USA - City Theatrical’s Multiverse wireless DMX/RDM technology is currently being used to provide DMX data at eight-time Tony Award winning Broadway show Hadestown. Selected for its ability to communicate DMX data wirelessly in the 900MHz band at a distance of up to 300ft indoors, Multiverse Transmitters, in combination with Multiverse Nodes operating on a SHoW DMX Neo SHoW ID, broadcast DMX data to QolorFLEX Dimmers that provide dimming control for battery powered headlamps used for the show’s daily performances, as well as in the company’s 2019 Tony Awards performance at Radio City Music Hall. “Getting set up with Multiverse wireless DMX was unbelievably good,” says Justin Freeman, production electrician for Hadestown. “Communication with City Theatrical never stopped. If things changed, Multiverse changed with us. It has been very successful for our sh
UK - Funktion-One teamed up with long-term partner Audio Plus to give Vero its first Glastonbury outing at The Glade. The stage, which enjoyed a mixed programme of DJ and live performances, received plaudits from artists, festivalgoers and sound engineers, who praised the system’s precise stereo imaging and generous headroom. Luke Piper, area coordinator of Avalon, Glade and The Wood, said: "I was overjoyed with the new system - it surpassed all expectations. We quadrupled the normal capacity of the venue up to 20,000, with people dancing right at the back of the crowd to Carl Cox, Fatboy Slim and Squarepusher. Here it sounded just as good as at the front with a full range, solid, clear and real bottom end, and great mid-range separation. Vero is a very real 'non-synthetic' alive sounding system that's perfect for live and electronic acts alike. It's the best system I've
UK - A Zero 88 lighting control solution - including FLX S48 lighting console and Bypass dimmer / switchpacks - has been supplied to St Andrew’s School in Woking, Surrey, UK, by rental, sales and installations specialist Henley Theatre Services (HTS). The school, founded in 1937, is a respected co-educational prep school for around 300 children aged 3 to 13. As part of a commitment to deliver a stimulating and vibrant educational and developmental environment for its pupils, last year St Andrew’s invested in a new, 230-capacity purpose-built theatre - the Little Field Theatre - and rehearsal space in its 11-acre grounds. The venue’s technical specification - including the Zero 88 elements - was delivered by consultants Theatre tech who designed the production lighting, sound and comms systems. A tender issued for the equipment supply was won by HTS who liaised c
UK - Coventry’s Godiva Festival, which takes place in the City’s War Memorial Park, was founded as a free festival in 1997. This year, the 120,000 festivalgoers had to pay a nominal admission fee to attend the weekend-long event, which was headlined by The Levellers, Feeder and Busted on the respective days. Chris ‘Stan’ Saunders has been overseeing the festival’s evolving technology requirements, as has the company with which he has long been associated, Stage Audio Services (SAS). SAS owner Kevin Mobberley comments: “We’ve been providing event services for Godiva since the year 2000 but this is the first year we have used [Martin Audio’s] MLA PA. Previously, we have used other brands.” This public park is a highly sensitive noise area, and acousticians Vanguardia are contracted to measure sound propagation and set offsite thresholds - somethin
USA - Vari-Lite and Strand, part of Signify, are meeting the demand for state-of-the-art technology at the new $88m Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA) in Houston, Texas. The flagship education and arts facility benefits from over 600 lighting fixtures as well as control and networking technology from the two lighting equipment brands. Designed by Gensler Architects, the HSPVA features an 800-seat main theatre, plus a Black Box theatre, a mini theatre, recital hall, dance studios and recording studio. In addition to its educational programme, it will also play a lead role in the cultural life of Houston’s thriving downtown arts district. “This is not your typical high school space,” says Chris Purpura, who led the project on behalf of theatre consultancy WJHW Inc. “This is a state-of-the-art performing arts facility with many different
Europe - Eros Ramazzotti embarked on his Vita ce n'è world tour 2019 in February this year. Included in the lighting design were 63 of GLP’s JDC1 hybrid strobes and 54 impression X4 Bar 20s, supplied by rental company Agorà. The lighting concept was realised by Jamie Thompson of UK company, Mirrad. He explains: “The JDC1 helped us create a back wall that would be an extension of the video screen. It is incredibly bright and was perfect for this purpose.” The X4 Bars were also essential to outline the shape of the stage. “They created a perfect effect picture,” says Thompson. “The X4 Bars are very versatile,a great product." Jamie Thompson has been using GLP products for many years now, and they have always given him great satisfaction. "I will continue to use them for sure,” he declares. "The X4 Bar 20 has become a standard, a must-have pro
Slovakia - Designed, directed and choreographed by Ján Ďurovčík and the Slovak Dance Theatre, the 2019 edition of the World Ice Hockey championships was held at the Košice Steel Arena in Slovakia. The event not only saw the Finns rise to victory, but also featured the Prolights Stark doing what it does best. Lighting suppliers and installers for the project, SRS light design, had recently purchased 24 Prolights Stark1000CC fixtures, using 16 to cover all corners of the ice for the opening ceremony. The lighting for the show was designed and programmed by Lukáš Hirčák, who comments: "I was surprised by the light output and the extensive zoom in the Prolights Stark. The equipment worked flawlessly throughout the championship and covered the ice with very balanced brightness and excellent colour mixing." When asked about their purchase Robo Sloboda from SRS
France - The Voice France is broadcast on TF1, the largest private French TV station, during prime time on Saturday nights. Set in Studio 217 at La Plaine Saint Denis, just north of Paris, its stage is the largest in Europe at 2090sq.m, with a 1,300 capacity. As with any major broadcast event, it's a meticulous, multi-console affair, and requires a plethora of inputs. FOH engineer Jerome Kalfon and monitor engineer Alex Maggi both mix the show on SSL L500s to mix the show. The Voice France utilises 128 mics, four SSL ML32.32 stage boxes, and an SSL BL II - Blacklight Concentrator, which allows FOH and monitors to share all inputs. The two broadcast consoles in the OB van receive inputs directly from inbuilt broadcast MADI splitters located at the back of the stage boxes, and the broadcast mix comes directly from the SSL mic amps and SSL conversion.
USA - Following the success of Robbie Williams’ first US residency in March, the singer returned to Las Vegas for another sold-out run this summer. In all performances, High End Systems’ Hog lighting consoles were networked for the lighting, lasers and media servers’ video content. To make a splash in the American market, Williams put together his Live in Las Vegas set list at the Wynn’s Encore Theatre to include more well-known Rat Pack standards, with fewer of his own UK hits. LD Sean Burke not only designed the production and the lighting, but also programmed and served as lighting director. Barry Lather worked with him as the show director and set co-designer. “The design came from Barry,” Burke notes. “He had this vision of a ‘swing’ show with dancers, props and so on. The band is pretty big for this small stage, so trying to fit it
USA - Marion Oliver McCaw Hall at Seattle Centre, home to the Pacific Northwest Ballet and Seattle Opera, upgraded its wireless intercoms with four Radio Active Designs (RAD) UV-1G base stations and 24 belt packs provided by Lift AV, also of Seattle. “When we heard about the frequency restack we immediately worked on getting ahead of it,” explains John Coulter, AV technician for Seattle Centre. “We compared three or four different intercom systems but, in the end, the RAD units provided the frequency agility and signal latency our residents needed.” McCaw Hall opened in 2003 after a $127m renovation of the Seattle Opera House. The Hall is owned by the City of Seattle and operated by Seattle Center. McCaw Hall is home to the 2,900-seat Susan Brotman Auditorium, the 380-seat Nesholm Family Lecture Hall, multiple lobbies and a public plaza that serves as entry int
Canada - Based in Ottawa, and designed in the brutalist architectural style, Canada’s National Arts Centre (NAC) has been serving the performing arts since 1969. A bilingual, multi-disciplinary home for Canada’s most creative artists, the NAC strives to be artistically adventurous in each of its programming streams - the NAC Orchestra, Dance, English Theatre, French Theatre, Indigenous Theatre and NAC Presents. Offering a variety of free programming and events, The Centre collaborates with artists and arts organizations across the country, invests in ambitious new works and nurtures the next generation of audiences and artists from across Canada. As part of a recent $110m overhaul, globally-renowned integrators, Engineering Harmonics, were hired to design a comprehensive audio/visual system that would service their needs for the next 15 years and beyond. The
The Netherlands - One hundred and forty Robe T1 Profile LED moving lights were specified by the Dutch National Opera and Ballet’s lighting department for three performances of Aus Licht directed by Pierre Audi and staged in the Gashouder venue in Amsterdam as part of the 2019 Holland Festival. The epic performances each took place over three consecutive days delighting Karlheinz Stockhausen aficionados and opera buffs with a total of 15 hours of music per show, featuring selections from the iconic composer’s seven opera Licht cycle which takes place over seven days of the week. Aus Licht was a collaboration between the Dutch National Opera, Holland Festival, Royal Conservatoire of The Hague and the Stockhausen Foundation, created in cooperation with the wardens of Stockhausen’s legacy. The music from LICHT was presented in a mis-en-space by P
UK - Tenor and actor Alfie Boe is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Jean Valjean on the 25th anniversary edition of Les Misérables at the O2 in 2010, which earned him a five-month run in the West End production at the Queen's theatre the following year. He has also sold more than one million albums in the UK, with his recent duet albums with Michael Ball. He has recently completed a highly successful UK tour, as well as a handful of shows in Europe and Japan, with long-time FOH engineer, Mark 'Joey' Jowitt, and monitor engineer, Steve Bunting, both relying on DiGiCo consoles - an SD10 and SD7 respectively, supplied by Major Tom - out on the road. “Alfie is a very personable and easy-going guy, and he's very appreciative of the job everyone does,” says Bunting, who has worked with Boe for several years, including his time touring with Michael Ball. “We ha
USA - Unbalanced sound in a highly reverberant space motivated Golden Gate Cathedral to seek specialist advice to solve the problem. The church turned to integration specialist MC2Solutions, whose experience in designing and installing high quality systems in similar venues has become well known. Golden Gate Cathedral is a church in Memphis, Tennessee. With a membership of over 2000, the church’s main sanctuary has a seating capacity of 1,350. The church’s pastor, Bishop Edward H. Stephens, is a passionate and expressive preacher, so a sound system with a natural balanced sound and outstanding intelligibility is an essential element in delivering his sermons. Carl Woodard II, owner and designer of MC2Solutions, explained, “Used for a wide range of services and productions, the sound system is required to provide very high-quality speech and full-range music, wit
Jordan - The Jordan parliament in the capital Amman has installed a Pan Beam sound system based on the Pan Beam PB 24. In the Parliament the Pan Acoustics integration partner Girhoma combined the Televic conference system with the Pan Beam PB 24’s to meet the requirement of a more speech intelligible slim speakers system. The main challenge for the engineers of Girhoma was the amphitheatre lay out of the building where a conventional system had proven not be able to cover all seats within a height difference of over 4m between the lowest and highest positioned seats. The Pan Beam systems offering multi-beam technology use three beams directed to the different levels. Another challenge was the very reflective walls creating a confusing sound distribution with high reverberation times. For this situation, the 2.40m long PB 24’s were able to get much more contro
USA - Bandit Lites provided the lighting for RCA Records Nashville recording artist Chris Young’s Raised On Country World Tour 2019. Named for the fastest-rising single of his career, the tour kicked off its North American leg in May. Young’s long-time lighting designer Chris Lisle crafted a show comprised of Young’s preferences for lighting and video that would be both visually impactful at the tour’s venues and evolve over the course of the performance. “This Chris Lisle lighting design with Michael Stanley at the console is one the most visually stunning designs I have ever had the opportunity with which to be involved,” said Bandit Lites business development officer Brent Barrett. “We at Bandit are very proud to be a part of the production team.” The design plays off a W-shaped video wall with four individually moving panels. Four lig
USA - Hollywood venue The Hotel Café has become a go-to place for intimate sets by singer-songwriters, both in its main room, opened in 2000, and the second room, opened in 2016. The venue, whose two intimate spaces accommodate between 50 and 180 people, respectively, has hosted performances by such artists as John Mayer, Katy Perry, Adele, Sara Bareilles, Hozier, Ed Sheeran and Lucinda Williams. These rooms are capable of some very big sound, with sonic quality provided by systems from Bose Professional. Hotel Café’s main room is equipped with a Bose Professional RoomMatch DeltaQ Array Loudspeaker system - one RoomMatch module on each side of the stage buttressed with a RoomMatch RMS218 dual-18 subwoofer (powered by one PowerMatch PM8500N networked amplifier for the RoomMatch speakers and an additional PM8500N for the subwoofer). The club’s second room has
France - Domaine des Étangs is the largest five-star hotel/resort in France. Located in Massignac, it spans a thousand acres, including forests, pastures, and ponds. The Domaine des Étangs (Pond Domain) hosts an 11th century castle, fully renovated and decorated with contemporary works of art, detailed landscaping, Gallo-Roman baths, two swimming pools, a floating tennis court, and a Michelin-starred restaurant. Built of stone and wood, La Laiterie is a new gallery space within the Domaine des Étangs complex that is dedicated to exhibitions about the 'Meeting of Art and Nature'. "As we collaborated in advance of the sound system installation with Amadeus experts, we were able to get rid of the speakers' common aesthetic nuisances and at the same time ensure a sound quality at a level rivaling the most famous concert halls," explains Manuel Gomez, architect and musi
UK - As hire and events company SLX prepared for ISO accreditation, it faced the annual prospect of being without its 14 QC-Check workstations for up to four weeks whilst the units go off-site for certification that the PAT testers are within their operation specifications. However, this year, Data Strategy was able to provide the assistance of VeriCal. The hand-held, on-site alternative to off-site calibration, VeriCal, ensures the Out Board PAT-4 testers - an integral part of the QC-Check system - are within their operational specifications to produce verified and accurate results. SLX business systems & quality coordinator, Gary Smith explains: “As a busy company, we are very reliant on the equipment passing quickly through the QC-Check inspection process so taking even one workstation out of service would have a big knock on effect for us. The prospect of tak
China - With over 100 years of history behind it, Nantong Middle School in China’s Jiangsu Province is looking to the future thanks to a new auditorium equipped with Martin Audio loudspeaker systems. Founded in 1909 by Qing era industrialist and educator Zhang Jian, Jiangsu Nantong Middle School is well known across the province and the country. It is one of the first middle schools in the province set up in the modern fashion and its alumni include politicians, nationally renowned artists, award winning scientists and five Olympic gold medallists. The new multi-purpose hall in the Chongya Building on the main campus was dedicated to celebrate the school’s 110th anniversary, and the school required a high-quality sound system to suit the building. Their choice was the Martin Audio MLA Mini, for its consistent sound field coverage and high resolution, as well as th
UK - The immersive audio capabilities of TiMax SoundHub were in evidence at this year’s Glastonbury Festival, where two experiential spaces were driven by the spatial audio engine. As a centrepiece for the Greenpeace field, artist Wolfgang Buttress created a permanent sculptural feature to highlight the plight of bees in the face of existential challenges such as pesticides, climate crises and the lack of biodiversity. Inspired and controlled by the activity of real bees - a colony of Cornish Black Bees in Michael Eavis’ own beehive to be precise - BEAM is an interactive, multi-sensory and experiential sculpture that, with the help of TiMax and visual specialists RES London, envelopes visitors in immersive soundscapes and 360-degree projection and lighting. Movement-sensing accelerometers, installed within the Glastonbury farm beehives, stream live vibration
Hungary - Reflecting the richness of Kowalsky meg a Vega’s music on their current tour in support of their Árnyék és Fény (Shadow and Light) album is an evocative and intricately-layered lightshow designed by Gergő Kovács that utilises a rig made up entirely of Chauvet Professional fixtures, supplied by Mobil Audio and Light Kft. Drawing inspiration from the title of Kowalsky meg a Vega’s latest album, Kovács mixes light and shadows to connect audiences to the spirt of the band’s performance. Central to the execution of this lighting concept are his rig’s 10 Maverick MK2 Spot, 24 COLORdash Par-Hex 12 and four STRIKE 4 fixtures, all of which are controlled by a ChamSys MagicQ MQ80 console. Hung on two rows of mid-stage truss, with four units on one row and six on the other, the Maverick MK2 Spot fixtures play a variety of roles in Kovács
USA - In Europe, Robbie Williams regularly fills stadiums and his productions are among the most highly-anticipated. One of his dreams was to do a Vegas show, and to make every detail of Williams’ show perfect, production and lighting designer Sean Burke, principal at Holes in the Dark, needed reliable wireless DMX technology. “When the wireless stuff came up, I did a bit of research on it, looked around, and saw that Baz [Halpin, of Silent House Productions] used RC4 Wireless products on the last Katy Perry tour. I know the crew chief, and he said they didn’t have any problems with it,” reports Burke. That was enough for him to entrust RC4 Wireless with the job for Williams’ Live in Las Vegas show. Matt Bakken, the master eectrician on the show, adds: “When a lot of people in the touring industry use wireless, they use equipment from RC4; to me, if
Romania - For the seventh consecutive year, Flowers for the Soul: Remember Florian Pittiş, an event honouring the late Romanian actor, folk singer and radio producer, was held 8-9 June at Titan Park in Bucharest. Marbo Trade, Claypaky distributor for Romania, staged the free show, during which an array of Claypaky fixtures illuminated a different roster of performers each night. Conceived as a “celebration of the spirit,” the event was organised by the City Hall of the third district of Bucharest in homage to the man regarded as a cultural symbol in Romania. The two-day show united artists and the public in a free-spirited commemoration of Pittiş, a visionary whose legacy continues to inspire Romanians. An audience spanning all age groups was treated to a blend of music, poetry, theatre and video projections on the outdoor stage. Lighting designer D
