talked to colleagues in the industry from around the world, and I could also tell what the larger tours were using by reading reports in the industry magazines," he recalls. "D

Latest Issue. . .