UK - When Simon Marlow was brought on board as production manager for the stage version of Mrs Doubtfire in London’s West End, he turned to Unusual Rigging to meet the show’s extensive rigging needs. The adaptation of the ‘90s movie starring Robin Williams, originated on Broadway, before transferring to the UK where it enjoyed a successful run at the Manchester Opera House. It opened at The Shaftesbury Theatre on 12 May and, like most big scale musicals, boasts several large scenic pieces to be rigged, flown and stored - along with extensive lighting and sound rigs. Simon commented: “Unusual Rigging has provided all the rigging motors, grid diverts and general rigging for this complex show which is multi scenic and heavily automated. The Shaftesbury theatre is much smaller than the Sondheim Theatre on Broadway where it originated so getting the show to
UK - There was much to celebrate when Coldplay performed the third of four shows at Etihad Stadium in early June as part of its eco-conscious Music of the Spheres world tour. The venue’s usual residents, Manchester City F.C. had just won the F.A. Cup at Wembley, ahead of one of the most visually enchanting live productions in recent memory providing the party of a lifetime for 60,000 ecstatic fans. For PixMob, the Canadian technology developer behind the crowd’s “game-changing” LED wristbands, this leg is also the first since it announced its expansion into Europe with the opening of a new base in Brussels. “Having been involved in projects on the continent for the best part of a decade and seen increasing demand, we decided to get closer in order to better service the market,” commented Ysabel Vangrudenberg, managing director of PixMob Europe. S
South Korea - A recent production of Verdi’s La Traviata in Busan wowed audiences with enhanced acoustics and amplified sound and effects that tracked the performers as they moved around the stage. Staged at in the open air at the cultural complex and former wire factory F1963, Yamaha AFC was used to create the spatial feeling of a classic concert hall, while each performer wore a TTA Stagetracker location sensor along with a wireless microphone pack. The sound was reproduced in three dimensions by multiple speakers positioned around the venue including five Nexo P12s along the top of the stage and Nexo ID24s suspended on wires above the heads of the audience. Additional Nexo PS speakers filled in from the sides, with amplification and processing for all Nexo speakers coming from NXAMPMk2 powered controllers. Building on a successful earlier production o
Europe - KVANT’s latest design of the Atom and Spectrum series laser projectors received the 2023 iF Design Award in the Industry/Tools product design category. The iF award stands for outstanding design and is a badge of excellent quality for professional and trade users. For this winning project, KVANT cooperated with the Slovak Academy of Sciences and Werkemotion - Transport and Industrial design studio based in Bratislava. The jury of 132 independent experts from around the world found the innovative design and the foamed aluminium material used within the product exciting. Foamed aluminium is made from aluminium semi-product, which expands its internal structure when heated to a foaming temperature. Apart from lower weight, smaller footprint and increased firmness, it allowed us virtually unlimited shaping, resulting in this extraordinary design. At the sa
USA - AV rental and production company, Markey’s, has recently added Elation Professional Proteus and Fuze series lighting fixtures to inventory. The purchase of 72 Proteus Rayzor 760, 12 Proteus Rayzor 1960, and 50 Fuze MAX Profile luminaires extends Markey’s comprehensive range of lighting options and enhances the company’s ability to adequately cover a variety of indoor and outdoor productions. Founded more than 60 years ago, Markey’s has transitioned over the years into a multi-faceted, multi-capable event technology company. Based in Indianapolis with regional offices and warehouses throughout the United States, the company is a long-time supporter of Elation and its product lines. “This latest investment is a wonderful addition to our already large inventory of IP-rated Elation fixtures, which include Proton Eclypse, DTW Blinder 700 IP and Cuepix 16 IP
UK - The Association of British Theatre Technicians’ Annual Awards took place on Wednesday evening, 7 June, after the first day of the 2023 ABTT Theatre Show at Alexandra Palace, London. This year, the awards were again generously supported by TAIT. Ted Moore, director of rental services, said of the Awards: “TAIT is really proud to be here once again to sponsor the ABTT Awards Presentation, one of the best globally in our industry. We wish all the nominees good luck and give congratulations to whoever the winners may be.” The five highly sought after Awards for Lighting Product, Sound Product, Engineering Product, ‘Widget’ and Stand of the Year, were complemented by the announcement of the recipients of the ABTT Technician of the Year and the ABTT Award for Emerging Excellence which recognise the achievements of individuals both starting out and well-establ
USA - Ricoh Latin America and Kramer have signed an exclusive strategic alliance for the Latin American region. The alliance aims to provide effective and intuitive end-to-end solutions across various sectors (corporate, education, healthcare, etc.) to deliver audio visual experiences that enhance creativity, collaboration, and interaction in a hybrid world. Ricoh Latin America offers interactive displays that integrate the Android operating system and a range of pre-installed applications. These displays allow for the viewing of MS Office documents, annotation directly on the documents with the ability to save them on the board or in the cloud, web browsing, and screen sharing, among other functions. Ricoh also provides interactive displays with the Windows 11 operating system, which is ideal for corporate applications as required by companies. "We are proud to announ
USA - At InfoComm 2023, Shure has announced a new partnership with Airtame, provider of solutions for hybrid conferencing, screen sharing, and digital signage. The partnership features seamless integration between Shure Stem Ecosystem devices and Airtame Hybrid Conferencing Solution to simplify collaboration for bring-your-own-device (BYOD) meeting rooms. While BYOD setups provide personalisation and ease of access, they can also be frustrating and time-consuming to facilitate without the right technology. With this new partnership, Shure and Airtame are providing users who rely on their own devices with streamlined and equitable meetings through technology that is easy to install. Using the Airtame App, users can start a conference call on the Airtame Hub with just a few clicks. Once connected, the high-performance Airtame Hub hosts the call for all attendees in a con
Portugal - The Intermunicipal Community of the Coimbra Region (CIM/RC) attracted much interest at BTL 2023 with its innovative and immersive booth. CIM/RC was the only booth at the fair to replace promotional paper with digital screens, emphasising sustainability and quick and easy access to information. The booth was composed of a municipal counter, an auditorium for presentations and a total of 240m² that invited visitors to live a unique experience with the projections on its LED screens. “The CIM/RC booth was the result of many months of preparation, idea development, concept and project design,” says Gaspar Magarreiro, director of Creative LED. “It culminated in four days of intense work by 38 technicians from different areas who carried out another successful project. The immersive experience of the booth was made possible thanks to a 100m², circular scre
USA - The stately well-appointed theatre at 30 North Van Brunt Street in Englewood, NJ is no stranger to sellout crowds. On 22 November, 1926, when it opened as the Plaza Theatre with a double feature headlined by Harry Langdon and Douglas Fairbanks, its $1.10 tickets were the hottest in town. Tickets for this year’s grand reopening of the historic venue, in April were a bit pricier, but they were just as hard to come by. With Jay Leno doing the ribbon cutting, the 1,367-seat theatre, now called The Bergen Performing Arts Centre, opened its doors to the public once again, following a renovation of its main hall. The celebrity ribbon cutting wasn’t the only thing drawing attention to the festivities during the theatre’s opening weekend. There was also excitement in the air (quite literally) created by four 60,000-lumen output Chauvet Professional Maverick Storm 4
Saudi Arabia - EFM Global has opened a 43,000sq ft warehouse in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (KSA), further highlighting its commitment to the region. Strategically located, the traditional, base level structure is designed to support growth for existing and for new customers. In the Middle East since 2008, EFM has provided for tours, festivals, film, international sports, exhibitions and much more - Kendrick Lamar, MDLBEAST Soundstorm, Desert Warrior, the Dubai World Cup closing ceremony and the Amakin Exhibition being a handful of recent projects. The size and scale of its Riyadh facility puts EFM in a strong position in terms of competitors’ capacity in Saudi Arabia and the company is looking forward to the difference it will make to clients’ event ambitions and execution. Group CEO, Mike Llewellyn, comments: “Having recently celebrated 15 years in Dubai it feel
Namibia - Well-known Christian evangelist and author, Angus Buchan attracted large crowds at the recent Speak Jesus prayer day at Windhoek’s FNB Vegkop Stadium. The event, which was organised by Mighty Men Namibia, called for a professional audio system that would deliver crystal-clear audio to thousands of attendees, all of whom were eager to hear the words of worship and Christian teachings shared by Buchan. Namibia-based event production experts, dB Audio, was responsible for designing and integrating the audio system. “Our brief was to ensure that the messaging came through loud and clear to an audience of 4,000,” explains Char-Ann Husselmann, Project Manager at dB Audio. “Providing a great overall audience experience was the overarching goal.” Considering the nature of the event, which focused mainly on spoken word alongside interludes of worship music,
Artificial Intelligence - Sir Paul McCartney says he has employed artificial intelligence to help create what he calls "the final Beatles record". He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the technology had been used to "extricate" John Lennon's voice from an old demo so he could complete the song. "We just finished it up and it'll be released this year," he explained. Sir Paul did not name the song, but it is likely to be a 1978 Lennon composition called Now And Then. It had already been considered as a possible "reunion song" for the Beatles in 1995, as they were compiling their career-spanning Anthology series. Sir Paul had received the demo a year earlier from Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono. It was one of several songs on a cassette labelled ‘For Paul’ that Lennon had made shortly before his death in 1980. The tracks were largely recorded onto a bo
USA - In partnership with dry-hire rental house Main Light, Elation Professional provided Fuze MAX series moving head luminaires to David Geffen School of Drama at Yale for use on the school’s annual Carlotta Festival, which showcases plays written, directed, acted and designed by students. The Carlotta Festival features three fully produced new plays by graduating playwrights performed in rotating repertory. The plays presented in this year’s festival, which ran 5-12 May at the Iseman Theatre, included littleboy/littleman by Rudi Goblen (directed by Jacob Basri); Furlough’s Paradise by a.k. payne (directed by Leyla Levi); and Color Boy by Esperanza Rosales Balcárcel (directed by Jecamiah M. Ybañez). The Carlotta Festival demonstrates to students the significant artistic, technical, and managerial challenges of producing new plays in reper
USA - Austin, TX band Shane Smith and the Saints’ mix of country, rock and Americana calls for a lightshow that is equally complex and powerful. That’s exactly what Matthew PJ Row delivered for their special livestream performance at Red Rocks Amphitheatre with help from 20 Chauvet Professional STRIKE 1 blinders supplied by Brown Note Productions. “I was brought in to design, programme, and implement a few items that Ethan Holland, the band’s PM had in his mind,” said Row. “The look we envisioned is built around the band’s huge multi-vocal harmony sections for choruses, intros, and emotional areas. “For some of the dark eerie vocal tunes, I wanted to cast no front light and have only their shadows,” continued Row. “The idea was to have all these vocal parts sewn together visually. So, you would be not knowing who is singing which part, and thereby
UK - Perfectly located near London’s King’s Cross and Euston stations, 30 Euston Square is managed by hospitality provider, Searcys. The venue’s 300-seat tiered auditorium and exhibition space is regularly used for larger-scale conferences and exhibitions, making it essential to provide quality audio. To meet these demands, the 30 Euston Square team has recently upgraded its audio installation with a DiGiCo S31 digital mixing console, purchased through Adlib Audio. Ilja Gosev, AV manager at Searcys, explains that the decision to replace the old console was driven by the need for a reliable, industry-standard solution capable of meeting the high demands of the live events and live streaming projects regularly hosted at the venue. “Our research led us to conclude the DiGiCo S31 was the best fit for us because of its exceptional audio quality, extensive feature set, an
Portugal - Europalco, created the concepts for Caixa Fora da Caixa, a meeting staged by Portuguese public bank, Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD). The seventh Caixa Fora da Caixa internal meeting took place at the Altice Arena in Lisbon and gathered 4,000 Caixa employees under the motto ‘Together we can go further’. The annual event highlights the results achieved in 2022 and the challenges ahead for 2023. Agency Prestigio for Brands relied on Europalco to deliver an exceptional event for CGD. The Lisbon-based supplier provided the stage, furniture, sound, lighting, video, and rig, also a 40-people team that worked for two weeks and one day in-situ to prepare the event. To project the brand, Caixa, and the meeting's concept, Caixa Fora da Caixa (Box Outside the Box), the project department worked on a theme of boxes that synchronised with the nine moving screen
USA - With his fourth and latest record, Gettin’ Old, released this past March, less than a year after 2022’s companion album, Growin’ Up, Luke Combs is on a global tour that is now carrying the country singer across 16 countries and three continents, starting with his current sold-out North American stadium run. Once again, North Carolina-based touring sound company Special Event Services (SES) is supplying the control packages for Combs’ worldwide trek. But this time, monitor engineer Michael Zuehsow has added a new tool to his DiGiCo Quantum 7 console at stage right - a DMI-KLANG card for immersive monitor mixing. Based in Nashville, Zuehsow joined Combs’ crew in late 2018 and initially hit the road with him on his first headlining run, 2019’s Beer Never Broke My Heart tour. Although DiGiCo Quantum 7 consoles have anchored the artist’s F
Italy - Director of photography Davide Manca has chosen Prolights equipment to update the lighting at the Leonardo3 Museum in Milan. The Leonardo3 Exhibition was opened in March 2013 at the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II by the Study Centre Leonardo 3 and has quickly earned its place in the cultural scenario in Milan, going from being a temporary exhibition to a museum installation. On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the exhibition, the management announced a renewal of the exhibition halls through a lighting project created by Davide Manca. He chose to rely on Prolights lighting solutions, selecting LinearLED fixtures ArcShine S18FC and ArcShine S9FC to light up the walls of the art booths. The small Gallery profiles EclDisplay DATWhite and EclGalleryProfile are based on LED source and equipped with high-definition zoom optics, the portable battery upli
The Netherlands - The 013 Poppodium in Tilburg, a vibrant live music venue offering a diverse and lively range of shows across its two performances spaces, has recently taken delivery of 30 new Robe Forte moving lights. These are installed over the stage in the main 3,000 capacity auditorium, which is the biggest such venue in the Netherlands. The new lights are part of a technical upgrade and Robe’s latest LED technology is replacing previous older spot moving lights from another brand! 013 Poppodium lighting technicians Lloyd Janssen and Paul Cox are both delighted with this new investment. The two of them joined the venue’s technical team in Autumn 2021 as Covid restrictions were being lifted and live shows started ramping up again, and while the decision had already been made to find new LED spot luminaires, they were both involved in the actual choice
UK - Martin Audio’s complete systems, software and control have been touring selective universities this spring. The idea was the brainchild of Martin Audio product support engineer, Paul Connaughton, who proposed the move shortly after joining the company 18 months ago. “Everyone agreed it was a good idea, especially after the pandemic where we saw a huge drop in numbers with regard to skilled workers, crew and suppliers,” he said. “It is extremely important that we not only support future users but also the courses and educators on the ground to help supplement the training and education that is provided within the wider industry.” This will ensure educators, course providers and employers have access to all new avenues available for effective staff recruitment, and that graduates enter the industry with a wide knowledge base of practical product implementa
UK - As part of wider refurbishment works, Epsom Downs Racecourse has undergone an audio-visual overhaul to bring it into line with modern-day standards. The site had a combination of audio and video systems which had been modified over the last 20 years, and needed rationalising into a single, dual control, easy-to-use system. The challenge was to find a single audio-visual system that was both reliable, and easy to use. The new system needed to provide top-quality service and remain ahead of the curve in terms of technological A/V innovation. Epsom Racecourse contacted audio installer Audiotek. Chris Kmiec, UK director at Audiotek comments: “This ambitious project encompassed a comprehensive scope of work, from system design to installation and testing. The team responsible for the project was focused on delivering the ultimate immersive audio-visual experience,
UK - The Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford has once again opted for TiMax SoundHub to assist with spatial audio control and timing in its theatres. The RSC first introduced TiMax to its 450-seat Swan Theatre over a decade ago and now, as the opportunity arose, they have upgraded that system to the latest TiMax FPGA spatial audio core and added an extra TiMax SoundHub-S64 with MADI to the main 1200-seat Royal Shakespeare Theatre’s sound control. The installation was supplied, supported and installed by digital audio experts, HD Pro Audio. RSC’s head of sound Jeremy Dunn, says: “The joy of TiMax of course is that it’s developed for the needs of theatre and works just as we need it to. TiMax just makes everything else work smoothly and for us it’s imperative that it’s there. TiMax doesn’t colour the sound so what you put in you get out, which is really
Belgium - Active Audio is celebrating the largest deployment to date of its intelligent, steerable StepArray SA180S column loudspeakers - 64 of which are providing intelligibility as part of a new sound system deployment at Leuven railway station in Flemish Brabant, Belgium. Originally constructed in the 1830s, the current station design dates back to 1875, when it was rebuilt in the eclectic style. Since 2000, it has undergone a series of renovations, including the addition of a monumental roof comprising 16 sloping white domes, designed by Philippe Samyn and Partners to resemble sails fluttering in the wind, with 13 railway lines underneath serving national and international destinations. The complex acoustic environment created by this mix of architectural styles, as well as restrictions on how the loudspeakers could be installed, presented the main challenges for A
