"Tomcat is honoured to support the Kennedy Centre American College Theatre festival as this organisation fosters the educational and creative process of university and college theatre," stated Stefano Rossellini, general manager of Tomcat. "Our company has been supplying the entertainment production market for 23 years, serving customers all over the world and we understand the value of fostering and encouraging the talent, creativity
"Well maybe not the longest truss ever, I think Lord Norman Foster might have something to say about that, but certainly the longest truss from standard production industry equipment," says Chris Cronin, the head of Total Solutions Group (TSG) who supplied the truss.
"We have a well established relationship with Staras, Turkey's leading sound and lighting company," continues Cronin. "And we've worked on many a project together since they purchased the
Legally Blonde won three awards including best new musical, while the National Theatre's revival of Terence Rattigan's After the Dance collected four awards. Despite being nominated in seven categories, the Phantom sequel Love Never Dies was left empty-handed.
Best Lighting Design went to Neil Austin forThe White Guard at the NT Lyttelton. Also nominated this year were Mark Henderson for After the Dance at the NT Lyttelton; Hugh Vanstone for Deathtrap at the Noel Coward; and Paule Constable for Love Never Dies at the Adelphi. The Award for Best Sound Design went to Adam Cork for King Lear at the Donmar Warehouse. Also nominated were Gareth
"We went in to the theatre to begin the three week fit-out, installing the mother truss with 40 chain hoists and tracking beams to help get the steelwork into the basement," explains project manager Simon Stone. "But the Royal Variety Show took place half way through, so the production crew for that came in and took possession, laying their show floor over ours for the duration."
The chain hoists and 300ft of truss above the stage enable the set to be flown in and out of place. But, in a theatre as old as the London Palladium, none of the counterweight sets were heavy
New products will include 5 Star's Venue range of general purpose cases. This sees a slight departure for 5 Star, in that the main material used is a lightweight honeycombed polypropylene. This offers significant weight savings over traditional plywood carcass constructed cases, and will be suitable for small to medium sized applications of all types.
A 'nest' of four general purpose carry cases is available, utilising classic 'Russian Doll' methodology, whereby sets of cases in decreasing sizes are placed one inside the other for neat storage when not in use.
Other than the polypropylene panels, the case is furnished with the usual flight case type
ILMC 2011 returned to London's Royal Gardens Hotel, with 1,000 delegates engaging many topics in a packed conference programme, 11-13 March 2011. Showsec was a sponsor of the event and the London office supplied SIA licensed staff to professionally secure the conference, attended by many of the companies' peers and clients.
The Saturday morning Engine Room panel focused on production related issues, chaired by Brian Grant (Britannia Row) and Andy Lenthall (Production Services Association). Showsec managing director Mark Harding accepted the invitation from the ILMC and began proceedings with a presentation which sparked an interactive dialogue with the audience about sa
The traditional Russian festival Maslenitsa, which is held at the beginning of spring, is celebrated across Russia and for the third year running was celebrated in the UK capital's iconic square. With an abundance of food, live music and a televised stage which was streamed live to Russia, Maslenitsa Festival saw a constant stream of visitors throughout the entire day.
Showsec's security operation was managed by senior operations executive Dayo Adelugba, who oversaw all 120 SIA security personnel across the high profile site. He comments, "Ensuring crowd safety across London's prestigious Trafalgar Square requires us to work closely with GLA and Westminster Council, to provide the safest en
A range of companies invited thousands of hospitality guests to join them and enjoy four days of racing in bespoke suites created by Arena.
Building on a close relationship with Cheltenham Festival organisers extending back 27 years through the provision of multi-storey structures, Arena was entrusted to supply a number of temporary structures for the 100th anniversary. All three structures, a double deck Horizon structure (20x30m), a four story Arena Scene structure (10x27m) and a 15m by 100m glass fronted double-deck hospitality suites, were located along the home straight providing uninterrupted views over the course.
Ron Smith, projects director at Arena Structures, has been working with the Cheltenham Festival for the pa
With a brief to create an award ceremony that was bigger, better and more dynamic than ever before, production company Done and Dusted designed a set that comprised several large LED screens, two of which tracked across the stage.
Leon Ingram, project manager for Unusual Rigging & Engineering, comments, "The auditorium at Emirates Palace has no loading capacity from the roof, so in order to track the screens across the stage we had to build a ground support system. With a span of 22m, the system also had to provide support for
Justin Bieber and U2 are among artists who have agreed to contribute songs to an album to raise funds for victims of the earthquake and tsunami. Record label Universal Music said it hoped to release the digital-only album globally by the end of the week. Bon Jovi and Rihanna have also been confirmed for the album, which will also raise money for the Japanese Red Cross. "We are doing it only digitally because it is faster," said a Universal spokesman
The second Rigging School will take place on 8-9 June, with a third event to be held in September (dates still to be confirmed).
The Rigging School is a training partnership between A.C. Rigging, leading trussing and staging manufacturer Prolyte and Backstage Academy, the Wakefield based initiative offering various types of entertainment industry training.
Keeping the same format as last year, the comprehensive two-day training programme is an established course that has been attended by industry practitioners from across Europe.
Eric Porter, experienced independent rigger, trainer, adviser and committee member for the PLASA National Rigging Certificate, will a
"Tomcat is honoured to participate in sound:check expo as it is the most important event of its kind in Mexico and a forum to share solutions with a different perspective to customers of Mexico and Latin America to create spectacular stages. Actually we have being doing so since 1987 in the US and since 1999 in Mexico," stated Tony Vierling, Tomcat sales manager for Mexico and Latin America.
"We have been a part of important projects, like the gigantic screen for the bicentennial festivities in Mexico, the Soda Stereo concerts in Venezuela, several Televisa productions, among many others, and our support systems
The newly created Midlands region will be managed by Richard Church who has worked for the company for 16years. Ieuan Fury moves from his post in Wales to become the area manager for the West Midlands, whilst Joe Milner takes the step up from senior operations executive to role of area manager for the East Midlands.
Replacing Fury in the Wales and South West office will be Martin Lewis who moves up from operations executive. Martin previously was part of Showsec's Management Training Academy and becomes the first graduate to be promote
"We look forward to a successful future with our new business associate and are eager to expand our staging effect product offerings," notes Clive Forrester, CEO of All Access. "We are delighted to have him as a member of the All Access family."
In addition, All Access has acquired equipment previously operated by B & R Scenery, which includes a wide selection of electro-mechanical lifts and effects.
B & R Scenery will be winding down its Camarillo operation within the next two to three months.
(Lee Baldock)
"This is a very challenging standard, focusing on customers," said Clancy president Mike Murphy. "All of the elements are about quality - not just in manufacturing, but the complete customer experience. It's important that all our partners, from specifiers and rigging installers to end users, get a system that is on time, complete, and correct."
Murphy continued, "ISO 9001 is a set of quality management requirements with an emphasis on customer satisfaction. Our ISO 9001:2008 quality management system addresses design, installation, project management, and quality. It requires that top management be actively involved and that
At the same time, the assets of ES Trucking arm of the company were sold to Transam Trucking. All 37 employees of the company have been transferred to either ES Global Limited or to Transam Trucking.
Founded in 1974, Edwin Shirley Group was one of the UK's biggest event suppliers, providing staging and logistics services to music tours and events across the UK and Europe. A succession of problems has been blamed for the failure of ES Group including, most recently, late payment issues relati
New projection screens are also scheduled. The Transmission screen (for diffusion and rear projection) premiered to much acclaim in late 2010, and is followed by Even. This pure white screen offers nearly identical luminance distribution both in front and rear projection applications, making it suitable for soft-edge blending and LED projection.
Another upcoming launch will feature a low-gain screen that minimizes reflected light while also greatly improving soft-edge blending in large-scale applications.
Among the innovations unveiled at ShowTech 2011 in Berlin (7-9 June) is the Cargo line of heavy-duty track systems, which allows smooth maneuvering of m
Standing over 9m tall, three iconic images of the Teacher, the Wife and the Mother are supplied, complete with the mechanics and automation to operate them, inside inflatable skins from Air Artists.
The Teacher and Wife puppets require extensive animation so Brilliant Stages devised a system of cradles and winches to facilitate this. The puppets are suspended by fine steel wire ropes attached to individual electric winches mounted into a compact cradle. The winches move the limbs independently whilst the cradle carrying the winches also slews to enable the puppets to turn 180°.
Brilliant Stages used customised control systems from Andy Cave of Kinesys for the cradles and winches.
T
The company's ice rink installation packages have grown enormously in popularity in recent years. Venue operators range from sports arenas to local authority leisure centres and gardening centres - and, in the 2010-11 season, a stellar triple bill of the 02, the London Eye and Westfield Shopping Centre in the capital.
John Burgess, account manager in the live events department for Stage Electrics, said of the 2010-11 season, "We've developed a complete one-stop package which is very flexible in terms of the size and the site requirements, using ice rink technology that's very well proven and energy efficient, and this year it proved its worth quite spectacula
The Convention Centre stands out for its multi-functional capabilities; it can easily be transformed from a 3,000 person arena into a series of smaller sections which allow hosting of intimate meetings for only 12 people. This versatility is made possible by the innovative and multifunctional hoist lifting system supplied by German Based COW Lifting Technology, a subsidiary of UK based Lift Turn Move.
Very high safety requirements were required because loads would be moving above people, so the decision was made to opt for the stringent German Safety Standard, BGV C1. COW has been offering advanced specification motion control systems for the last five years. Developed in house, COW specialises in these applications where load mon
One of his first tasks was to integrate a hugely increased product portfolio, and this was coordinated directly with support from the technical team at Prolyte Leek. Also joining at the turn of the year was Debbie Powell as a new and valued addition to the customer services team.
Following the merger of Prolyte Products and Litestructures in September 2010, the newly formed Prolyte UK Limited (based at the former Litestructures HQ in Wakefield) has been a hive of activity. The new company is designed specifically to manage and develop UK sales f
Ten 47 was set up to provide "high quality connector solutions with a superior service". Throughout the past 10 years the company has introduced many new products and innovations, continuing the trend this year by launching the new Tourline SHC Screened Hybrid Connectors. This new connector offers combined power, audio and Cat 5 connections with a 360° screening of the power contacts from the audio and Cat 5 contacts. Visit Ten47 at ProLight&Sound - Hall 9.0, stand E35.
(Claire Beeson)
By carefully constructing the grandstands surrounding the courts glass walls, Arena were able to offer spectators the best possible comfort and viewing experience as the world's leading squash players fought for the title of champion, which was eventually won by England's Nick Matthew.
Arena Seating project manager, Bradley Merchant comments, "It is great to be involved in a sporting championship such as the ISS Squash, which was located in the spectacular Canary Wharf. As we do with a range of sporting and live events organisers of all different sizes, we worked closely with ISS to create the venues unique atmosphere. We provide events that require anything from 100 to 25,000 seats, each of whic
"Manufacturing in Europe will enable us to offer significant lead time reductions, much lower transport costs and the elimination of import duty," says the company.
Yellow Jacket's Advanced Modular System allows for a floor of cable protectors in multiples of 5 channels, this combines with the company's WASP wheelchair DDA / ADA ramp system already used in prestigious venues throughout Europe. Also offered are the extra heavy duty Yellow Jacket Classic from 1 to 5 channels, and the versatile heavy duty Bumble Bee range.
Yellow Jacket Europe also offers custom marking which can be incorporated at short lead times on selected products. Visit the company at the Frankfurt Prolight & Sound exhibition in Hall 9, stand E35 where t
