Germany - With more than 100 years of tradition behind it, the Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus is among the largest and most important theatres operating in the German speaking countries.

Since 1970 it has been located in the Bernhard Peacock building at Gustaf-Gründgens space where it was spectacularly designed by architect Bernhard Pfau. The sculptural structure boasts curvaceous lines, is staggered in height, is divided into a large house (with 760 seats) and a small house with up to 200 seats. It also contains the 'Young Schauspielhaus Dusseldorf-Rath', with separate 300 and 100 seat theatre spaces.

Designed "to respond to the challenges of a globalized world" at the same time it hosts local artists and institutions as well as other art forms including dance, experimen

UK - The seventh series of Britain's Got Talent culminated on Saturday 8 June with a stunning live show from Fountain Studios, presented by Ant and Dec for ITV.

Having supported the show since its creation in 2007, PRG worked with the production team, where this year's final dominated the ratings and attracted more than 13m viewers. Adding to the excitement, Simon Cowell was pelted with eggs by a suspected former BGT contestant.

The show was won by Hungarian shadow-dance troupe Attraction who performed a British themed routine including Land of Hope and Glory and the voice of Winston Churchill, and will get the chance to perform at the Royal Variety Performance.

PRG's senior account manager Kelly Cornfield collaborated closely with lighting designer Dave Davey to supply a lighting design that skillfully worked sympathetically with the strong LED set desi

USA - British lighting console manufacturer Avolites has signed an exclusive distribution deal with New York-based Group One Professional Audio and Lighting.

"This is a fantastic arrangement for Avolites," explains Koy Neminathan, sales director at Avolites. "It will enable Avolites to extend its product reach into the US market whilst being able to service already existing US clients more efficiently, obviously we are delighted."

Avolites' decision to partner with Group One Ltd was based on the US company's extensive industry experience as well as the opportunity for Avolites to be part of Group One's rapidly expanding lighting division.

"This is a great day for Avolites, Group One and the lighting industry," continues Avolites' managing director Steve Warren. "Jack Kelly and the team at Group One share our vision of growth in the USA driv

Spain - When the Ushuaia Ibiza Beach Hotel planned their opening party for the 2013 season, they brought in French production company High Scream, to make the 12-hour party as memorable as possible.

High Scream's Romain Pissenem already had a strong relationship with XL Video, and from there, both Romain and XL's Ian Woodall began to develop an idea for a projection mapped onto the hotel's 30m x 20m swimming pool, which would become the largest ever projection screen to date in Ibiza.

To achieve a bright and visible projection, the team needed to make the pool opaque without adding a solid cover over the top. Half a million white ping pong balls were put to use - floating on the surface of the water - and creating a suitable canvas for the projections.

XL Video's team, under Ian Woodall, supplied four of their new Barco HDF-W26 projectors to create the vibrant images on the

South Africa - Robert Juliat has announced that DWR Distribution cc has joined the Robert Juliat distributor family.

From 1 June 2013, DWR has assumed responsibility for sales activity across South Africa, promoting and supporting the full range of Robert Juliat lighting equipment.

"It is a privilege for us to be associated with Robert Juliat and the fantastic people who make up their team," commented Duncan Riley from DWR Distribution. "This appointment allows us to offer one of the best brands in the entertainment industry to our clients."

The Robert Juliat followspots will officially be launched by DWR at Mediatech. This is the official technology trade fair for Africa and will be hosted in Johannesburg from 17 to 19 July 2013.

These followspots will also be used on a followspot training course titled The Art of Followspotting, during Mediatec

Australia - Monitor engineer John Merchant has worked with The Bee Gees and now Barry Gibb solo, since 1989. A highly qualified professor who teaches audio production in Nashville, Merchant is a studio engineer who has also worked with artists such as Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion and Michael Bublé.

Merchant has just finished touring Australia with Barry Gibb and FOH engineer Howard Page using gear supplied by JPJ Audio.

The audio for the tour constantly garnered rave reviews for being emotional and intimate whilst making the audience feel close to Barry.

The stage was clean with not one speaker in sight as the entire band were using in ear monitoring. All of the front line singers (Barry, Steve, Samantha and Beth Cohen when she sang lead) used Shure PSM 1000.

"I had always loved the sound of the older Shure PSM 600 wireless IEMs with their crystal-controlled c

USA - Line 6 has announced the new Relay V75-SC 14-channel digital wireless handheld microphone/transmitter with super-cardioid dynamic capsule. Designed for use with the XD-V75 digital wireless system, Relay V75-SC isolates vocals while rejecting stage noise, resulting in supreme vocal clarity and articulation, says the company.

V75-SC is the first Line 6 vocal wireless solution to be released under the Relay brand. XD-V75, XD-V55 and XD-V35 vocal wireless systems will also join G-series instrument wireless solutions as part of the Relay family.

"Discerning vocalists require a microphone that delivers pristine sound quality, even on loud or crowded stages," said Max Gutnik, vice president of Products, Line 6. "Relay V75-SC features a super-cardioid polar pattern that delivers excellent on-axis response while preventing feedback and bleed-in from other instrumen

UK - Sound Technology, the exclusive Harman Professional distributor in the UK/ROI, is to present its audio solutions for Houses of Worship at its pro audio demo facility in Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, on Thursday 18 July 2013. The demonstration day at Sound Technology's custom designed facility will be an opportunity for UK installers and consultants to see, and most importantly hear, the latest specific solutions for Houses of Worship from JBL, Crown, BSS, dbx, Soundcraft and AKG.

Operating in typically very demanding acoustic environments, audio systems for Houses of Worship require professional solutions that combine clarity, flexibility, ease of use - and frequently require discrete placement of speakers.

With JBL Professional loudspeakers, Crown amplification, BSS or dbx networking, Soundcraft mixers and AKG microphones, Harman solutions provide complete end-t

UK - West London-based rental company Entec Sound & Light supplied lighting, rigging and crew for Paloma Faith's recent high profile one-off show at London's O2 Arena, preceded by warm ups at Liverpool Empire and Bournemouth BIC, once again working with lighting designer Tony Austin and the production team led by tour manager Neil Brighouse.

Entec's Noreen O'Riordan and Adam Stevenson project managed the massive one-off, which followed Faith's spring 2013 theatre tour, this time with an enlarged stage set and a more substantial lighting rig.

The O2 show required a completely new lighting design with versatility and flexibility at the core of the concept. The warm up shows utilised a smaller lighting rig, so only at the O2 did Austin have his full rig for the first time, adding extra pressures to the day.

An expanded version of Josh Grace's striking mirrored and gold palm lea

USA - Behringer has checked off another milestone on their expansion into installed sound with the announcement that the CL Series of loudspeakers are now shipping to all markets, globally. The CL Series combines acoustically-inert cabinets, custom-designed transducers and a subtle designer aesthetic into a package that should prove as flexible as it is affordable, says the company.

Spanning 19 models from the bookshelf-sized CL106 up to the three-way CL3564 and with three distinct subwoofers, the series gives integrators the tools they need "to deliver high intelligibility and linear response in a host of challenging spaces".

MUSIC Group VP of installed sound Steven Young commented, "These products are true to the BEHRINGER principles of value, performance and quality. Integrators can specify and install the CL Series with confidence knowing that we have engine

UK - Doughty Engineering unveiled the latest addition to its catalogue of products - a motorised lectern -at this year's ABTT show, as well as its new and stronger range of truss adaptors.

The motorised lectern is fully DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) compliant, leading many visitors to the stand to try it out 'for size'! Designed and manufactured in the UK, the black powder coated steel lectern is supplied with a reading light and fitted with anti-vibration/noise dampening microphone mounts to ensure a clear, concise sound from the user.

Mark Chorley, design engineer at Doughty Engineering said, "The motorised height adjustment makes this lectern suitable for universal use, whether it's young children in a school setting, wheelchair users or adults of different heights - not forgetting the problems faced by very tall people too. Changing height from its lowest settin

USA - At InfoComm, Lab.gruppen launched its new install dedicated amplifier range, LUCIA. Addressing the specific needs of the AV contractor market for high quality, localized audio systems, the two-channel LUCIA (Localized Utility Compact Intelligent Amplification) is a compact and versatile Energy Star compliant Class D amplifier platform.

For small-scale AV applications where high quality audio is required, without the complication and additional cost of a distributed system with centralized rack-mounted amplification, matrixing and processing, LUCIA offers systems designers a more logical and cost-efficient solution, one that is ideally suited for corporate boardrooms, classrooms and small lecture theatres, museum multi-media areas and retail units.

The range comprises of four models across twopower configurations - 2 x 60 W and 2 x 120 W - each available with either 4-in,

Canada - CAST Group has released the first few details of forthcoming new release of wysiwyg R31, which is due to launch within the next few weeks.

R31 is set to deliver "an array of stunning new features, enhancements and library additions, many of which were directly requested by accomplished wysiwyg professionals". These improvements will save huge amounts time and money by solving problems and delivering brand new functionality, consistent with CAST's mantra and its steadfast determination to dramatically improve the workflow and user experience of wysiwyg - Release 31 will be testament to this philosophy, says the company.

Among the extensive list of the additions to R31 are some striking visualization enhancements - perhaps most significantly the new Material System in Shaded Views, which will allow material properties to be applied on a per-element level to an

UK - Celebrating its status as the first quadrennial UK City of Culture, the Northern Ireland city of Derry / Londonderry is staging an array of events throughout the year. The most spectacular was the finale Showdown on the Foyle of The Return of Colmcille on 8 June, where a mile of the River Foyle was the stage for a dramatic battle of good against evil. Despite immense technical challenges, Yamaha audio equipment ensured that thousands of the city's citizens had the night of their lives.

Produced by outdoor arts experts Walk the Plank, The Return of Colmcille packed in an array of performances and parades in the 30 hours preceding the unforgettable Showdown on the Foyle.

The climax concluded an epic two week journey of a traditional Irish rowing boat from the Isle of Iona, symbolically enacting the Irish saint's return back to the city he founded. Legen

UK - trackingThis, the specialist in dynamic data and collaborative asset management systems, launched new functionalities for the Technical Access Passport (TAP) system, including a Trainer Module, at ABTT show in London last week.

trackingThis is offering "an unmissable deal for training companies". They can sign up for a single user license for just 10% of the standard commercial license price, as long as they sign up before October.

Besides demonstrating TAP and the trackingThis asset management system, Chris Paul, trackingThis director, presented TAP's new features and trainer module during a seminar at ABTT.

"TAP is the must have card for freelancers and contractors," says Paul. "We've been successfully running the scheme with the ABTT for two years now. The ATG and ENO are both early supporters of the scheme. The principal aim of TAP is to mak

UK - The 2013 National Stage Management Awards Ceremony was held recently at the Old Truman Brewery in London, during the ABTT Theatre Show. The award for 'Stage Management Student of the Year' is sponsored by GDS, itself an award winning manufacturer, and was won this year by Alex Bradford of Rose Bruford College.

The award honours outstanding student achievement and Alex was considered to have truly risen above the competition, fully demonstrating her ability to take responsibility and apply herself skilfully and passionately to her work.

MD of GDS, Matt Lloyd expressed great pleasure in sponsoring the award: "This is the third year that we have been the proud sponsors of this award. As manufacturers of essential stage management equipment, some of which has been developed directly in conjunction with educators in the stage-management field, we are only too well aware o

USA - Leading UK lighting designer Dave Byars has put his new Avolites Sapphire Touch to work on Brit-pop band Blur's heavily atmospheric 2013 tour, which has smouldered under the stars in venues and at festivals, including Coachella, California.

Dave Byars - who has been in charge of lighting Blur since the band first formed - had quite a challenge on his hands. Maintaining his high design values, while coping with the varying set ups of festivals, and arenas around the world is no mean feat. This is especially true in Byars' case as he is not touring his own rig but rather using festival house rigs or hiring locally at each venue. This means he often ends up with very different set ups or equipment types for each show.

"Being able to programme and design on the fly is essential for a tour like this one," stresses Byars. "I've been an Avolites console user for

USA - Grunge rockers Alice In Chains are in the midst of a five-week national tour, and Clay Paky Sharpy Washes are shedding light on 22 dates coast-to-coast as the band plays festivals, theatres and small clubs.

The band began their spring tour in Miami and will finish in San Antonio, TX to generate buzz for their latest studio album The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here, their first since 2009.

Main Light provided 14 Sharpy Wash 330 units to lighting designer and director Marty Postma. "They're part of the floor package for effects," says Randy Mullican at Main Light. "We compared the Sharpy Wash to 1000-watt units and found the Sharpy's intensity, size and feature set to be better. They're a beautiful light in the right size package. This was the first rental the Sharpy Washes went out on for us, and A.C.T has been fabulous; their service and support has been s

UK - Continuing a long-standing relationship with the Rod Stewart team, that spans nearly three decades, Tait was eager to produce customised staging elements for the artist's widely- anticipated Live the Life tour. Working alongside set designer Paul Staples, production manager Lars Brogaard and lighting designer Mark Payne, the team integrated Tait's fully-optimised stock assets into the set design.

Tait supplied six custom Periaktos, which are positioned on the mainstage and manually rotated throughout the performance. Each of the three-sided Periaktos contained a multi-faceted mirror face, a 12mm CT Flyer video screen and a grill-plated surface backlit with LED PAR fixtures.

Tait's automated helical trussing provides one of the main, artistic focal points of the set design. Powered by Tait's Nav Hoist system and hung from 10 half-ton chain hoists, the elements featu

Australia - The team at ENTECH has confirmed a special presentation on the seminar programme this year: An Automation Case Study - King Kong.

Opening in Melbourne this month, King Kong has been over five years in the making. Stage Technologies, automation specialists contracted by Production Resource Group (PRG), have been working closely with animatronic experts at Global Creature Technology to breathe life into the six metre tall silverback for the production.

Sonny Tilders, creative director at Global Creature Technology commented, "King Kong reflects a real maturing for 'Global Creature Technology'. With Walking with Dinosaurs we learnt how to walk, with How to Train Your Dragon we discovered how to fly and now we have combined them both in this very sophisticated puppet. Kong represents the culmination of a raft of technologies and techniq

UK / Germany - Due to the challenge of exhibiting at two trade shows within just a few days of other Maltbury had to put ABTT on hold for the first time in order to exhibit at ShowTech in Berlin next week.

"It was a difficult decision, we love exhibiting at ABTT" explains Philip Sparkes, MD of Maltbury Staging Ltd, "However after a successful year with our work for LOCOG and the development of our new seating and staging systems, we were enticed to ShowTech for the European launch of our new range to the international market."

ShowTech is taking place at the Messe Berlin in Germany on 18-20 June 2013.

In 2012 Maltbury worked on half of the Olympic sports with standard and bespoke products, most notably the weightlifting stage and unique weightlifting back wall. Maltbury has also worked on bespoke products for Tilted Productions (an internationally touring

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