Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025

Rigging / Staging

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USA - Over the past few years, having introducing high tech rigging products like the PowerLift and the award winning PowerAssist which both offer innovative features for safely running a rigging system, JR Clancy recently turned its attention to a few low tech solutions that can also aid with safety concerns.

Clancy has redesigned all its instructional signs and batten end caps. "Signs and batten end caps are at the opposite end of technology, but certainly no less useful or important," comments Tom Young, vice president of marketing for JR Clancy. "We've revamped all of our instructional signs to promote safe rigging operations. These are available free to anyone and we hope everyone takes advantage of them. You can get them as two-colour signs ordered directly from Clancy at no charge as well as downloadable files an end-user can print and use directly from our

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UK - Registration to attend the 29th ABTT Theatre Show (13-14 June, Royal Horticultural Halls, London) is now available via www.abtt.org.uk/theatreshow.

Already sold out, this years show will play host over 100 exhibiting companies filling all three halls to capacity. With several new exhibitors, including ChamSys Consoles, Sunbaba Fabrics and Northern Stage Services, the event presents a comprehensive range of products and services for professionals and non technical users involved with equipping, refurbishing or up-grading their drama studio, theatre, auditorium or multi-purpose performance space.

One of the show's aims is to illustrate all aspects of performance technology and offer practical advice from leading suppliers about the enormous value that can be added by investing in technology.

Also illustrating the Show's commitment to education, drama schools from around t

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UK - Baldwin Boxall Communications will be launching its latest Emergency Voice Communication system - VIGIL OmniCare at International Fire Expo. This latest development allows users to have disabled refuge remotes, fire telephones remotes and disabled toilet alarms all on the same system. A considerable saving can now be made as only one system is required. Prior to this product three separate systems would have been necessary, says the company.

The system works in the same way as Baldwin Boxall's market leading 'CARE' products. Remote units are wired in a loop configuration and it is possible to have a number of disabled refuge remotes, fire telephones or toilet alarms all on the same loop. Also in the range, Baldwin Boxall has developed a combined disabled refuge and fire telephone remote. Like all of Baldwin Boxall's 'CARE' products the system is compliant with BS5839 part 9

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UK - Christie has introduced Christie ACT, a new theatre automation controller purpose-built to interface with the latest generation Digital Cinema technology. The system makes it easy to automate presentations by translating cues from connected devices to control most theatre equipment including lighting, curtains, sound, masking and projectors, says the company. The system offers a solution, enabling customisable control to suit the needs of a single screen, a multiplex facility or an entire theatre chain.

Manageable through a web interface, Christie ACT allows the user control and flexibility. It can be accessed from any web browser on a networked computer making it accessible from a portable handheld computer or laptop.

With an intuitive graphical user interface, even the novice can easily customise tasks and events to suit specific needs, says the company. Featuring pre-d

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USA - The second annual Behind the Scenes Tony Awards Party is set for Sunday 10 June in New York City. Continuing a long-standing tradition, the shops that work on Broadway gather together for an evening of food and drink to cheer on their Tony-nominated shows. Last year over 125 professionals, a dazzling array of industry talent, had a fabulous evening while making sure their colleagues will be cared for in times of need.

Fred Gallo of PRG Scenic Technologies, one of the organisers of the original Tony parties and the new Behind the Scenes benefit, says, "The combination of attending the long-standing Tony night shop party with the opportunity to contribute to the Behind the Scenes programme that helps industry professionals is a win / win outcome for everyone. Plus, there is an open bar - so as I said last year, there is no excuse not to come."

(Jim Evans)

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Singapore - Singapore's growing infrastructure - requiring the need for ever more professional staging services - is already having a positive effect on this year's Event 360º show, which makes its debut under the wing of the umbrella PALME Asia expo in July.

Some 1,000sq.m, a quarter of the overall capacity at Singapore Expo, will be set aside for Event 360º Asia. Heartened by the initial response, Davin Er, who is responsible for developing this sector, believes that interest has not only been stimulated by the support from the Singapore Tourism Board, but the building of the S$3.85bn Marina Bay Sands complex, housing casino, hotel and convention centre.

Event 360º Asia will also be working closely alongside Singapore-based UnUsUal Productions, who are among an increasing number of local companies that have the capability of offering world-renowned ev

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UK - Summit Steel supplied four SmarTmasts to Britannia Row which were utilised to emulate a concert style set up for sound tests in the new Wembley Stadium. Two SmarTmast 4s were used to suspend speaker arrays that mimicked the height and positioning of PA wing hangs on a typical concert stage set up in the end-on position. The masts were picked for their 15m height, quick buildability and neat footprint.

The main object of the exercise was to integrate a show PA system with Wembley's house PA to provide full audio coverage throughout the stadium. They also took the opportunity to ensure that Emergency announcements could be heard in all locations around the venue.

Summit's Jon Bray was contacted by Brit Row's Bryan Grant to supply the necessary support structures for the tests. Bray and a team of three riggers erected a total of five masts, which stayed up for a two-day peri

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UK - Over the past few years, use of Rosco's range of dance floors has steadily and quietly increased across Europe and the UK, thanks almost entirely to the diversity, quality and reliability of the products. Traditionally there has been little in the way of marketing to support the range, but for the first time last year Rosco attended a number of trade shows specifically to promote dance floors and the interest was extraordinary.

So much so in fact, that Rosco has now brought a dance floor specialist onto the sales team with the specific remit to provide product information and advice to customers and to take the range into markets and venues previously untapped.

Lee Payne joins Rosco straight from performing on the Riverdance tour. He is looking forward to hanging up his tap shoes and taking on the challenge of growing Rosco's floor business.

Says Payne: "It'

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Spain / Portugal - Quercus Equity has invested 60 million euros in the acquisition of the Spanish group Stonex and the Portuguese audio-visual group Alfasom - owner of the Spanish companies Aysav and Congress Rental Ibérica - creating the largest audio-visual group in the Iberian Peninsular.

The Stonex group, founded in Madrid in 1980, specializes in engineering and turnkey stage equipment projects for theatres, auditoriums, congress centres, casinos and theme parks, encompassing stage engineering, show lighting, architectural lighting and audio-visual installations. The company has offices in Madrid and La Coruña, and boasts more than 300 reference projects in the Iberian market, such as WB Madrid theme park, Pamplona Auditorium and congress centre (Baluarte), Colon Theatre in La Coruña, Campoamor Theatre in Oviedo, Expo 98's Lisboa Camoens Theatre and Gran Casino de A

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UK - The Association of British Theatre Technicians (ABTT), is sponsoring Performing Theatres, part of The Theatres' Trust Conference 07. Performing Theatres follows on from the successful 2006 ABTT Theatre, Architecture and Engineering Conference and develops the need for there to be a stronger profile for users in setting out requirements for building and refurbishing theatres.

Raising issues about how best to maximise theatre design in the 21st Century, the Performing Theatres Conference is chaired by Ian Brown, artistic director, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Genista McIntosh and Venu Dhupa, director of creative innovation, Southbank Centre. The one day event promises to offer a lively and wide-ranging debate on how the design of theatres will meet our needs in the 21st Century.

Complementing ABTT's annual Theatre Show, which highlights technological innovation a

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UK - Leisuretec Distribution and Global Design Solutions (GDS) are coming together at ABTT to showcase the Blues System.

GDS will also be showcasing its new i Stage Managers Desk which was manufactured for the Royal Welsh College of Music Drama and Art in 2006, since then the company has supplied three more desks for major UK venues and are working closely with both the British and Irish Stage Managers Association for both consultation and advice.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Paul Roughton is the new face representing Stage Electrics on the London scene, having joined the existing business development team of Darren Beckley, Matt Townsend and Chris Patton.

For over five years prior to joining Stage Electrics, Roughton worked in the West End for The Really Useful Theatre Group. He was the deputy chief electrician at Shaftesbury Avenue's Lyric Theatre, and then most recently at The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, where he worked on shows including Anything Goes and The Producers.

Roughton will be splitting his time as a business development manager between long term hires and installations from the London office, working closely with the existing team. "My previous experience will allow me to bring a user's perspective and insight, to make sure our customers receive the best possible service, " he says.

(Jim Evans)

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USA - Tomcat USA celebrated 15 years of in depth training courses for professionals in the entertainment industry with a sold-out Hoist and Rigging Workshop in Midland, Texas. Instructors and 82 participants from all over the US, plus Canada and the UK were brought together for the four day workshop. This year also marked the third annual Advanced Hoist and Truss Workshop with 10 participants from around the US.

Don Dimitroff of Columbus McKinnon coached participants through the disassembly and reassembly of a Lodestar chain hoist. Rocky Paulson, the recently retired president of Stage Rigging, taught safe rigging techniques while Morgan Neff of Mine Safety Appliances gave instruction on fall protection practices and equipment. Training was rounded out by Keith Bohn's truss class with instruction on design, usage and theory.

The Advanced Workshop was brought back by popular de

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UK - Blitz is working to design and equip an exclusive mobile installation for the Ducati team at the MotoGP events - the premier class of grand prix motorcycle racing. The Paddock Club Complex at each MotoGP event provides necessary amenities for the team as well as exclusive facilities for individuals and corporate groups.

The composition of the facilities, made up of five individual 40ft long adjoining trailers creates its own challenges from a technology installation point of view. However, within the VIP hospitality area, ten distinctive zones have been created, each with its own specific purpose including offices, kitchen space for catering, dining areas and relaxation spaces.

In each individual zone, Blitz has developed a system which gives customers the choice of watching any of the individual circuit feeds - a total of approximately 20 video and audio channels are ava

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UK - Arena Structures, a specialist division of the Arena Group, has expanded with the acquisition of over £250,000 of staging and scaffolding this April.

This recent investment in plant and equipment includes a substantial amount of stage decking system which introduces a totally new staging service the Arena Group can offer clients. The new stock includes ancillary items such as steps, handrails and stair cases, including many bespoke items that are useful for the events industry and media sectors, says Arena.

Martin Clark has been appointed commercial director of Arena Scaffolding, coinciding with this expansion. Clark has been delivering staging and scaffolding projects to various events over recent years within his role at the Arena Group, such as the London Marathon and televised music shows such as X Factor and The Music Hall of Fame.

The Arena Gro

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UK - The new Land Rover 2007 Defender was launched to the press at Calcott Manor in Gloucestershire, with Stage One (sets, scenery and live events), production company Cricket and designer James Grey all bringing their skills to the fore to ensure the event was a success.

Brought on board by Cricket, Stage One was asked to build three different elements - an external car plinth, an internal main set and a small set at a second venue, following a 'ride and drive'. The unusual car plinth consisted of a steel 'I' beam, with scaffolding poles threaded through and finished in silver paint. The plinth held the new Defender along with one of the first Land Rovers to come off the production line (chassis number 9). Two lighting towers were also built in the same style.

Inside the venue, the main set incorporated four 'I' beams which Stage One manufactured from mdf. The beams were erec

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USA - GearSource and PRG announced today the first 'Gear-Up' sales event powered by GearSource.com, beginning on 1 May. This event will offer equipment from PRG's audio, lighting, video and rigging inventory at "unheard of 'auction-like' pricing, but without the hassle or buyer premiums associated with auctions".

All items will be sold on a first come, first served basis. "This isn't an auction, but the buying frenzy will be the same, based on the pricing we're already seeing coming in," says GearSource president Michael Fairbairn. "Obviously, PRG has a massive inventory of equipment in audio and lighting. This event is created to help them liquidate that inventory without the trouble of staging an auction," says Fairbairn. While the Gear-Up sale may eventually open up to other GearSource.com vendors, this event is exclusive to PRG's US-based invent

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UK - Tomorrow's A.C. Lighting North Event (1-2 May) will see the first UK showings of two new product innovations from leading Italian trussing and rigging manufacturer Litec. The new Litec EXE-Lodestar 650C1 is a BGV-C1 multifunction electric chain hoist designed for use in the entertainment industry.

BGV-C1 is a German code of practice for the entertainment and theatrical venues, part of which covers lifting and rigging equipment. Adopting BGV-C1 is voluntary, but it is generally required to obtain insurance within Germany and is therefore rapidly becoming an industry standard across Europe. A C1 chain hoist can be defined as a unit suitable for use to move and hold loads above people, and as such has to meet certain criteria such as a design factor of 10:1, underload and overload protection and a double brake mechanism.

"We needed to make a simple hoist that could work

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UK - Event power specialist Power Logistics has recently taken on three new team members. Rich Rayner (pictured left) joins the Operations and Project Management team and will be working alongside Dave Oxley (centre), while Noel Glendinning (right) joins the expanding Warehouse and Logistics team.

And finally, having decided to take control of their increasing transport needs, Power Logistics has also announced its decision to open its own in-house Transport Department: George Stedman will be heading up this department as transport manager.

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - Almost 30 years after Nottingham's Theatre Royal reopened to the public following extensive refurbishment work and 25 years since the Royal Concert Hall was unveiled, Theatre Projects Consultants is providing theatre consulting services to the Royal Centre Nottingham again.

The Royal Centre, a celebrated Nottingham landmark and regular touring venues, is currently undertaking a strategic review. MD James Ashworth explains, "Theatre Projects were the natural choice for the job with their intimate knowledge of the building, having helped us conceive it during the 1970s and 80s. With a vast portfolio of experience and an unparalleled reputation for excellence, we believed they would assist us in ensuring the Royal Centre continues to be one of the country's finest facilities for the 25 years."

Theatre Projects is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary of consul

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UK - Research for the proposed National Skills Academy for the Creative and Cultural Industries suggests that current and projected growth in live entertainment will generate demand for an extra 10,000 skilled offstage and technical staff over the next decade. And with half of the current workforce expected to retire or leave the industry by 2017, the total estimated number of recruits required rises to around 30,000.

Major employers in the theatre, live music and events industries already report serious difficulties recruiting qualified and experienced professionals in a wide range of disciplines including lighting, sound, stage controls and specialist backstage support staff.

Since January 2007, more than 300 individuals and organisations - including employers, trade bodies and freelancers - have been consulted on the Skills Academy proposal being developed by Creative & Cul

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UK - SPS has just completed its work for the Institute of Directors Annual Conference, a one day event that featured presentations by high profile business leaders at London's Royal Albert Hall.

SPS has worked on the IoD flagship event for four years and utilised its extensive experience to design and construct the impressive stage set. SPS used LED screen technology both as a graphic display and a powerful lighting source. This allowed the 2,500 company directors attending the event a clear view of the stage. These LED screens coupled with two large video projection screens created a dramatic stage set. SPS's creative team also produced the graphics and visual content.

The theme of this year's event was Success in a Challenging World. It examined topics such as the rapidly expanding European Union, globalisation of markets and environmental issues. Key note speakers in

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UK - Staging Services has announced the launch of its new LED, modular staging/dance floor system. It can can be used in conjunction with the company's modular staging system - Super Stage as a dance floor, lit fashion catwalk, stage or exhibition floor. Each LED tile is 500mm x 500mm and can be individually programmed to emit "thousands of colours, limitless sequences, patterns and basic alphanumerical characters".

If the system is used as a raised stage, handrails can be locked into the floor to prevent guests from falling and if it is used at a height of 150mm a bevel is locked into the floor to allow safe access to and from the stage.

As well as the full colour, LED system, Staging Services also stocks a stylish check pattern in black and white vinyl and traditional polished parquet dance floors to suit different events.

(Jim Evans)

  1. A.C. North attendance up 30%
  2. Stage Electrics training accredited
  3. 5 Star supplies ELP
  4. The ABTT Theatre Show bookings up
  5. PALME India set to grow by 25%
  6. PSL promotes Steadman
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