Brazil - In Southern Brazil, on the coast of Santa Catarina, sits one of the world's largest Art Deco statues. At the top of Morro de la Cruz (Hill of the Cross), the statue of Jesus Christ stands overlooking the city of Balneário Camboriú, with one arm outstretched, welcoming visitors from near and far, and the other carrying a symbol of the sun.

Measuring 33m in height (including the pedestal) and 22m wide (from fingertip to fingertip), the task of lighting this majestic tourist attraction at first seemed less than straightforward. However, when Mario Luiz Pretto of Cristo Luz (Christ Light) contacted SGM's Brazilian distributor, João Alonso of LBO Lighting Comercio e Importação e Exportação Ltda, requesting a more powerful lighting output than the former installation could provide, João Alonso proposed the SGM P-5 wash light featuring 44 high power 10W RGBW LEDs per u

Germany - German electronic musician and actor, Paul Kalkbrenner, has embarked on a pan-European tour, with Berlin-based Complete Audio fielding a Martin Audio MLA PA system to provide coverage for up to 10,000-seat arenas.

André Rauhut's company first introduced Martin Audio's multi-cellular loudspeaker array system to the artist's production back in 2011, when the two operations started working together. "We first used an MLA/MLX rig for a big outdoor show," remembers Rauhut. "They really loved how the system sounded, and as a result, they have since continued to work with us. MLA has become vital to the quality of the live sound."

For the current Guten Tag tour, which takes in most European countries, Complete Audio are providing a total of 26 MLA enclosures, two MLD down-fills, 16 MLA Compacts and 18 MLX subs (scalable to suit the venue).

Argentina - Situated in the city of Cosquin in the Punilla Valley, and attended by around 9,000 people per day, National Folklore Festival Cosquín is the most important festival of folk music in Argentina. Dating back to 1961, it runs for nine nights each January, which are traditionally referred to as the Nine Moons Coscoínas.

Service and distribution company Deligio Iluminación first became involved back in 2006 and this year again rigged the large Atahualpa Yupanqui stage in Cosquin's main Prospero Molina Square - named in honour of the legendary guitarist. Deligio fielded PR Lighting's high brightness/low wattage XR200 Beams, imported by PR Lighting's Argentinian distributor, Martellota, and supplied by Carlos Capra's Audio - Line, alongside XS 1200 Spots, a versatile, bright moving head with rapid beam movement.

"We like the XR200 Beam for its overall performance,

USA - In addition to providing and installing a full counterweight rigging system, complete with track and drapery - InterAmerica also created a SkyDeck tension wire grid orchestra pit cover for the brand new Manatee Players Performing Arts Centre.

Using a SkyDeck over an orchestra pit is an exciting application that is continuing in popularity. It can be paired with a pit filler or other removable wood decking finished to match the stage floor. When the orchestra pit is in use, the wood decking is remove expose the acoustically transparent SkyDeck below. The SkyDeck panels act as a pit safety net while the framing members are strong enough to carry a 125 psf load.

IAStage designed the Manatee Player's SkyDeck pit cover in conjunction with project architect, John Toppe. Like all SkyDecks, this one is a modular system. Panels can be removed if ever required. This special applic

UK - Ayrton reports that all new Ayrton products equipped with a wireless DMX/RDM receiver module will feature award-winning CRMX technology by LumenRadio.

After an extensive testing campaign, Ayrton selected LumenRadio because of its superior quality and reliability. The LumenRadio Coexistence technology allows smarter use of the frequencies by continuously scanning the radio spectrum and dynamically adapting its frequency-hopping pattern to the surrounding environment. This eliminates interference and maximizes performance whatever protocol is in use, whether DMX or RDM.

Ayrton and LumenRadio started working together during the European Motor Show in Brussels where they were faced with the challenge of controlling hundreds of custom LED fixtures using wireless RDM. The result was perfect and Ayrton decided to collaborate with LumenRadio for their entire product line.

The f

UK - The organisers of the Shakedown Festival and the new Love Supreme Jazz Festival have confirmed Flare Audio as their preferred sound supplier for 2013.

For the past two years Flare has provided the sound for Shakedown's Supercharged Dance Stage, which has played host to artists including Zane Lowe, Chase and Status, Knife Party, The Freemasons and Kissy Sell Out.

Receiving positive feedback from artists and audience members alike, Flare's range of speaker systems "impressed festival organisers so much they have asked Flare to provide the sound for the entire festival this year, as well as for their new Love Supreme Jazz Festival," says the company.

The festivals' promoter Nick Beveridge commented: "Flare Audio will be providing both festivals with the best speakers I've ever heard in a field. With the introduction of Flare's new Space technology to complem

UK - Today, Tuesday 26 March, PLASA CEO Matthew Griffiths appeared alongside members of the London 2012 Opening Ceremony creative team to represent the entertainment and installation technology industries before the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee at the House of Commons.

The invitation follows a period of intense political lobbying by PLASA, on behalf of its members, many of whom were dissatisfied with the restriction surrounding the promotion of their involvement in the events. The questions asked will be used by MPs to assess the true extent of the role that the Olympic and Paralympic Games had in showcasing the UK creative industries, and what impact they have had on the sector subsequently.

"Many of our members were disappointed to discover the pervasiveness of the orders set up to protect the sponsorship deals of companies from outside the creative industr

UK - - Venue consultancy Charcoalblue has worked with long-term collaborators Haworth Tompkins Architects, in close association with the National Theatre's directors and in-house teams, to design an intimate, exciting, low-energy and sustainable temporary theatre on London's South Bank: The Shed.

Managed for Charcoalblue by senior partner Jon Stevens, the project was designed in under six months and built in eight. "This forward-thinking experimental building will serve as a temporary and flexible space during the closure of the Cottesloe Theatre, which is undergoing major refurbishment before reopening as the Dorfman Theatre in Spring 2014 as part of the National Theatre Future project."

Steve Tompkins, Haworth Tompkins Architects comments, "The Shed was conceived in a process of concentrated dialogue between trusted collaborators. We always enjoy Charcoalblue'

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 compensate for the limitations of the room and budget, as well as the existing lighting infrastructure. So

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

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-

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

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

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,

Serbia - Avolites' compact yet fully-featured moving light control system Titan Mobile has powered an inspired light show in Serbia to mark a year of celebrations marking 1700 years of the Edict of Milan.

Avolites' Serbian distributor Studio Berar Projekt, based in the city of Novi Sad, supplied the Titan Mobile for the opening ceremony, which featured a dynamic lighting design beamed onto the façade of the Serbia's National Theatre in the city of Nis.

Serbia will mark 17 centuries of the Edict - a document on tolerance and religious equality signed by Roman Emporer Constantine - over the course of the year with theatre performances, exhibits and concerts. The Opening Ceremony offered a reading of the Edict of Milan and a gala concert of spiritual music attended by Serbian President Tomislav Nikoli? and hosted by Russian Ambassador in Belgrade Alexander Chepurin.

"Avol

UK - The nominations for the Olivier Awards with MasterCard - the most prestigious event in the UK's theatrical calendar - have been announced, and The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time leads the list with eight nominations, followed by Top Hat receiving seven, and the West End transfer of Chichester Festival Theatre's revival of Sweeney Todd in close competition with six. Other stand-out nominations include The Audience and Kiss Me, Kate receiving five each, and Constellations, The Bodyguard and Twelfth Night with four.

In the design categories, the White Light Award for Best Lighting Design nominees are Paul Anderson for The Master And Margarita; Paule Constable for The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time; Lee Curran for Constellations and Mark Henderson for Sweeney Todd.

The B

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