UK - J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings has been reinterpreted numerous times over the years, from cartoons to films to even a West End musical. First performed at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in 2007, the musical was recently revived and reimagined at The Watermill Theatre in Berkshire. The lighting designer for this new production is Rory Beaton who approached White Light (WL) to supply his lighting equipment.
“We were very conscious that, as the first ever non-replica production of the original musical, we wanted to bring something new to the table,” says Rory. “As such, we have created a brand new production that takes place both inside the actual theatre itself as well as outside in the beautiful grounds. Our version is about celebrating ‘The Shire’,

The Netherlands - punQtum, a sub-brand of Riedel Communications that specialises in digital partyline systems, is launching an innovative new app at this year’s IBC show.
The free-to-download app, which works as an intercom system over any IP network, will be available to android and iOS users with access to the brand’s new Q210 PW speaker station. The company will debut the wireless app at stand 10.A38 from 15 - 18 September 2023.
This is the newest product from punQtum and will streamline workflow for users. By eliminating the need for cables, teams can easily control their system and communicate effectively over the app, which can be downloaded to any mobile device and simply connected to the brand-new Q210 PW speaker station.
The easy-to-use station gives users full control through four-channel communication and programmable buttons that allow mics to be

USA - ETC has introduced Hyperstar, a new, companion to the popular Lonestar automated luminaire.
A powerful, compact moving light optimised for projection versatility, Hyperstar will help create designs for a wide variety of venues. Hyperstar is the same size as Lonestar, and is just as bright, compact, and affordable.
Lonestar is recognised for its projection capabilities and framing; with Hyperstar the framing modules have been removed to provide even more versatility when using patterns and aerials. With nine rotating patterns, 11 fixed patterns, an animation wheel, dual frosts, and dual prisms, designers have an almost endless choice of breakups, aerials, radial patterns, and gobos specialising in morphing and texture. And by layering the fixture's effects, a vast collection of custom visuals are available to achieve your desired look.
Market manager Tania L

Australia - Reflecting the myriad passions in Jubin Nautiyal’s music can be a challenge for a lighting designer, but it is one that Roosevelt Dsouza, his longtime LD, excels at, thanks in part to his inspired use of colour. “Every song has its own way of conveying emotions, so I treat every song differently in terms of colour,” said Dsouza. “Colour choice is closely connected to feeling.”
Helping Dsouza create evocative palettes at many stops on Nautiyal’s tour of Australia is a collection of Chauvet Professional Color Strike M motorised strobes. Although he uses the fixture’s two bright white LED tubes for strobing and audience lighting, Dsouza relies heavily on the fixture’s RGB pixel mappable face to create colourful effects that capture the spirit of the music being performed on stage.
Dsouza divides the 16 Color Strike M fixtures in his rig evenly

UK - Green Hippo’s London-based manufacturing operation is reporting high demand for its range of Hippotizer Media Servers and is ramping up production to meet orders.
The team says the first quarter of 2023 saw a huge rise in sales across all Hippotizer models, including the flagship Tierra+ MK2 and high performance Boreal+ MK2. Most orders are coming in from the rental and staging sectors of the industry.
The recent launch of the Hippotizer v4.8 software update, which packed in a host of new and upgraded features designed to power-up real-time media manipulation, playback and mapping, drove sales.
Major enhancements of the new software included Show Manager, facilitating complete control of multiple productions and installations at once and an upgraded Timeline feature and the Shape tool which introduced Dockable Windows, aiding customisable workspace managem

Albania - Prolights fixtures lit up Skënderbej Square in Tirana, setting the stage for the Ricky Martin Symphonic concert. This performance featured the Puerto Rican singer alongside the musicians of the Albanian National Opera.
Prolights local distributor, ASLV Albania, supplied the sound and light system contributing to the success of the show. Thanks to the combination of cutting-edge lighting solutions and pyrotechnic equipment, the stage execution was treated in every detail by event company Kuadr Events.
ASLV Albania’s rig comprised approximately 307 Prolights luminaires. This impressive array included the PanoramaIP Spot, PanoramaIP WBX, Stark 1000, Razor 440, Sunrise 2IP, LumiPar 12IP, LumiPix 16H, and Lumipix 15IP.
The Prolights lighting solutions played a pivotal role in shaping the concert into an immersive visual experience. Their technology and ve

The Netherlands - Nestled in Amsterdam's Jordaan neighbourhood lies the Noorderkerk Church, a remarkable 17th-century Protestant church renowned for its architectural beauty and design. Over the past year, this church’s usually neutral atmosphere has been transformed into a mesmerising 360-degree world of colours. With the help of 38 Digital Projection projectors, it now tells the story of how Rembrandt van Rijn’s paintings inspired Vincent van Gogh’s greatest works.
Vincent meets Rembrandt: The Untold Story, which opened in 2022, will be captivating visitors until 2027 with this audiovisual spectacle. By seamlessly combining visuals with a compelling audio narration of van Gogh's letters to his brother Theo, the exhibition reveals the influence Rembrandt had on van Gogh's artistic journey.
The idea to create an immersive experience of how Rembrandt played

France - Naostage K System beaconless 3D tracking system for live events and interactive experiences, was the cornerstone of the lighting effects on the recent live tour by So Floyd, France’s leading Pink Floyd tribute act.
Created by Fabrice Di Maggio, So Floyd's musical director, and Laurent Begnis, technical director of local hire company Pan Pot, the five-part show immerses audiences in the musical universe of the progressive rock band. Enhancing So Floyd’s music is a mesmerising AVL show.
For So Floyd’s most recent concert tour, comprising 17 dates in France, the band’s technical team used Naostage K System to automatically trigger the lighting cues key to recreating the authentic Pink Floyd live experience.
“K System was ideal for automatic head-on tracking,” comments Begnis, who also served as the tour’s lighting designer and operator, accomp

Europe - Blue-i Group, known for their work on live events and theatrical productions like Disney’s Aladdin - El Musical in Madrid, Tina Turner - das Musical in Stuttgart and the Les Misérables European tour, has recently invested in five Pixera four RS media servers.
The investment follows a long-term growth strategy, that included last year’s opening of a new office and warehouse facility in Belgium to enable the Blue-i Group to expand their services in mainland Europe.
Ethan Forde, Blue-i Group’s European sales director, comments, “Our whole team is excited to begin our journey with AV Stumpfl’s Pixera system. We chose the powerful RS servers to give us the maximum performance, which we know our clients will want to fully utilise on their projects. We're seeing more demand for high bandwidth networking, real time rendering and high bi

USA - In the suburbs of Detroit lies Shelby Township, home to St. John Vianney Catholic Church. The quiet and unassuming church hosts a vast nave, with seating for more than 1200 people.
The rectangular nave features brick-lined walls and soaring slanted ceilings that culminate in a glass-encased cupola, allowing natural light to bathe the altar below. Although open and airy, the vaulted ceilings and brick masonry compromised the speech intelligibility of liturgical services. Beam-steering arrays from Renkus-Heinz were the chosen solution to help solve the church’s audio challenges.
Church staff contacted Robert Wisnieski, owner and system designer at RMW Productions, to design a new audio system for the sanctuary. Wisnieski recommended Renkus-Heinz’s ICLive X Series of steerable arrays to meet the church's goals of even coverage and high intelligibility. The ICLiv

UK - Bristol-based production and rental company SLX has invested in a comprehensive stock of Ayrton lighting fixtures as part of its new focus on environmental sustainability. The fixtures, which include Ayrton Diablo, Mistral, Eurus, Perseo, Karif and Cobra, were supplied by Ayrton’s exclusive distributor for the UK, Ambersphere Solutions. The choice was made on shared philosophies as much as on the practical and technical suitability of the products.
SLX used the hiatus of the pandemic to reassess and reset its aims, choosing to focus on environmental and social sustainability, as CEO Alastair Currie explains: “We examined how we operate within a circular economy, what we expect from our manufacturers and suppliers in terms of sustainability, and aim to give opportunities for minority and disadvantaged groups to work within the industry. We set out our goals leading u

UK - From the smallest comedy tent to the main stage, Nexo sound systems featured exclusively at this year’s Lakefest, a family-focused four-day festival attracting over 18,000 visitors to the beautiful surroundings of Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire.
The festival organisers and Bluestone Audio brought together no fewer than 13 UK Nexo rental partners to provide sound systems on the various stages.
“Lakefest this year was a great festival for showcasing our Nexo Geo M12 line array with flown MSUB18s supplemented by cardioid pairs of RS18 subs across the front of the stage,” reports Bluestone owner Sam Brook. “We used Nexo Geo M10s for delays and Nexo P+ point source boxes as front and side-fills, and stage monitors. “When Faithless - Sister Bliss played her DJ set on Saturday night the sound and bass were amazing and had the whole arena up and dancing.”

Austria - The Bregenz Festival (Bregenzer Festspiele) has been a feature of the European cultural landscape for over 75 years. Hosting a wide range of musical and theatrical events during July and August in the Austrian city of Bregenz, the jewel in the festival crown is the Seebühne in the spectacular setting of the waters of Lake Constance.
The largest floating stage in the world, the Seebühne, with its 6658-seat open-air amphitheatre, is the star venue for the festival’s musical and operatic productions, often with sets as stunning as the lacustrine backdrop. This year’s production was Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, staged on a vast 23m x 33m 300-ton set designed to represent a giant leaf of delicately creased Japanese paper.
The technical challenges involved in a production of this nature are enormous, with sound being amongst the most critical. This y

France - The PLASA-hosted technical lighting event, PlugFest, returns to Lille, France from 16-19 April 2024, bringing together lighting professionals from across Europe to test products and learn about protocols and standards.
Together with the expert hosts, Hamish Dumbreck (JESE Ltd), Wayne Howell (Singularity UK) and Peter Willis (Howard Eaton Lighting), PlugFest provides an opportunity for lighting manufacturers, developers, and technicians to test and debug their designs, as well as improve the connectivity of their products.
Besides interactive testing, PlugFest offers a programme of educational seminars, unpacking the most widely used protocols. And the organisers are pleased to announce that the 2024 event timetable has been extended for more in-depth testing time, without compromising the valuable conference offerings.
Further, attendees can join techni

Concrete Crisis - St David’s Hall in Cardiff has closed temporarily to carry out checks on potentially dangerous concrete in the venue. The venue had initially said it was safe to remain open, despite the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) panels in the building.
However, Cardiff Council said in a statement that it was now closing the venue “in light of the recent change to advice on RAAC in public buildings issued by the Health and Safety Executive and following further discussions with the council’s appointed independent structural engineers, and the council’s insurers”.
“The council has been aware of RAAC in St David’s Hall and the need to manage it from a health and safety viewpoint since 2021, and it has always followed government guidelines and advice to ensure the building was safe,” it said. It added: “A building managem

UK - The Netron EN6 IP, one of three devices in Obsidian’s new IP65 range of signal distribution, won a PLASA Award for Innovation at the 2023 exhibition.
The PLASA Award judges recognised the EN6 IP as a “device that brings lighting control distribution and format conversion to the outdoors at an accessible price point.”
"I'm incredibly proud of our team's tireless work and relentless pursuit of innovation as we continue to push the boundaries in entertainment controls,” stated Matthias Hinrichs, product manager at Obsidian Control Systems and Elation Professional. “The Netron EN6 IP, along with the entire IP65 range, represents a significant step forward in addressing the needs of the entertainment industry. A rugged IP-rated lighting data node that aligns with our leading Proteus range has been truly missing from the market and now lighting professionals c

UK - Wireless LED lighting manufacturer Astera was delighted to win a coveted 2023 PLASA Award for Innovation for its new PlutoFresnel product.
The Awards - which recognise and reward next-generation products and those behind them - were announced during the three-day PLASA Show entertainment technology expo staged at Olympia London last week. Astera’s award was received by R&D director, Simon Canins.
Astera’s sales and marketing director Sebastian Bückle was delighted to win the Award and states: “We're honoured to receive a PLASA Innovation Award for PlutoFresnel, which is a groundbreaking lighting solution designed for film, studio, and event settings.
“The cutting-edge technology complete with built-in battery gives three hours of operation on max brightness, and its full-spectrum Titan LED Engine sets a new standard in lighting innovation. Thi

UK - Robe received two more PLASA Awards for Innovation - for its Footsie and iForte LTX products - at the 2023 PLASA entertainment technology expo staged in London last week, capping off another busy three days for the Czech moving light and LED manufacturer.
Robe also celebrated its acquisition of leading lighting console manufacturer, Avolites, now officially ‘A Robe Business’ and premiered its new expo live show Power of Imagination that will run through 2023-24, designed to show off Robe’s newest technologies in situ in a high energy live performance spectacle.
Two other major new products were officially launched at the expo in addition to the iForte LTX - the Forte Fresnel and Forte PC - while a range of other popular and current luminaires featured in the show were demoed in two closed studio spaces filled with people and interest throughout.

The Netherlands - Cisco Live 2023 took place in the Amsterdam RAI from earlier this year. Thearent, a company that specialises in the rental and sale of materials for professional purposes, transformed an area of the RAI for the event using Wentex Se Frame Modules.
Cisco Live is an event for IT professionals that focuses on education and training. With various topics being covered over the course of five days, it was necessary to have a number of different areas available for participants. Using a total of 5500 Wentex Set Frame Modules, Thearent transformed a single, large area of the RAI into several smaller spaces.
With different sessions taking place simultaneously, Wentex Acoustic Panels were also used for effective sound isolation. Highlite International is an official distributor of Wentex products and the SET Frame Modules come in different sizes. They can be

USA - Over the course of his career, Scott Holthaus has created some extraordinarily impressive shows with large centre stage video screens. But sooner or later, most things in life run their course, and at this point, the designer was ready for a change.
“I have said it a hundred times... I’m bored with the big TV in the back,” remarked Holthaus, when discussing his design for Disturbed’s just concluded 36-date Take Back Your Life North American tour, which began 27 April at Bell Centre in Montreal and ended 2 September at the Ruoff Music Center outside Indianapolis.
On this tour, Holthaus achieved his vision, going outside the box (or wall!) to create a design that flowed seamlessly with the musical narrative on stage without the use of a central video wall. In place of the familiar video component were three rows of automated truss that changed positi

India - The inaugural exhibition of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre in Mumbai, India in Fashion: The Impact of Indian Dress and Textiles on the Fashionable Imagination, was lauded both for the scale of the exhibit and its engagement value.
Kapil Thirwani, director of Munro Acoustics was tasked with fulfilling the audio brief which demanded an array of immersive soundscapes that segued from zone to zone. Calling upon the expertise of distributor, Alphatec, he quickly discovered that only the capabilities of TiMax SoundHub would meet the complexity of the audio solution in its entirety.
The exhibition is curated by Vogue’s global editor, Hamish Bowles and presents a multi-zone exploration into the impact of India on global fashion and vice versa. Thirwani was contacted to deliver the audio solution in an eye-wateringly tight timeframe. On advice f

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