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Rigging / Staging

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UK - "At first there wasn't going to be any grid, we were asked to rig a system off the king poles." Bryan Grant of audio contractor Britannia Row Productions describing the preliminaries of what is always a big event in the music industry calendar, the MTV Europe Awards (EMA's for short). Unrealistic as that might seem - this is after all Europe's premier music awards show (isn't it?), the initial belief that you could stage a world class event off some tent poles proved a partial blessing.

"The design was very different this year," continued Grant, "they brought in Mark Fisher [creative director was Ray Winkler] and he produced a quite minimalist set design, a big departure from previous years. Plus the show was characterized by multiple performance points, with many presentation areas as well."

The concept predicated a highly distributed syste

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Australia - Melbourne's Crown Casino Atrium has been transformed into a massive automated Christmas spectacular. Stage One Promotions, Bytecraft and Lightmoves have worked together to put in place the largest animatronic Christmas display in the world, with Production Manager Sam Redston co-ordinating their efforts.

Using the well-known Atrium at Melbourne's Crown Casino, Crown's creative services manager, Christian Wagner, worked with John Kerr of Stage One Promotions to design the annual display, while Bytecraft's Special Effects department were charged with overseeing the lightshow, which was programmed by Megafun's Keith Tucker. The centrepiece of this year's display is the giant clock, which is suspended below the Atrium's crystals, and is lowered and raised during the show. The clock face also tells patrons when the next show is due to start, so it had to attract attention

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UK - Summit Steel was called up by production company London News Network, to take care of the production rigging for the Institute of Directors Centenary Dinner at the Royal Albert Hall.

The Dinner - traditionally a top-notch affair - this year featured a performance by the Royal Philharmonic orchestra, introduced by Richard Baker. It was sponsored by Jaguar, who wanted to display two of their top production models above the stage for the occasion. Summit - well experienced in car flying - installed two trussing grids measuring 6m x 3m flown from venue points either side of stage, and then sub-hung four Lodestar hoists to pick up the two custom-built car platforms, which Summit had custom-designed and fabricated to support the 2000kg cars.

In addition to this, Summit flew a 22sq.m Barco D-lite 7 LED screen supplied by SPS, and also installed a large curved truss to mask the o

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UK - Hall Stage has acquired the specialist TV and film studio rigging, service and maintenance provider, Studio Engineering Services, with all associated staff and assets. Charles Haines, Hall Stage MD, told us: "Halls have been working in TV and film studio engineering for decades and it's a sector we are very keen to develop further. Our appointment as UK distributor for the ASM ranges of hoists mean we can now offer a far wider range of products into the sector and this acquisition is aimed squarely at it. Our two companies have been working closely together for the past few years on a number of service-related projects and we all get on very well together, which is always a good sign!"

Simon Caldwell from SES adds: "The growing company will be moving to larger purpose-built premises in Luton, Bedfordshire in the new year and will offer a full range of servi

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UK - Star Events Group is the first company in the UK to offer rental of this new Arena Deck indoor stage system, which has been the preferred choice of large touring productions in recent years. The system available for rental on tours, one-off shows or runs of events, offering time and cost savings, say the company.

Earls Court was the first UK venue to hire the system, for a run of concerts in November and December 2003, including Capital Christmas Live, Iron Maiden, Radiohead, Metallica and the Stereophonics. Capital Christmas production and show director, Mark Ward, commented: "I was extremely happy with the stage's performance, the speed and decking quality of the new system made a huge difference in the show build."

The system, manufactured by Birmingham-based Total Fabrications, allows quick, safe and efficient construction, requiring no tools. Arena Deck ha

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Germany - Chainmaster, manufacturer of high-quality chain hoists and chain hoist controllers, is helping to maintain the balance of power between West and East. The Eilenburg-based company recently delivered eight BGV-C1 computer-controlled chain hoists in the 500kg weight class to its North American distributor, Show Distribution of Canada, that were destined for the Pentagon Museum. The requirement was for a chain hoist system that conformed to the high safety standards of the museum. The system was installed by one of Show Distribution's regional partners.

Only a few weeks earlier, the Kremlin in Moscow took delivery of 35 chain hoists from Chainmaster, also in the 500kg weight division and conforming to the same BGV-C1 standard. The hoists were equipped with electronic position encoders and the Chainmaster control system, consisted of a network of three slave and two master

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UK - By now most PLASA members will be aware of the imminent introduction of the Working at Heights Regulations (WAHR), currently in what is expected to be the final consultation draft. The Regulations are set to become law in July this year, and any activity in which an injury could occur as the result of a fall from any height, will need to comply with this new set of Regulations.

PLASA has arranged a one-day seminar to examine the new legislation in detail and discuss the compliance issues that may cause the Industry concern in the future. PLASA intends to collate any views and comments from the seminar and respond on behalf of the PLASA membership to Government.

The seminar will be held at the NEC in Birmingham on the 10 of February 2004 starting at 10am. Ron Bonner, PLASA's technical standards manager, will present the Regulations in their entirety and invite discussion,

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UK - Stage One Creative Services are on the move as part of their continuing development and expansion programme. The company is now based at Marston Moor Business Park at Tockwith, near York.

"This move is all about creating a better service for our multi-national customer base," said Stage One's Mark Johnson. "We've timed it carefully to avoid any disruption to business."The company's new contact details are: Stage One Creative Services Ltd, Hanger 88, Marston Moor Business Park, Tockwith, YO26 7QF; Tel: 01423 358001; Fax: 01423 358016.

(Lee Baldock)

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Australia - While most of us were busy watching the Rugby World Cup, the crew from ESS Australia were in the thick of preparations for the opening and closing ceremonies as well as a few things in between. For the opening ceremony at Telstra Stadium, ESS built a mobile rugby ball-shaped stage measuring 14m by 8m on which Australian band George performed. This stage was also used for Australian singing icon Kate Cebrano for her performance during the closing ceremony. A number of other structures were built around the stadium by ESS including the orchestra stage. "Considering the cast and crew for the opening ceremony numbered around 2,500, it all came together remarkably smoothly," commented Iain Barclay, ESS's man in Australia.

ESS also supplied one of their new, q50 type stages, built to a larger size of 14.4m by 9.6m at the Opera House for the show 'Rugby on the Hou

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UK - The Star Events Group installed a Vertech stage and supplied the rigging used by the Stereophonics to rock Cardiff's Millennium Stadium this December, for the final date of their European Tour, with support acts Ocean Colour Scene and Feeder.

The band's European tour took in 28 dates before its curtain down in Cardiff, with a total of 18 sell-out gigs in the UK. Having played a range of arenas on the tour, the shift up to a stadium sized show for their 'home crowd' of 52,000 meant a significant increase in the scale of the show for production manager Neil Macdonald. Where possible Macdonald stuck with the main tour suppliers for the finalé show (sound system from Capital Sound, lighting from VLPS London, catering by Eat to the Beat), however to create a visually spectacular setting for the band a specialist large scale stage was required, so he turned to suppliers Pete Hol

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UK - Described by the Daily Mail as "visually one of Kylie's best" the princess of pop Kylie Minogue used a one-off concert at London's Hammersmith Apollo to launch her latest album Body Language. The show took the same amount of design time, preparation and production as a whole tour and incorporated Paris street scenes, huge steel constructions and a motorbike to boot.

Stage Technologies, in conjunction with The Rigging Partnership, provided the scenic wow factor for the show with an automation system to complement the starlet's visual extravaganza. For her grand entrance they used four Big Tow winches to lower her onto the stage on a mechanical girder, as characterized on the Body Language album cover, with a further two monster LED screens tracking up and down stage. With four thousand screaming fans and a number one from the album already under her b

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UK - Two AFI boom lifts were among 13 hired by Concert Lights Ltd to help it install rigging for lighting, sound and video for a banking conference held recently at the NEC in Birmingham. Concert Lights of Bolton in Lancashire required 13 machines to carry out the installation work because the conference was held in three different halls within the NEC.

Working on a phased basis over 10 days, the company used the boom lifts to attach over 300 electric motors to the roof of the NEC in order to lift the structures that support the lighting, sound and video equipment. The AFI machines on hire to Concert Lights had working heights from 5.7m up to 25m. One of the largest machines - the Haulotte H25 TPX boom (see above picture) proved to be particularly versatile because its rotating jib enables the operator to gain better access by manoeuvring the cage into different positions in rel

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UK - Stagecraft has made a major investment in new hire equipment to enable organizations to use cutting-edge sound and lighting technology in their performances. The company has seen a significant increase in the demand for professional lighting, sound and staging equipment during 2003 and is currently working on installations in schools, event management for music and drama festivals, and on conferences in South Africa.

The Hire and Live Events department was recently responsible for the creative design and technical management of seven major events over three weeks. One of these included a 1920s themed event for a 60th birthday celebration. "Centred around the art deco period, this was a great event to work on," commented technical director Mike Naish. "Our team was involved from the very start of the planning stages. We designed the invitations, set, lighting

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UK - Summit Steel co-ordinated all production rigging elements of the show that celebrated the naming of Cunard's new flagship ocean liner, the Queen Mary 2. Summit also supplied a specialist video screen tracking system for a large LED screen supplied by XL Video.

The 1,132 ft long, 17 deck, 150,000 tonne vessel - the largest liner in the world - was officially named by Her Majesty The Queen at Southampton Docks. Summit was working for event producer Robbie Williams. The 2200 plus VIP audience, royal box and the event stage were all encased in a customized ESS 'theatre', located on the dockside, just adjacent to the ship. The rear stage 'wall' was made from a transparent material, and the structure was strategically angled to line up with the ship's bow. A stylish kabuki drop revealed the QM2's name on the bow - through the back wall - acting as an atmospheric stage backdrop.

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Germany - This month sees the launch of a new show control systems specialist company, The Fun Company show control systems Ltd - which promises to "put the fun back into the entertainment controls industry". The Fun Company is a developer and manufacturer of professional show control systems that will "bring a new level of sophistication and integration to lighting, video and audio environments".

The company has been formed by industry veterans who are dedicated to show control products that will make a real difference for operators, designers, and the audience. The company's products will incorporate innovative solutions for hardware, software, and networking, as well as what it claims will be unique user interfaces.

The-Fun-Company is a multinational enterprise, with offices in Germany, Scandinavia, North America, and the UK, enabling it to provide re

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Norway - Visual act has been awarded the contract to modernize the flying system for the Norwegian Theatre in Oslo. The work involves replacing the drive electronics for 109 fly bars and point hoists. The Visual act Stage Control System to be installed will include three operator desks and redundant servers and positioning computers. One of the operator desks will be wireless for use on the stage during set-up and in the house during rehearsals.

In selecting a supplier, the theatre referred to Visual act's flexibility and forward-looking technical features. The system is open and can easily be expanded to control under stage machinery or other elements. The user inteface will be specially adapted to fit the theatre's working routines.

The current computer system, installed in 1985, is still effective even by modern standards. It allows for the simultaneous operation of any num

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UK/USA - In a co-production with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, directed by Neil Armstrong, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Sweeney Todd made his debut on the stage of the Royal Opera House in December last year. Finishing its run last week, it has had mixed fortunes, with the critics having given it a bashing on both sides of the Atlantic, firstly questioning whether Sweeney Todd is in fact an opera at all, and secondly whether it is appropriate for it to be gracing the stages of two of the mostly highly-revered opera houses in the world.

Critics aside, audiences were not deterred and the production played to packed houses for the majority of its run, with Brian Thompson's set design appearing to receive praise from all quarters. The play opens to a large cage, whose interior swiftly adapts to be a town square, a barber shop, a Victorian parlour or a lunatic asylum

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UK - Patrick Prior and Robert Hyman's Christmas panto production of Red Riding Hood finished its run at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East last week. In what's been described as a terrific 21st century version of the classic fairytale, Patrick Prior's script is anything but tame, with audience members of all ages shouting 'Shout! Shake! Make that Wolfie heave!' in an attempt to release Dame, Red and the three little pigs from the big bad Wolf!

Leading automation suppliers Stage Technologies bought Nick Baren's set to life by providing automation for this production using a four-line winch and Saxis control console. Production manager Richard Eustace needed a cost-effective and simple automation solution to fly in a projector screen, quickly and safely. Stratford East's own manual-flying system would not have been able to achieve this effect quickly enough without some form

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USA / India / Nigeria - Sussex-based LM Productions report a string of recent international projects. Firstly, continuing its 'Live It, Love It' campaign, the Hong Kong Tourism Board contracted LM Productions LLP for their first StratoFantasia event in the USA. The event took place in San Francisco over two days with the main focal point of the multimedia show being LM Productions 50ft (15m) diameter StratoSphere, with a new internal blackout dome, which allows the StratoSphere to be used as a venue with internal projection during the day. This is made possible by the blackout dome being inflated inside the StratoSphere, thus providing a cover from the light outside. The event contained elements of live performances from musicians and dancers as well as full dome video and laser effects inside the StratoSphere. There was a steady stream of people viewing the shows, which started e

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UK - The new Roll Storage Cart from British Harlequin is designed to ease the problems of safe storage and easy handling of rolls of vinyl flooring for dance and performance spaces. With Harlequin's popular dance flooring widely used for temporary applications, where the floor is rolled out to provide a suitable performance surface, then stored away or transported to a new venue, the new Roll Storage Cart will both speed up the process and provide a compact and safe storage facility.

The newly designed cart holds up to 10 rolls of Harlequin Studio flooring each 1.5m long and carts have already supplied to The Oslo National College of Arts and to Tanztendenz, a choreographic centre in Munich. Elsewhere, three larger Storage Carts, each suitable for storing 2m long Harlequin Cascade rolls, have been delivered to the Centre National de la Danse in Pantin, Paris.

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - Northern Light has announced a number of changes to its operation to allow it to concentrate on its core business, which the company reports is currently expanding. The company says the changes will allow further development of its project installation, engineering and manufacturing divisions, which are currently handling some 30 projects throughout the UK - including the new Gateshead Music Centre, Newcastle College Performance Academy, Perth Concert Hall and the Tally Ho Arts Centre at Finchley in North London.

The Reading office will close at the end of March and all matters relating to overseas sales will now be referred to the head office in Edinburgh. Derek Gilbert will continue to work with the company as a consultant. The Audio Visual arm of Northern Light, based at Reading and known as Immedia, will close and all AV contracts and sales will be handled through Immed

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UK - Currently breaking box office records at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Trevor Nunn's acclaimed National Theatre production of the Cole Porter musical comedy Anything Goes has extended its booking period yet again. Having recently transferred to the West End, the production originally opened in the Olivier Theatre at the National where it picked up the prestigious 2003 Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production.

Set design is particularly impressive, with the Theatre Royal Drury Lane - one of London's largest stages - filled with John Gunter's recreation of an Atlantic liner. Since the production's transfer, Stage Technologies has taken over the automation for the show, providing revolve and a hand-held Saxis controller.

Since its launch last year, the Saxis has proved a popular addition to the rental department, having already been used to control si

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UK - When Walker Dance Park Music were invited to perform their unique style of dance at British Dance Edition 2004 in Cambridge, it was British Harlequin's Allegro flooring that organizers Dance East requested to convert a wooden concert stage into a suitable dance floor. Described as a 'distinct marriage of music and dance' Walker Dance Park Music, an associate company of the Royal Opera House, presented Silence of the Soul at the West Road Concert Hall in a performance sponsored by British Harlequin at BDE 2004.

Harlequin's Allegro floor, especially developed for such situations, is the thickest roll-out floor currently available and offers high quality protection against hard sub-floors, such as concrete, to provide a 'semi-sprung' dance floor. Allegro can be used as a loose lay floor that is tough, that always lays flat and provides an excellent dance surface to hel

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Germany - ChainMaster Bühnentechnik is set to significantly heighten its profile at trade shows both inside and outside Germany in order to improve communication with contractors and others interested in its products, the company reports.

As well as attending a greater number of trade shows, the company will also increase its stand size at the ProLight & Sound (Hall 8.0 Booth F74) in Frankfurt by 40%. As Frank Hartung, ChainMaster's managing director, explained: "We want to be able to show our chain hoists and chain hoist controllers in action, whilst at the same time retaining enough room to conduct an unhurried dialogue with our customers in comfort. This was not possible with the booth design we had before."

This year, ChainMaster is presenting a new-look catalogue at ProLight&Sound, and will be demonstrating not only the highly successful BGV C1 chain hoists, V

  1. PCM at City of Norwich School
  2. Maltbury Expands School's Options
  3. ChainMaster at the SIB
  4. LAMDA plays host to Triple E party
  5. Rental-Source launched
  6. ChromaDeck on daytime TV
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