UK - Henry V, the last of the five plays forming the acclaimed debut season of the Michael Grandage Company, recently opened at London's Noël Coward Theatre - with entertainment lighting specialist White Light supplying the lighting once again, as it has done since the season began last December.

With a cast led by Jude Law as the English King, Henry V follows Privates on Parade (which featured Simon Russell Beale), the world premiere of John Logan's new play Peter and Alice (featuring Judi Dench and Ben Whishaw), The Cripple of Inishmaan (featuring Daniel Radcliffe) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (featuring David Walliams and Sheridan Smith). The productions have all been directed by Michael Grandage, formerly artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse, and designed by Christopher Oram. One of the main aims throughout the season has been

USA - Carlos Colina, lighting designer for the 2013 Latin Grammy Awards, staged at the Mandalay Bay Events Centre, Las Vegas, USA and produced by Univision, decided to make a point for Ricky Martin's live appearance at the event... utilizing 18 of Robe's new Pointe multi-purpose moving lights for the superstar's acclaimed rendition of Más y Más together with singer songwriter Draco Rosa (who won Album of the Year).

The show was broadcast live across the Univision network with a staggering 9.8m viewers tuning in to all or part of the three hour telecast, which also generated record levels of interactive social media activity.

Colina has lit the Latin Grammys for the last seven years, and each year he and set designer Jorge Dominguez collaborate to produce a stunning visual concept for the action-packed line up, which included 21 live performances and the 13 Awards pres

The Power of Advertising - Lily Allen has returned to the top of the UK singles chart with her cover version of Keane's Somewhere Only We Know. The song, used in a festive television advert for department store John Lewis, is tipped to be Christmas number one.

Critics' Choice - Three artists have been shortlisted for this year's Brit Critics' Choice award, won last year by singer Tom Odell. Chloe Howl, Ella Eyre and Sam Smith are in the running with the winner to be announced on Thursday 12 December. Howl has been compared with Lily Allen, while former Brit school student Eyre scored a number one as the vocalist on Rudimental's Waiting All Night. La, La, La, Smith's collaboration with producer Naughty Boy, also reached number one in the UK singles chart.

Voting for the 2014 Brit Awards opened for members of the music industry last week. Their shortlists fo

Denmark - For Danish pop and R&B singer-songwriter, Medina, this fall has been dedicated to her extensive Danish tour Tæt På.

Medina's lighting designer, S°ren Peglau, selected both variants of SGM's LED tubes for his design creation: 150 pcs 1-meter LT-100 and 50 pcs 2-meter LT-200, specifically acquired for this tour by rental company Comtech.

Peglau's vision was to place the tubes in various heights and depths to fill out the stage and make it seem random and unintentional. "The effect I was looking to achieve was for the lighting to drizzle down over the musicians. For this, I created content that moved vertically in a slow mode," states the designer, who for other pieces of music also produced a slow-running fire effect for the tubes.

Also the audiences were invited to become 'immersed' in the setting, with tubes hanging over their heads, for whic

UK - Engage Production Ltd, specialist in interactive technologies for branded environments, has announced the distribution of Holo, a development of the 400 year old 'Pepper's Ghost' illusion. A broadcast product offering the biggest 360° floating optical experience on the market, and controlled by simple hand gestures, the 2.4m high, diamond-shaped Holo was designed by Conran and devised by London-based innovation company Beagle Media.

Launched in October at Sir Terence Conran's apartment in London, Holo is available in a bespoke range of colours and materials to achieve a unique minimalist design, including wafer-thin German engineered glass, brushed aluminium and chrome.

"Holo is the biggest hologram product on the market using projection and projectors," explains Steve Blyth, managing director of Engage. "But there's more to Holo than sheer size. It's a

Austria The Top of the Mountain Opening Concert marks the start of the ski season in Ischgl, in the south Tyrol. Set in an impressive location in the mountains, the biggest open-air arena in the snow attracts big names to what has long been regarded as the party highlight of the season. World stars such as Elton John, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys and Rihanna have already performed on the Top of the Mountain Opening stage.

This year, it was the turn of brothers Chad and Mike Kroeger, Ryan Peake and Daniel Adair, collectively known as Nickelback. The Canadian rock quartet, with five Grammy nominations and over 50m album sales, filled the outdoor arena with a crowd of about 18,000.

Front-of-house PA was a Nexo STM modular line array system, provided by Fantasy Event Engineering of Austria. Under the supervision of Fantasy's Hannes Knapp, a multi-national engineering team set

UK - Sennheiser UK is unveiling a newly-designed office in Marlow completed after enlisting the help of five creative students at Buckinghamshire New University to come up with ideas.

Following sustained year-on-year business growth, Century Point's 6,000sq.ft of office had more than reached capacity therefore Sennheiser UK moved to its new 15,000sq.ft home in Marlow, Buckinghamshire earlier this year.

BA (Hons) Spatial Design and Graphic Arts students at the University in Queen Alexandra Road, High Wycombe, came up with distinctive designs for the new Sennheiser UK office in Globe Park, Marlow, making the most of its curved walls and glass partitioning.

"Students tackled a design challenge to make the new offices for Sennheiser UK look more distinctive and convey their core business to people who use and visit the offices", commented Alison Shreeve, Head of School

UK - Buckinghamshire rental company Siyan supplied a floor lighting package for the recent UK and European leg of a tour by American psychedelic rockers MGMT, who are promoting their eponymous third studio album, to complete an eye-catching lighting and visuals design by Ben Silverstein.

Siyan's Tom Grant explained that Ben's spec did not originally contain Robe products, but as this is one of Siyan's main moving light brands, he agreed to the suggested substitutions and use Robe for the first time.

"It was a very positive experience all round and Ben was happy with the fixtures," comments Tom, who saw him craft a high impact show from the floor rig with six Robe LEDWash 600s and eight MMX Spots at its core.

For the larger UK shows, Siyan boosted the overhead rig with additional fixtures including 20 more MMX Spots.

A twin 22k video projection system was also sup

UK - When the University of Roehampton Drama Department decided to upgrade their stock of theatre lighting, White Light was the university's first choice as supplier. Jonathon Wilson, technical manager for Drama at Roehampton, wanted to drastically increase the university's lighting capabilities while also complementing their existing equipment.

With a tight budget and a very broad range of equipment needs, Wilson was looking for a supplier that could deliver a large selection of products, excellent value, and superior service. He found all three at White Light and worked with business development manager Jonathan Haynes to put together a working list of products for demo at White Light's base in Wimbledon. "I was able to see similar units side by side and properly evaluate them. That resource was invaluable in making informed choices about products," said Wilson.

Th

UK -Richard Martin Lighting (RML) which has been involved with Top of the Pops for many years, was asked to be involved in the annual Christmas and New Year specials.

This year the shows were filmed at Riverside Studios where all three stages were packed full of vibrant set pieces and lights, as well as some of the leading acts around right now. These include Rudimental, The Saturdays, One Republic and Chase and Status.

Dave Gibson was also reinstated as LD making it even more nostalgic. The vast lighting rig included Sunstrips, Sharpys, Alpha Beam 300's and 700's, Robin 100 LEDBeams, MAC 500's, 8 Lites and MAC Auras.

A show of such magnitude, with so much going on throughout, means that it is an ideal opportunity for LDs to try out some of the newer fixtures that are now available. Dave saw this opportunity and took it with both hands using both the Chauvet Nexus 4x4 and th

UK - With London enjoying the busiest time of the year during the Christmas and New Year period, Westminster City Council have taken the decision to install a giant 'snow globe' to protect the Shaftesbury Memorial and Eros statue in Piccadilly Circus.

The replica snow globe, designed by Wildstone, and constructed by fabric structure experts Architen Landrell, includes an 11m inflatable PVC membrane that adds festive sparkle to the area whilst keeping the statue and monument safe from excitable revellers.

The base of the globe, formed into an octagon shape, features eight high resolution LED screens supplied by XL Video. The screens, formed from tiles of high-brightness Pixled F-6, are covered by 6mm of acrylic to protect the LED from the elements. The screens display a range of content including Christmas greetings and sponsor messages from Microsoft, Fiat, JD Sports, Canon, a

UK - Utopium supplied the full event production for guests to get into the swing of things at Nokia's 1920s themed Christmas party held at Colston Hall.

Transporting guests back to the glamorous era, Utopium provided over 200 lighting fixtures to create the perfect ambience for the evening. This included Chauvet Well Uplighters, which were strategically placed throughout the venue to enhance its art-deco furnishings and original architectural features.

The evening's entertainment was held in the venue's main auditorium where Utopium designed and installed a complete stage lighting package to accommodate the various performances. Acts included two live bands, a DJ, hula hooping and swing dancers. The team also supplied a 9m x 3m rear projection screen that enabled custom graphics to be displayed, as well as a feed from video DJ Cheeba.

Throughout the venue Utopium used Showte

UK - Salcombe Estuary is an idyllic harbour enclave of South Devon and now home to the recently redesigned, renovated and expanded Salcombe Harbour Hotel.

Bedford-based Kazbar Systems were contracted to install the sound system for The Jetty Restaurant & Bar, corridors, reception and outside terraces in this spa hotel, which is built into the side of a cliff.

The hotel management wanted a sound system which delivered a full range sound throughout these areas, where the music would be clear at low levels, when delivered through their customer-profiled MP3 player, but equally have the ability to pump out high volume levels from the DJ mixer when required for functions and events later into the evening.

To fulfil this, Kazbar opted for a mix of seven Martin Audio AQ6 and six AQ8's - for the lounges and bar respectively - along with six AQ112 subwoofers (two in each of the paces

UK - Specialist lighting and sound finance company Azule Finance has financed a £100,000 deal for Aberdeen Performing Arts (APA) to upgrade one of its theatre sound systems. His Majesty's Theatre Aberdeen, one of three theatres owned and run by APA, chose to invest in D&B speaker systems to bring high quality audio to the many comedy and West End shows it hosts. The company chose to provide swift and competitive finance to support this investment which represents a substantial strategic overhaul for the theatre.

As the biggest arts organisation in North Scotland, with a staff of over 250 people, APA manages the running of His Majesty's Theatre, The Musical Hall and The Lemon Tree. With a rich heritage in bringing in high profile shows - with comedy acts such as Jason Manford and Sean Lock as well as West End musicals like Ghost, Hairspray, and The Rocky Horror Show - His M

UK - Production Resource Group (PRG) worked with the production team for popular cockney comic, Micky Flanagan, to upscale his summer theatre show - 'Back in the Game'. Equally successful as an arena tour, the show impressively sold out at 35 UK arenas, including three shows at London's Wembley Arena and seven at The O2.

Although not involved with the Theatre Tour, the PRG team quickly responded to the increased lighting, rigging and crew requirements, while helping to maintain some of the intimacy and atmosphere of the original theatre show.

Production Manager Adam Scott called on Scottie Sanderson and his team, to help ensure the tour design would work within the budget and could be managed within the time restrictions as he explains: "Micky's show escalated almost overnight. He started the year with a 90+ date theatre tour using local production, but that quickly rampe

Russia - High End Systems has announced the launch of a new support, service and Hog community portal for Russian speaking markets. The portal can be accessed by going to WWW.HOGHOG.RU.

The portal will be a place for Russian speaking Hog users to find information about software releases and new products as well as a place to share ideas and network. Hog release notes and news will all be translated into Russian, allowing the user to get closer to the Hog family.

The HOGHOG.RU team is a community of professional users from the countries of the former USSR. This project gives the chance to share knowledge and to provide an extra level of support for the HOG4 operating system.

"HOGHOG.RU has been created with the help of several leading pros in the industry for sharing their knowledge and experience for the next generations. It's a sort of a practical wikipedia for HOG use

Austria - A total of four Allen & Heath iLive digital mixing systems were employed for the grand opening of the 2013 Vienna Music and Arts festival. The annual event is held in front of the historical City Hall in Vienna's Rathaus Square, and iLives have been used to manage the event for the past four years.

The large production utilised a number of different size consoles to manage the various acts, which incorporates the final of the Eurovision Young Musicians Contest. The finalists were supported by the Radio Symphonic Orchestra Vienna (RSO Vienna), and support acts included seven-piece brass band, Mnozil Brass, and The Percussive Planet, featuring Martin Grubinger on various instruments.

A modular iDR10 MixRack with iLive-144 Surface were employed for the main contest and the symphonic orchestra, plus an iDR-48 with iLive-T112 surface for The Percussive Planet, and an iDR-

France - Leading French television lighting designer David Seligmann-Forest used a selection of over 100 Robe moving lights - LEDWash 300 and 600s, LEDBeam 100s and MMX Spots - to light the studio elements of the latest Retour de Terre Inconnue programme.

Broadcast on France 5 and the France 2 network, the show was originated and is presented by Frédéric Lopez. It involves taking a celebrity to an unknown destination and meeting unknown people, with the aim of discovering distant people whose culture, traditions and lifestyle are threatened by the advance of 'modernity', in the process re-discovering a 'different' celebrity when they are dealing with a completely new and different environment.

The studio section of the show - recorded at Studio Deux Cent Dix, St Denis, Paris - takes on a talk-show format and follows on from the location movie. The most imp

USA - As New York's Grand Central terminal celebrates its 100th anniversary, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Metro-North Railroad decided to create a beautiful lighting design for all travellers and New Yorkers to brighten up their holiday spirit. Partnering with Toshiba, a concept for a light show filling the west windows of the terminal was created by designer Michiru Tanaka, displaying coloured patterns and images during the evening hours. Bestek Lighting & Staging, Inc. deployed an impressive lighting system in the historical building featuring more than 350 Martin Professional lighting fixtures.

There were numerous challenges facing Bestek's team on the project from the start. Not only is Grand Central Terminal a historical, high profile landmark in New York City, but it's also a very active transportation hub, with 250,000 or more travellers and visitors pa

UK - Soundcraft became associated with the famous name of Brian Epstein, the Beatles' legendary manager, when a Vi1 digital mixing desk was recently installed in the Liverpool Theatre that bears his name.

Ever since 1913 this landmark venue in Hanover Street - formally known as Cranes Music Hall, Cranes Theatre and most recently The Neptune Theatre - has provided live entertainment to the city's residents.

Following a £1.2m refurbishment - and rebrand as The Epstein Theatre - it has celebrated its centenary by commissioning a permanently installed sound reinforcement system, courtesy of locally-based installer/distributors Adlib Audio, who had previously been supplying on a long-term rental basis.

With the capacity to seat 410 on its two levels, and a new Soundcraft Vi1 at front-of-house, technical manager Tony Carter is delighted that audiences will now be treated to

USA - Solid State Logic has begun the roll out of the US reseller network for SSL Live consoles with the appointment of professional audio equipment and services company Spectrum Sound. The announcement is the first of many with a steady stream of rental and resale providers preparing to join the SSL Live reseller network.

"We are very excited to be a part of the SSL family and offer the new SSL Live console to the marketplace," says Ken Porter, founder and CEO of Spectrum Sound. "Because SSL is a musician-owned company, it prioritizes the same truly important things that we do here at Spectrum-sonic excellence, high build quality, flexibility and dependability. SSL's heritage of good British engineering and manufacturing delivers consoles that work and sound the way that our customers require."

"We are thrilled to partner with Spectrum Sound on the SS

UK - DiGiCo's 12 Days of Christmas is back for its second festive instalment. This year, Santa and his elves have been even more creative and come up with some wonderful presents.

To be in with a chance of winning one of the 12 great gifts, all you need to do is visit DiGiCo's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/DiGiCo.Official

Like last year, the fun starts on the 12 December and finishes on the 23rd with a prize to be won each day. You must first of all, 'Like' the DiGiCo Facebook page, click on the competition tab and answer all 12 questions correctly in order to be in with a chance of winning a prize.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Designed to create an inclusive gateway to all things Jewish, London's brand new £12m Jewish Community Centre - JW3 - has opened its doors to offer a wealth of cultural and entertainment spaces - including a Performance Hall designed collaboratively by the project's architects, Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands and theatre consultants Charcoalblue.

The 268-seat Performance Hall has been created to provide a reconfigurable space for larger events and functions. Charcoalblue's head of technical design, Paul Franklin, advised on the design and fit out of the performance hall and oversaw the works on site during construction.

"The Performance Hall is a flexible, multi-function room, capable of hosting a wide range of events, including drama, dance, live music - both amplified and acoustic - as well as film and 'NT live' type events, lectures and workshops," explai

UK - Winchester's 75-seat Chesil Theatre has invested in Philips Selecon's PLprofile1s, PLfresnel1s, and PLcyc1s in an upgrade to LED following an extensive shootout comparing results with its existing tungsten rig.

The Chesil Theatre, home of the 150-year-old Winchester Dramatic Society and housed in a medieval building, has installed three PLprofile1s, five PLfresnel1s, and five PLcyc1s to reduce power consumption and simplify colour changing and control.

Peter Vincent, Lighting Manager at the Chesil Theatre, specified the LED Selecon fixtures. "The theatre has a good conventional lighting rig of about 70 lanterns, built up over many years," says Peter. "Selecon's PL range was a logical next step to replace some stock, and complement others. For us, they behave like proper theatrical lanterns with a common RGBW engine, user interface, and dimming curve."<

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