Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025

Rigging / Staging

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UK - Birmingham Hippodrome has recently purchased much-needed items of stage equipment to ensure that the 'show must go on', thanks to the generosity of its members and donors who have supported the theatre in recent months.

A new state-of-the-art scissorlift, extending to a dizzying 7.9 metres, has been a welcome addition to the Hippodrome's technical crew who will use the lift onstage for tasks such as focusing lighting and building scenery whenever a new production arrives in town.

Stars of the ballet, opera and musicals will shine even more brightly with the arrival of 24 Source 4 lanterns containing revolutionary lens tube technology for the main stage, making the Hippodrome one of the first UK venues to install this latest version of a lighting industry benchmark.

Being an independent, not-for-profit charity, the money raised by Birmingham Hippodrome Friends and throug

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UK - Slingco has supplied and installed CableNet using 10 modular tensioned wire grids into the 1066 capacity Grand Hall at the hub of the newly refurbished Glasgow City Halls complex.

The £16 million project included the reopening and re-branding of the City Halls and the old Fruitmarket, two historic live music venues dating back to the 1840s at the epicentre of Glasgow's Merchant City. The City Halls have now become the permanent home of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Scottish Music Centre and will host regular concerts by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

CableNet was originally specified by the project's theatre consultants Arup Acoustics, as the safest and most effective way of providing high-level access across the entire roof void.

Arup's Ray Carter first approached Slingco back in 2001. It was interesting from a structural viewpoint explains Slingco

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UK - Bandit Lites has announced the appointment of Lester Cobrin as chief executive for all UK & European operations. In his new role, Cobrin will oversee one of the largest lighting supply companies in the UK & Europe.

Cobrin began his career in the entertainment industry in 1991 working at SamuelsonConcert Productions & Theatre Projects. While there, Cobrin acquired experience in alldepartments. Starting on the shop floor, he moved into company purchasing and sales, andlater into client management. Cobrin covered a variety of projects while acting as clientmanager, including touring shows to corporate events and everything in between.

In 1997, Cobrin joined Light & Sound Design and began to build a substantial client basewithin the concert touring, special events, corporate and theatre market sectors. Whilethere, he also had the opportunity to get hands-on experience as ligh

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USA - Kish Rigging, main rigging contractor to the MTV Video Music Awards, used a CyberHoist / InMotion 3D motion control system to animate a spectacular set for the event in New York's Radio City Music Hall on August 31.

MTV's flagship show has been treated to many ground-breaking visual designs in the past and this year's set was no exception.

Director Hamish Hamilton and designers Mark Fisher and Anne Brahic along with lighting designer Allen Branton based the design on a flown array of 16 LED video screens of various sizes, each mounted in a classical ornate gilt picture frame and flown from CyberHoist CH1000 one tonne motors and CH500 half-ton motors. The screens, nine of which were constantly in motion throughout the show, were used to show a combination of Imag footage, specially created graphics, captions and visual effects.

Kish Rigging's project manager JR Cassidy

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UK - The Event Show has announced that Michael Eavis, the Godfather of Glastonbury, will be speaking at the Access Sessions, hosting a question and answer seminar for event organisers at Olympia in London on 24 January 2007, day one of the two-day exhibition.

The Event Show is established as one of the leading exhibitions in the industry for anyone organising indoor or outdoor events. The Show attracts some of the most prestigious names in concert promotion, sound and lighting, festivals and live entertainment.

"This is a major coup and we expect a packed audience for his seminar," explains Michelle Tayton, manager of The Event Show. "The continuous evolvement of Glastonbury is one of the event industry's greatest success stories. The fact that we have been able to provide event organisers with access to one of the industry's most prestigious figureheads is test

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UK - Clear-Com, a Vitec Group brand and global leader of intercom solutions has introduced a new choice of service contracts and extended warranties for customers.

While Clear-Com products are recognised throughout the live performance and broadcast industry for their construction and reliability, with the increasing complexity of systems, Clear-Com has decided to enhance their after sales service with a choice of service contracts and extended warranties. These new services ensure complete customer confidence through a dedicated global support team, says the company.

The Clear-Com Service Contract can now run for three or five years and is available as an optional service, to all customers. Key features include: technical customer on site training; a maintenance visit; an annual site visit and system service check; global 24 x 7 technical, multi-lingual customer support desk;

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UK - From Broadway hit to West End spectacular. The new musical Wicked that tells the untold story of the witches from L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz has opened at the Apollo Victoria Theatre. Magical scenery and special effects create the world of Oz and are controlled by Stage Technologies' automation system.

Stage Technologies has supplied 27 moving axes to automate this new stage show created from Gregory Maguire's book of the same name. Scenery is flown using counterweight assist winches and also slides from the wings on floor tracks, while automated lighting ladders are lifted up to let them pass. A performer lift enables dramatic entrances and exits and a large bridge is flown down just in front of the proscenium. This heavy scenic bridge is controlled by two BigTow390 winches which were built in situ in the venue's organ loft due to their size.<

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UK - Paul Dumpleton has joined Power Logistics as general manager. Dumpleton will be helping to take the company forward through its ongoing expansion and supporting the existing management at their Wiltshire head office.

Dumpleton says: "My focus is on improving internal systems to benefit our client services and hopefully we can deliver more of the same consistently high level of project management the company is known for."

Power Logistics has enjoyed a busy 2006, with projects ranging from the Queen's 80th birthday party, five major bands stadium concert tours, international corporate marketing events in India, Portugal and Turkey, and there are major sporting events on the horizon.

(Chris Henry)

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The Netherlands - The Ampco / Flashlight Group (AFG) has announced the appointment of Dick van Berkum as its managing director from October 1 2006, succeeding industry pioneer Eric de Bruijn.

Van Berkum, a chartered accountant and a well-known figure in the industry, began working for AFG in February 2006 as financial director with a growing involvement in the group's management. His remit is to continue the strategy and policy developed over recent years, while bringing his considerable corporate, financial and organisational experience to help the Group achieve its ambitions.

The group's strategy encompasses both regional growth and diversification of services to meet the demands of the evolving entertainment market. AFG's activities already include sales, rentals, distribution, R&D and manufacturing of sound, lighting, video and rigging.Karel de Piere says: "AFG has a

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With installations at Wales' Millennium Centre, Camden's Roundhouse and many more, Slingco had on show their CableNet tension wire grid system which provides a virtual floor of high-tensile steel cable. Slingco's Unibar winch system was also on show: it offers a cost-effective solution for motorised raising and lowering of scenery suspension, lighting battens etc. As UK rep, Slingco also presented the Vortek Point Hoist module.

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Hoff Truss, available now from Hall Stage, has a full range of truss components, including a variety of load capacity self-climbing towers. Hall Stage also offers a new, lightweight plastic stage decking that is extremely strong thanks to its cellular structure.

Also available through Hall Stage is the Visual Act stage wagon control system, which has been progressed to now provide full motion control for any flying or motion system, and can interface to most systems by the application of Visual Act sensing on the drive side of any electro-mechanical system.

Also on stand was ASM lifting equipment - both chain hoists and their steel-band drive motors, the latter providing a completely stretch-free alternative to the wire winch, with the same degree of ability for precise programming of speed, acceleration/ deceleration and repeat positioning with ASM's dedicated Genesis control

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London-based scenic contractor Square One was at PLASA this year promoting the wide range of services it supplies to the live event industry including staging (design and consultancy), building and hire.

A new 3m to 6.5m wind-up stand from Mobil Tech, the Alptek 6500 conforms to TÜV, VBG C1 standards and will lift 200kg. Once the legs are slotted away for transport, a flightcase cover neatly latches to the stand's own trolley wheels and chassis, rather than the usual 'just fit the stand in a box solution' - thus eliminating at the stroke the rattle around syndrome. Neat.

Exclusive to the EU, Mobil Tech introduced LED Wall, a simple, lightweight, videowall in 672mm by 1344mm modules, which clip-together with coffin locks and weigh just 18kg each. Hanging points attach to the same coffin locks for a max load per point of 350kg. Mapping is preset by thumbwheels on the mod

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USA - Tomcat, 4 Wall and TPUS are holding an industry party on Friday, October 20, 2006. The party begins at 7pm at 4 Wall Entertainment Las Vegas - where there will be food, drinks, swag and a DJ.

The Swinging Johnsons will take the stage from 10pm - midnight. Band members include: Bruce Jordahl of Total Production US, Tommy Hall of Vari Lite, Robert Mokry of Light Parts and Scott Church of Selecon.

Visit booth #271 at LDI for more details.

(Chris Henry)

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Staging manufacturer Steeldeck had an unusual product on display at this year's PLASA. From a distance, the large lump of metal looked like any other, except the clever designers at the company have come up with a de-mountable balcony system especially created for venues who need the ultimate in flexibility. Having already installed a two-level system at the Belgrade 2 in Coventry, the product is now available off-the-shelf. So, if you have ever wanted your own box in a theatre, now you can buy one and take it with you!

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At ChainMaster, the JumboLift made its PLASA debut. This BGV-C1 chain hoist features a load-bearing capacity of up to 6,000kg. It's equipped with a frequency converter, an incremental encoder, and optionally with an absolute value encoder. The controller comes in a choice of one- and two-channel versions, with a switching cabinet control system plus breakdown control available as a further option. Also debuting was a new manual control system for up to 48 chain hoists. With the remote control, which is equipped with a 5.7" touch screen, runs can be programmed, with positions and loads displayed individually. You can also conduct a group shutdown if required. ChainMaster also presented an update for its successful VarioLift, which makes it possible to run higher speeds.

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Although only launched late last year, InMotion the 3D motion control software from Cyberhoist/XLNT has a new addition in the form of RC-1; as the name implies, it's a hand-held remote controller that enables direct control of a Cyberhoist system - especially useful at load-in/out by obviating the need for computer control connection. Also on show, the Cyberhoist 250 is a variable speed hoist (zero to 40m/min) with a 250kg capacity, plus the one-ton Cyberhoist 1000, again vary-speed up to a more modest 10m/min.

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Some nice, simple, low-tech electric travel trolleys were shown by lifting specialists, Lift Turn Move (LTM). These are currently in use on the Robbie Williams tour and soon to be seen on George Michael. This company has a knowledge base that sidesteps the expensive process of developing machinery from scratch - rather they find, or assemble, solutions from existing industrial suppliers. Invaluable.

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Connect is a service support software package from Stage Technologies, tailored to analyse critical data from any of the myriad installations made by this innovative theatrical motion control specialist. Essentially,a London-based secure server network is linked over the web directly to installation control systems, e.g. Nomad. Data, cue updates, button pushes, every operation of the system is recorded within minutes of it happening. Thus when faults occur, the 24/7 coverage provided at the London office means a technical examination of the distant installation can be analysed immediately.

Complex show systems, even those onboard cruise ships, can be supported, the much larger preliminary data can be stored directly onto the server by the Stage Technologies personnel who physically install the system. Thereafter, update data, being relatively much smaller, can be transmitted via

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Baltic Stages were exhibiting their Stage Deck range. Designed for the professional market, Stage Deck is also suitable for schools, churches etc. The Stage Deck PRO range is designed for frequent use, and featuresanti-skid facing. Load capacity is 750kg/sq.m.

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Weifa Trussing from China illustrated their latest E Series trussing, designed for all sizes of exhibitions, shows and performance applications, plus their own tower systems and a selection of flightcases.

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Wango's were busy changing the face of staging. As UK distributor for American manufacturer Staging Concepts, Wango's can offer a range of staging that requires only one tool to put together. With no working under decks, risk of injury has been reduced; the system is quick to assemble and Wango's say they have saved on truck size. Their primary focus is sales, but Wango's do have some hire stock too.

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A powered line shaft winch (known as the RSSEM) from Dutch manufacturer Roden Staal is such an obvious idea, it's amazing no-one has thought of it sooner. With the growing pressure of Health and Safety legislation forcing many theatres to contemplate the cost of replacing their counterweight flying systems with motorised bars, the RSSEM offers a logical and more economical alternative. Based upon the premise that most shows require maybe 10 to 12 fly-bars, why not mount self-contained motorised fly-bars on beam trolleys that enable them to be flexibly repositioned up or down stage by tracking along a wall-mounted 'I' beam each side of stage?

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LiteStructures premiered Digitruss, a cable-free, modular truss system that incorporates live power circuits and data tails within a single structure. The data rail can carry both DMX and the architectural protocol DALI, so both conventional and intelligent lighting can be directly attached to the truss without the need for extension cables.

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Despite Total Solutions Group concentrating on stage sets for the production industry (George Michael was in rehearsal as PLASA took place), the company continues to sell from its traditional trussing and roofing range. A big 30m by 30m ground support system of Slick Super Beam has just departed for Israel, and another of identical dimension to Dubai, while similar-sized TFL roofs are on their way to the Esplanade in Singapore, and to Indian rental company Reynolds, based in Bangalore.

Also on the stand, and indeed sharing space with TSG at their base in Birmingham, was Specialz, the solution provider for the set build sector that requires innovation and 'new thinking' when it comes to interfacing electronics and scenic elements. Recent output has seen Specialz work appear on tour with Franz Ferdinand (animated full-size female manikin dancers) the Pet Shop Boys (an exten

  1. Gala Systems
  2. Columbus McKinnon
  3. Verlinde/ Stagemaker
  4. Litec
  5. Kinesys
  6. Milos
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