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We have heard much, over the last few years, of theatres being given large sums of lottery cash to undertake major improvements. But what of the poor souls left behind without major injections of cash?

The Hazlitt Theatre in Maidstone is owned by Maidstone Borough Council and, like all other departments of the council, has to take its place in a long queue for what small amount of money is available. A general re-fit was accomplished 20 years ago, but since then there has been no major injection of cash available to it.

Theatre manager, Mandy Hare, took the reins just over three years ago and set about raising the profile of the venue, putting in more events, a wider artistic base, a thriving youth theatre, a regular programme of workshops and a selection of outside events. Production and operations manager, Eric Lund, joined the team just over two years ago and soon realised that th

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The UK’s annual pop music back-slapping gala event, The Brits, was recorded live, in spectacular style, on February 26th at Earls Court 2, London. The live production was managed by Brit regular MJK Productions.

Another regular, Vari-Lite Europe provided the complete lighting system - featuring more than 500 luminaires - as well as providing the rig for the After Show Party. Lighting designer for the event was Al Gurdon. With the ceremony designed to look spectacular both for the live audience and a massive worldwide broadcast audience, the lighting design encompassed the entire space within Earl’s Court 2, both on and around the huge stage and the specially-constructed auditorium.

The large-scale lighting rig included 40 VL2416s, 54 VL5 Arcs, 81 VL5Bs, 76 VL5s, 24 VL6 wash luminaires, 38 VL6Cs, six VL7s and 130 VL2C spot luminaires, with control from two Virtuoso consol

Doughty - Banner - from 4 July 2025

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Effective Productions, the company owned by entertainer Jim Davidson, has gone into liquidation owing £640,000, according to a report in The Stage newspaper. The company’s problems have been largely blamed on last year’s £4million Dick Whittington pantomime at London's Hammersmith Apollo, which failed to attract the expected audience. The planned production of Peter Pan starring Brian Blessed at the Hammersmith Apollo this Christmas is now expected not to take place.

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Point Promotions have announced a 72% increase in attendance at last week’s ABTT Theatre Show. The show this year expanded into both of the Royal Horticultural Halls, and had widened its remit to attract 30 new exhibitors. The initial un-audited visitor attendance figures show an increase of 72% over last year’s registered numbers. Point Promotions was appointed by the Association of British Theatre Technicians (ABTT) to administer the change from the ABTT Trade Show to the bigger and improved ABTT Theatre Show. The expanded show featured on-stage technology such as lighting, rigging, drapes and sound and also many exhibitors with front-of-house technology including seating and staging.

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An Italian manufacturer is doing its bit for 21st century religion with the invention of a smoke machine for priests, which will allow them to deliver clouds of incense smoke at the touch of a button. The company, Belltron, says the machine will put an end to the difficult job of lighting incense during Mass. They say the battery-powered machine is very easy to use, and is environmentally friendly because it uses less incense. Belltron specialises in high-tech solutions for the church: among its other products are loudspeakers and microphones, as well as solid-state digital storage units which can faithfully reproduce organ music (with speed control) and church bells (software complete with Ecclesiastical Almanac of Holy Days).

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Spanish loudspeaker manufacturer DAS Audio recently hosted a dealer and press visit to its premises in Valencia, during the final days of the city’s world-famous Fallas Festival.

The Festival provided the perfect backdrop for a visit to the company’s manufacturing facilities in both Valencia and Barcelona, where dealers got the opportunity to take a closer look at a number of new speakers recently launched by the company, and first seen just a few weeks earlier at the Frankfurt MusikMesse.

Key amongst these is the Compact 1. Self-powered, it is a three-way, bi-amplified system that can be used as a full-range stand-alone unit or as a mid-high cabinet with bass reinforcement. It features a 1000W ‘Class D’ switching amplifier, which delivers 500W to the low frequency transducer and 300W to the mid/high section. The low frequency section has a G-354, 15" low

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The 2001 PLASA AGM, along with the popular AGM Dinner, will take place on Thursday 14 June in the historic setting of Coombe Abbey, near Coventry. Set in 500 acres of parkland and dating back to 1150, this former Cistercian Abbey is now a thriving hotel and conference centre. In a slightly revised format for 2001, the day will include an opportunity for members to meet with key representatives of PLASA’s various operations in a number of small, hour-long ‘break-out sessions’. These will be organised as follows:

- PLASA Show - members of the Clarion Events show management team and members of the PLASA Exhibitor Forum will be on hand to discuss PLASA Show-related issues.
- Membership Services - PLASA’s head office staff dealing with membership services will be joined by consultants from certain of our service providers and members of the PLASA Executive Commi

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The well-appointed showroom at Dial HQ was packed. No less than three PAs - Bose, Martin Audio and ASS - stood arrayed before us at the far end; above, hung from Tri-lite trussing, were the latest lamps from Abstract, Clay Paky and Opti. Was this to be a light and sound shoot-out?

Well, no - and the clue to why lay in the neat little Sanyo video projector (700 lumens yet barely bigger than a desk diary) tucked neatly in amongst the lighting gear. "This is to witness the birth of a new AV control," Andy Blackwell of Dial Sound and Lighting confided.

None-the-wiser, we settled in as the presentation began; music played and lights began to dance in harmony. We are informed that all the elements of light and sound were being controlled by a single piece of software. Nothing revolutionary there, but then the screen rolled sedately down from the trussing. It wasn’t so much

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At the end of February, Stage Electrics completed the final phase of its move into a brand new purpose-designed building in the Avonmouth area of Bristol. L&SI was one of the first to visit the new facilities . . .

For the company, a major player in the theatre, leisure, conference and presentation markets, the move to a new 60,000sq.ft headquarters is a fitting way to mark 21 years in the business.

For the last three of those, the move to a new facility has been part of MD David Whitehead’s daily agenda. One which he has worked towards ever since he identified the site on the Avonmouth industrial estate, close to the M5 access routes, as being ideal for his purposes. It has been well worth the wait; at last, under one roof, come all the personnel and all the products that were previously spread across six separate facilities. And it doesn’t take a genius to understand w

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If you use radio mics or radio talkback systems, you should be aware of the Radiocommunications Agency’s (RA) latest consultation document on Spectrum Pricing.

For most in the industry, there’s good news in that the cost of licensing is to be reduced - a result that didn’t seem likely when the first consultation document was released. A study published by Smith Nera on spectrum pricing, based on its calculation of the value of radio spectrum, would have made one radio mic channel worth about £80,000. However, following reaction from contractor JFMG and several users at the earlier stage, another round of consultation was announced. If all goes to plan, the technicalities of licensing will be simplified too.

Once the policy is adopted, a block of frequencies, such as UHF Channel 69 frequencies, would cost £75.00 per year. JFMG hopes that the price reduction will in

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The citizens of Birmingham recently treated the Mayor of Lyon to a spectacular reception. The cause of the celebration? - the fiftieth anniversary of the twinning of the two great cities. Lyon has been appointed European City of Light for 2001 and kicked off the year with a spectacular display of architectural lighting over the Christmas and New Year season. Birmingham took this as the key to their event, commissioning installation artist Colin Pierce to conceptualise something comparable.

"Birmingham City Council Arts team has visibly moved a long way and diversified from the idea of stainless steel sculptures outside buildings," explained Pierce. "I first made a site-specific exposition for them under Spaghetti Junction in 1993 and over 10,000 people attended. Since then, we’ve done other things, most recently ‘The Gallery in the Trees’ which ran thro

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PLASA Presents Light & Sound Shanghai 2001, the fourth consecutive show to be held at the city’s Intex Centre, took place from 4-6 April.

Several companies travelled to Shanghai as part of the Britain in China programme. Among them was DHA Lighting, exhibiting in conjunction with its Asian stockist Pacific Lighting (HK) and showing its latest product, the Gecko Image Projector, together with a range of other products. Zero 88 was reinforcing its presence in the Asian market with the first Asian showing of its Frog and Fat Frog lighting consoles, whilst Artistic Licence was profiling its DMX512 processor chip range which it is promoting for OEM business.

Strand Lighting debuted its 520i lighting console for the Chinese market and also showed its SL spotlights, 300 Series control consoles and SLD96 dimmers. Simplex, meanwhile, was promoting its Ultralight staging system designed

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The PLASA AGM is one of the key events of our year - it’s a chance for us to review what’s gone and plan for what will be a very different future. The most effective way we can do that is by involving as many Members as possible so we’ve strived to create an event that we feel is worth attending. Your role is very important so please don’t file your ideas, comments or complaints away for another time, take this opportunity to influence the way PLASA is heading by joining us for the 2001 AGM.

Even if you’ve got nothing to say (unlikely we think), it’s an ideal opportunity for some relaxed networking in beautiful surroundings. As a backdrop to this year’s event, we have chosen the historic setting of Coombe Abbey, near Coventry. Set in 500 acres of parkland and dating back to 1150, this former Cistercian Abbey is an ideal place to meet up with fa

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Here’s a cautionary tale for readers. News has reached us of an Australian-based contractor who appears to be defrauding companies out of security deposits by inventing fictional contracts.

Since the ruse is fairly sophisticated and adopts an approach employed by perfectly genuine companies in the marketplace, it doesn’t immediately signal alarm bells. Essentially, it goes as follows: the contractor e-mails companies, claiming to have been appointed project manager for a major cruise contract. The e-mail dangles a few details about the likely size of the contract and then invites companies to respond if they’re interested in bidding for any part of the audio or lighting specification. Once they’ve indicated an interest, the contractor then offers to forward the bid package for evaluation, in return for a small, refundable security deposit. What happens next is a

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Italian lighting manufacturer Clay Paky has unveiled plans for a major new headquarter facility, close to its current base in Pedrengo.

The new HQ not only represents a major investment for the company (you don’t want to know how many noughts were on the end of all those liras), but also a new chapter in what has been one of the major success stories of our industry. And the timing is perfectly cued, for it’s 25 years since Pasquali Quadri first founded Clay Paky, in 1976.

Over the years, the company has grown to be one of the major players in the lighting market and whilst much of that is down to its roots in the club sector, recent years have seen Clay Paky diversify into the wider arenas of TV, theatre, touring and architectural lighting. Central to all this has been technical innovation - GoldenScan did much to establish the company; more recently the launch of new

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Frances Thompson has announced that she is leaving the US-based production industry web venture, Shoptick.com. Launched last year, Shoptick.com offers ‘e-business for show business’ with production resources including online inventory tracking and project management, product and manufacturer listings and crew resources. Thompson, who previously worked for US truss manufacturer Tomcat, was responsible for marketing at Shoptick.com. She told PLASA Media that Shoptick.com was in the process of downsizing in order to concentrate heavily on product development. The company’s Kansas City staff will now handle marketing as well as continuing to provide the level of service already established.

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Late March in London saw several industry organisations come together to contribute to an evening of presentations, the theme of which was Entertainment Lighting and its Influences. Members of the Society of Light & Lighting (SLL), the Institute of Lighting Engineers (ILE) and the Association of Lighting Designers (ALD) were present to hear several speakers outline their own particular experiences.

Peter Phillipson of Future Group Lighting Design talked about the differences between the disciplines of theatre and television lighting, compared to architectural lighting. To illustrate his point, he demonstrated the differences between a number of lighting fixtures. He also went on to discuss the critical role of the lighting programmer and introduced Stuart Porter, who had worked alongside LD Andrew Bridge on the production of Aida at the Royal Albert Hall. Dave Isherwood of The Moving L

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Le Maitre, the name behind a respected range of pyrotechnics, smoke generators and theatre effects for the entertainment industry, has recently restructured.

The Peterborough-based company, with offices in Mitcham and both Canada and the USA, has taken steps not only to remove some previously held misconceptions, but also to expoit its growing presence in a range of new markets.

The most immediate change is the removal of the word ‘fireworks’ from the company name; from now on it will face the industry simply as Le Maitre Ltd. In the UK, Rick Wilson will continue as sales director, working in the company’s more traditional markets, whilst director Karen Haddon will concentrate on the contracts side of the business, developing Le Maitre’s presence in the touring and production markets. Display manager Richard Huffam will service clients on the contracts side, w

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The Production Services Association has made two announcements: the first is that John Jones of PCM has filled the remaining seat on the 2001 PSA Council. John is a long-time supporter of the PSA and through his company PCM has donated £10,000 to the PSA Welfare & Benevolent Fund since the Fund’s inception. PCM has also gained a reputation for being among the industry’s leaders in promoting training, with the PCM Motor Schools now well established. In a separate announcement, Keith Owen will now oversee the PSA’s new series of BTEC courses. The courses, which commence in June in Birmingham with the Production Technician Intermediate BTEC, will be expanded during the year to cover other disciplines. Owen spent 20 years at Light & Sound Design before spending 18 months at Loughborough College as the PSA’s representative for training. He is working for two days a we

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PLASA has completed the first phase of its major industry research project.

The research will provide PLASA Members with an invaluable insight into their industry. As well as being able to estimate the global market size for professional lighting, sound, staging and AV products and services, the research also gives a very detailed picture of the market in the UK. For the first time, PLASA has information about the value of the product sectors, how fast they are growing and the size and growth of the various vertical sectors into which its members sell.

Was the research really necessary? Matthew Griffiths, MD of PLASA believes so: "We have over 400 members, but until now, we haven’t been able to say very much about the nature of the industry that we represent." With members’ interests straddling four key product sectors - lighting, sound, AV and staging - and se

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Performance Exhibitions Ltd has announced the launch of Performance 2001 - an exhibition including conferences, seminars and workshops aimed at the live performance industry. To be staged at the Newcastle Telewest Arena on 17-18 November 2001, the exhibition will bring together manufacturers, venues, producers and promoters, plus a complete range of associated services. Colin Rowell, director of ShowBlokes, whose vast portfolio includes production stage manager of The Tube, stage director for the MTV Awards and stage manager for the Brit Awards, recently returned to the North East, and is involved in live events in the area. He says: "I feel that this exhibition will offer companies a platform for exhibiting to a large audience. It will put the North East on the exhibition circuit where it belongs for this important segment of the industry." Over 1500sq.m of exhibition space wi

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I hadn’t been to Showtech before, but I understand from those that have, that the Show started out life like ABTT - lots of standard shell-scheme type stands, set out like so many rows of beach huts in a Victorian seaside resort on the South coast of England - as befits an environment apparently conducive to our brethren from the theatre set.

Now, however, the Berlin show is more like an ABTT on growth hormones! Five big halls, segregated more or less by type of product, and large, designed stands that better reflect the egos of the firms concerned than the little market stalls of old. Yet the traffic, in terms of numbers at least, seemed to be dwarfed by the scale of the venture. That’s not to say that the visitors were not of a very high calibre, as was certainly the case. This was more like shopping at Harrods, wide aisles, no crush and exclusive clientele. So the parall

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Luciano Pavarotti recently returned to his home town of Modena, to host the annual open-air Pavarotti & Friends charity concert, with funds this year going to alleviate the plight of Afghan children.

The event was held, as always, in front of a packed crowd and transmitted live by Italian state broadcaster RAI’s channel 1. Daniele Tramontani is in charge of sound for the star-studded show. "Initially, it seemed a live recording wasn’t going to be done, but the organizers decided to put together a well appointed studio in a container backstage, so as well as supervising the FOH system, I was also responsible for the realization of the recording and broadcast mixing set-up - in short, everything apart from monitors!"

Sound engineer Stefano De Maio mixed FOH, with a 72-channel Cadac M-type master desk, a Midas XL3 for the orchestra, and a Heritage 1000 for guest mu

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At the recent Showlight 2001 conference in Edinburgh, a new logo for the Light Relief benevolent fund was unveiled by Tony Gottelier and Rick Fisher.

Light Relief is the industry-sponsored fund, supported by PLASA and the ALD, to assist people in the industry when they are affected by catastrophic personal events. "The lot of the freelancer is not always a happy one, just look at the state of Rick!" joked Gottelier, pointing at ALD chairman and lighting designer, Rick Fisher. The duo were attending the Showlight reception, sponsored by Fourth Phase, on the serious matter of launching the newly-designed Light Relief logo and its attendant leaflet, and to raise the profile of the industry’s benevolent fund.

The pair appealed to the manufacturing and service companies to come forward with offers of help. "We need you to come up with creative initiatives to raise ca

  1. Noelle Arrives at JGP
  2. PLASA Completes First Phase of Industry Research
  3. The Battle of Trafalgar
  4. ABTT Requires Archivist
  5. CyberExpress
  6. International Skills Register
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