USA - When production for Smokey Robinson presents Human Nature: The Motown Show decided to relocate from the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas to the nearby Venetian Hotel, experienced lighting designer Steve Cohen received a call out of the blue from the show's creative director, David Rudder. "They had already hired a set designer [Andy Walmsley], and were interested in having me light the show in the new space," he recalls. "Although we had never met before, since I live in Vegas, it was easy for me to see the show and see if we hit it off."

Fortunately for both the show's male vocal group Human Nature and Cohen they did; but since the group wanted to come up with a whole new look for their show, the designer had to choose his fixtures carefully to compen

UK - High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire based lighting rental company Siyan supplied equipment and crew to the first UK leg of Indie rockers The Courteeners ANNA tour working with Lighting Designer Dan Hill.

The tour incorporated a string of sold out academy and student union venues culminating at Brixton Academy as The Big London Show and was the band's first proper production tour on this scale.

Siyan's project Manager Jez Johnstone says, "This is the first time we've worked with Dan on a full tour and it's been a pleasure. He knows exactly what he wants to see and is proactive and flexible when it comes to making things work during the prep stages. In terms of the show - the design is solid, his programming is tight and his timing is spot on! I'm looking forward to the next one!"

Hill has designed The Courteeners lighting for three years, and he worked

UK - Motorised systems specialist Triple E has launched a new wireless control for its popular TracDrive motor systems.

Triple E - which has a 30-year history of inventing engineering solutions for the entertainment industry - has already put the system in production prior to its debut appearance at PLASA Focus in Leeds at the end of April. The system is a simple plug and play unit that attaches to the XLR socket on all TracDrive, Edrive, and SDrive motors.

Triple E's motor units all use pre-stretched polyester rope with a grade and colour coded braid made only for Triple E. The rope offers near silent operation and is more user friendly than steel wire rope.

"Many venues require additional control positions or even the ability to operate anywhere in a building or auditorium so the simple 'plug and play' wireless system with a hand held pocket size remote is the answer,

USA - It's only right and proper that d&b audiotechnik should feel a special warmth for Milwaukee USITT, "Any town that has a famous song about beer is OK with us," said d&b USA marketing manager Roger Keim, "It even has a German name." But there is a serious intent to USITT that's not to be ignored, that's why d&b chose this event to launch ArrayCalc V7 in the USA. "This is a hub for US audio professionals," continued Keim, "These users will quickly realise that ArrayCalc V7 is a potent modelling tool in the designer's arsenal." Loudspeakers on display included models from the V and E-Series, and several elements from the d&b White range.

The essence of the new ArrayCalc V7 is its ability to perform acoustic simulations with mixed point source and line array system configurations; notably the White range installation products from the xS-

USA - Behringer has unveiled its Eurolive B207MP3, a multi-purpose, 150-Watt, active loudspeaker designed for vocal and/or keyboard monitoring, multimedia, press conferences, and other applications where space is at a premium. Based on the company's hugely popular B205D, the B207MP3 takes high-efficiency loudspeaker design to an entirely new level, one that is as feature-rich as it is versatile, says the company.

The B207MP3 features a built-in high-performance MP3 player for playing audio files from a USB stick, three-band EQ, and built-in four-channel mixer that accepts XLR, TRS and RCA inputs. Phantom power is provided for condenser microphones and one input allows connecting a Hi-Z instrument without the need for an external DI. There is also a dedicated stereo input for keyboards, MP3, CD or other sources.

The B207MP3 is compact and light enough to be mounted on a mic sta

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ETC Halcyon Silent

High End Systems Halcyon Silent builds on ETC’s legacy of fanless automated fixtures by incorporating features from the highly sought-after Halcyon family. Halcyon Silent perfectly balances silent operation with brilliant output of 18,400 lumens and high-impact features. 

For more information visit us at www.etcconnect.com

Olivier Awards - Michael Frayn and Gillian Lynne will be given prizes for their outstanding contribution to theatre at this year's Olivier Awards ceremony. They will both receive their Special Awards at the event, which is taking place at the Royal Opera House on 28 April and will be hosted by Hugh Bonneville and Sheridan Smith. Frayn is best known for writing his 1982 play Noises Off as well as dramas including Copenhagen and Democracy. Lynne has choreographed more than 50 Broadway, West End and international stage productions including musicals Cats and The Phantom of the Opera.

Downsizing - Irish alternative rockers My Bloody Valentine and US singer-songwriter Rodriguez are to headline this year's scaled-down Hop Farm Festival in Kent. Promoter Vince Power said the festival, the sixth to be held since 2008, would be over two days, on

USA - "White is the presence of all colours. ETC wanted to make a white-light LED spotlight that would be worthy of professional broadcast, film, and video production," says ETC's Matt Armendariz-Kerr. So ETC has released the new Source Four LED Studio HD, which utilises the colour technology of ETC's Selador x7 Color System for a more spectrally complete white light that can be finely tuned to the on screen talent.

With a special recipe of LED colour blending, the Studio HD is designed to perform in a high definition production world where people (with varying flesh tones) need to look their best. The Studio HD combines exceptional light output with an ultra-flexible, variable white light (2700K-6500K), for more accurate colour rendition on camera.

A multipurpose tool, the Source Four LED Studio HD is ideal for key, bounce, smooth or textured lighting. And as a Sour

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Create new traditions – Cameo P6 - High Output Full-Spectrum Ellipsoidal

Cameo's P6 is a future-proof LED profiler with a powerful 600 W RGBACL engine and 16,000 lumens. It’s an energy-efficient replacement for 2.5 kW halogen profile lights in theatres and venues. With excellent light quality and natural colour rendering, it fits perfectly in theatres, musicals, TV studios, congresses, and live events.

With an LED life of 50,000 hours and low power use, the P6 cuts energy costs and supports the EU’s ‘Green Deal’ goals for climate neutrality by 2050. It also meets updated eco-design rules for lighting.

www.cameolight.com/p6profile

UK - ShowTex will be exhibiting at PLASA Focus: Leeds 2013 to demonstrate its collection of stage and cinema screens for front, rear, or twin projection as well as the enhanced HiSpeed Roll Up hardware system for fast screen motion. The company also specialises in panoramic glassless mirrors, giant mirrors, and projection foils for glow-in-the-dark fabric effects and glasslike inflatables. ShowTex will also present its improved EasyDrape system in Leeds.

The new EasyDrape now features a versatile coupler and telescopic horizontal drape supports with double Velcro. The flexible couplers make it possible to install the EasyDrape system in several directions at the same time allowing for multiple corners with one coupler. A variety of EasyDrape applications can now be built up by just one person. Expo drape and starcloth curtain heights of 2 to 5 meters can be easily obtained by ad

UK - Martin Professional invites lighting professionals to PLASA Focus: Leeds 2013 to be the first in the UK to get an up-close look at the newest members of the award-winning MAC Viper Family, as well as the first fixtures in an all-new Martin product range - RUSH - light in the fast lane!

Join Martin 30 April 30th to 1 May at the Royal Armouries in Leeds where visitors can check out these latest technologies, network with industry professionals and enjoy a relaxing chat with Martin personnel at Booth N-E16.

A host of other new Martin products will also feature: MAC III series luminaires, VC series LED video and smoke and haze solutions.

(Jim Evans)

UK - A Chorus Line, the legendary Broadway musical, has returned triumphantly to London's West End, for the first time since the original production opened there in 1976.

The new production, playing at the London Palladium, is a faithful re-creation of the original Michael Bennett show, staged by members of the original creative team including director/choreographers Bob Avian (co-choreographer of the original production) and Baayork Lee (a member of the original cast, who has re-staged many productions of the show since), set designer Robin Wagner and the late costume designer Theoni V Aldredge.

The show also retains the legendary lighting design by pioneering lighting designer Tharon Musser, who passed away in 2009. For the 2006 Broadway revival and subsequent productions of A Chorus Line, her work was re-created and updated to current lighting technology by award-win

Italy - Visual design company Teslacoop has created the first life-size virtual 3D forest using wysiwyg R30.

The live simulation, originally conceived for a show by a prominent fashion label, was designed to be held within a circular theatre in Milan. The walls of the theatre, usually mirrored, were covered in a 50 by 6m screen, forming a 270-degree surface surrounding the audience and catwalk, onto which was projected a vast 3D video from five 20K Christie projectors driven by a CatalystPM media server and Compulite Vector Green console. The entire production was realised in wysiwyg, using the software's video manager to split the image into five portions, divided equally among the Christie projectors.

Luca Baraldo, president of Teslacoop explains, "If you normally use an image that is 1024 by 768 pixels, you can't project this onto a 50m by 6m screen, so my graphic desi

UK - Event support staff and services provider, Showforce has been officially recognised by London 2012 organisers for its work on the opening and closing ceremonies.

Showforce has been granted a licence under the Supplier Recognition Scheme (SRS), which was launched following a deal between the Government, British Olympic Association and the International Olympic Committee. The first of its kind in Olympic history, the SRS formally recognises eligible suppliers for their roles in the successes of London 2012 and Showforce has been given the designation "supplier of event and technical crew (Ceremonies) to the London 2012 Games".

Throughout the course of the ceremonies, Showforce provided in excess of 530 crew members for various elements of production including build-up, breakdown and rehearsals as well as during the actual ceremonies. Members of the team set the 'G

Australia - For the last 22 years Her Majesty's Theatre Ballarat has been working with an old mobile scissor lift to move stage sets and equipment from street level to stage level, a distance of 6.3m. Not only was it an arduous task to have to wheel it into position, it was becoming an OH&S concern.

"In order to load it you were reaching above waist level and we had no facility to attach it to trucks so it was very difficult to load from them," remarked Liz Mundell, technical operations manager. "There was always a gap between the lift and the back of the truck. Also if the winds got above 15 kilometres an hour we theoretically weren't supposed to use the lift - and in Ballarat that's a gentle breeze."

Other issues included the size of lift and the amount it could carry so council made funds available for a new lift and the project was put out to tender. Pr

UK - PRG's Scottie Sanderson and Mark O'Herlihy are supporting The Script with a comprehensive lighting, rigging and video package for their # 3 World Tour.

This is the second concert tour by the Irish alternative rock band, launched in support of their third studio album, # 3. Lighting designer Jamie Thompson has taken the album name and developed that symbolism within his design concept to create an innovative and striking experience.

The first thing that strikes you about Thompson's design are the three 'fingers' of truss, each clad with a strip of Nocturne V18 LED, 1m wide by 16m long, running from upstage to over the audience. Three complementary runs of V28 are set into the stage and look as though they are a continuous part of the Nocturne V18 main screen, and in turn the main screen appears to continue through the stage.

All the Nocturne LED has been mapped to

UK - Queen guitarist Brian May and Broadway star Kerry Ellis played a set in support of endangered tigers at London's iconic St Pancras station, with sound provided by HK Audio's new Linear 5 speaker system.

May and Ellis were playing in support of the Born Free Foundation, which works to prevent individual animal suffering, protect threatened species and keep wildlife in the wild.

Sound at the event came from an HK Audio Linear 5 Big Venue Pack, supplied by Hertfordshire-based entertainment and production firm Mr H Productions.

The Linear 5 Big Venue Pack contains four LSUB2000A active 2x12" subs, two L5115FA Mid/Hi active cabinets and four L5112XA multi functional active cabinets configured as stage monitors. The Front of House system delivers approximately 6.8kw, which was more than loud enough for May and Ellis' six song set.

The pair played classics like Born

UK - Philips Entertainment Lighting has supplied Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club (CUADC) lighting designer Mitchell Clarke with a selection of Selecon PL3 Wash lights for the respected theatre company's ambitious production of Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida.

"I had recently used the Philips Selecon PLCyc fixtures on the Cambridge University European Theatre Group's (CUETG) production of The Merchant of Venice," explains Clarke "I really liked them. I was particularly impressed with the seamless and intense washes of colour they offered and which I used on the all-important cyclorama that transformed every venue on the tour. So successful was the show lighting that our theatre, the ADC, is now considering purchasing 12 PLCycs for its own stock."

Following his creatively liberating experience, Clarke says he was keen to get his hands

UK - The Conference and Live Events division of leading UK audio visual services provider Saville Audio Visual have recently taken delivery of eight new Roland V-800HD Multi-format Live Video Switchers. Featuring High Definition picture quality and eight multi format channels with independent scalers as well as a variety of output formats including a built-in multi-viewer, the V-800HD Live Video Switcher is ideal for live event and corporate productions as well as web streaming. The addition of the V-800HD to the Saville inventory fits perfectly with recent investment in HD projectors and cameras, providing support for full HD compatible sources and program output devices across the extensive Saville network.

The 8 input / 6 output units feature 10-bit Internal processing with built-in frame synchronisers and scalers on all inputs alongside full SDI support covering 3G, HD and S

Germany - Prolight+Sound will see Philips Entertainment lighting's recently-launched brand, Showline, exhibit five of its powerful, already in demand, new luminaires designed specifically for the entertainment and touring market.

The vibrant range of luminaires can be found in Hall 11, Stand D73 and includes Philips Showline's 4-foot SL BAR 640 and 6-foot SL BAR 660 linear wash luminaires. Both deliver exceptional light output and can be used as a wash or as a direct-view linear bar.

Joining them will be the SL BAR 520 - a two-foot RGBW linear wash luminaire that produces over 8000 lumens of output with six standard 8° lenses. In addition high-resolution pixel mapping control and a unique locking system allows for quick connecting of multiple units both vertically and horizontally while retaining perfectly even pixel pitch.

Also on stand the SL PAR 150 ZOOM - an LED Par

UAE - Meyer Sound has appointed Chris Mead as the company's Middle East technical support manager. Based at the Meyer Sound Middle East office in Dubai, Mead will be responsible for providing technical support to customers throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and Indian sub-continent.

"Meyer Sound's growth opportunities in the Middle East lie in our quality products as well as our ability to provide timely and knowledgeable technical support for customers in the territory," says Mauricio Saint Martin, director of Middle East sales. "Chris's in-depth engineering background and extensive experience with the regional integration market make him an ideal fit to represent Meyer Sound."

In his new post, Mead will assume the lead role in the region by supervising the design of Meyer Sound loudspeaker and digital audio systems, on-site project commissioning, a

UK - Fuerzabruta, the Argentine theatrical extravaganza was recently hosted at Camden's legendary arts venue, The Roundhouse. Directed by Diqui James and technical director Alejandro Garcia, Fuerzabruta, meaning "brute force" provided its visitors an immersive theatrical carnival experience.

This fast paced and interactive production required its audience not only to be nimble but standing as they transitioned from being spectators to becoming part of the show. The production presented the audience with iconic images such as a man running the wrong way on a treadmill to a women swimming for survival in a water pool directly above the audiences heads.

For this one month production, the Roundhouse Trust and the Fuerzabruta Company turned to technical events specialists Stage Electrics to supply and install a full event lighting and audio solution.

Stage Electr

South Africa - Durban-based rental company, Insane Sound and Lighting, have been in the limelight as they provide technical for some fantastic gigs over the last few months. They supplied technical for Skrillex as he played at the Wavehouse in Durban and also provided lighting for international DJs including Afrojack, Like Mike & Dimitri Vega, Steve Aioki and Gareth Emery. At the end of last year, Insane also worked on the famous New Years Eve Street Party with Pete Thong and local 5FM DJs Fresh, Euphonic and Gareth Cliff.

"We mainly relied on Clay Paky Sharpies and our new Robe MMXs when it came to beams and Robe LED 600 Washes for colour," said Vimal Rawjee of Insane. "All control was via an Avolites Tiger Touch and power via Avolites Power Cubes."

Rawjee has been impressed with the Robe MMXs. "It's an awesome fixture and especially with the air kit,

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