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Rigging / Staging

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UK - A curious amalgam, MPH '04 is The Motor Show with Top Gear attitude; but then with presenters Tiff Needell, Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond it would be (sharp intake of breath, adopt voice of God) 'like a B52 parking in your driveway'.

This was just the second year of the show at Earls Court, and already it's growing; PMI and Simon Aldridge appear to have brought a new and burgeoning marriage of live and static presentation into the exhibition world, a marriage that will surely have others looking frantically for an eligible partner.

Steve Sinclair has been part of the presentation team for the past two events and describes the differences between this and conventional car expo: "Some content elements appear familiar, there's a gallery of 90 or so vehicles, sponsored by HR Owens, but these aren't ordinary cars; we're talking testosterone motoring Ferraris and Mas

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UK - New Year's Eve 2004 saw the British Airways London Eye become the focal point for a spectacular light and fireworks display for 150,000 Londoners on Westminster Bridge and the Embankment - plus a nationwide television audience.

Although tempered by news of the Asian Tsunami - a two-minute silence was held before the display and certain elements of the projection and light show were removed - the overall reaction from audience and press was that London had got this New Year's Eve event absolutely right. Jack Morton Worldwide (JMW) designed and produced the entertainment and managed the logistics for the event. JMW project director Jeremy Garbett and his team worked for months in advance to co-ordinate and accommodate the various council and public safety concerns.

Fireworks were obviously the major element of the show and French designer Christophe Berthonneau and his team from

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Denmark - Harlequin has supplied flooring to the new Opera House in Copenhagen, equipping a large ballet studio of 362sq.m, a smaller studio of 190sq.m and a shared opera/ballet studio of 166sq.m. All are furnished with Harlequin Studio flooring in grey. The first ballet performance on the new stage scheduled for April 2005 will be a Neumeier production of The Little Mermaid. Danish shipping magnate Mærsk McKinney Møller personally handed over the new Opera House, his gift to the Danish state, on October 1, 2004.

The Opera House, used by Det Kongelige Teater (the Royal Theatre), will host large-scale opera and ballet productions. The main auditorium seats approximately 1,500 people and also benefits from a 200-seat studio theatre and a full-sized orchestral rehearsal room. The Danish Royal Orchestra's rehearsal room is located five floors below the auditorium, 14m belo

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UK - The Association of British Theatre Technicians (ABTT) has announced the following technical theatre training courses, scheduled for spring 2005 and to be held at the Plaza Theatre, Stockport.

On Friday 18 February: Knots & Splicing - The course covers the handling of different ropes and tying knots proficiently and safely knots that are useful in a theatre situation. Attendees will learn to differentiate between various natural fibre ropes, splice rope ends and use tools for splicing, etc. Knots including bowline, clove hitch, reef knot, wagon hitch, rolling hitch and sheet bend.

On Friday 4 March: Counterweight Flying - The course objectives are to teach the safe handling of counterweight sets and will cover terminology, parts of a counterweight set, loading and unloading, operating, first line maintenance, single and double purchase systems, putting knots

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USA - 2005 promises to be a strong year for the cruise industry, which looks set to achieve record growth. Numerous new cruise ships are scheduled for launch in 2005, with further major projects slated for 2006 and 2007. This positive trend will translate into real business opportunities for UK specialists providing lighting, audio, AV and staging technologies.

Exploiting this development will be the forthcoming SeaTrade exhibition in Miami (March 15-17) - the largest gathering of cruise line owners, operators and suppliers in the world. One of the main features of the show will be the new 'PLASA at Sea' Pavilion - a showcase of all the latest innovations in entertainment and leisure-based technology. Confirmed exhibitors to date include Barbizon, Vari-Lite, Rose Brand, Rosco, Color Kinetics, Xilver, Martin Professional, Mavco, Teledimensions, Stage Technologies and Snow Master

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UK - Russia came to London on 15 January 2005 when Trafalgar Square London hosted the Russian Winter Festival - a feast of music, theatre and street entertainment to mark the 'Old New Year' according to the old calendar of the Orthodox Church. The show opened with speeches from Russian and London dignitaries including Ken Livingstone, watched by an 18,000-plus audience.

Produced by Greenwich & Docklands Festivals, the eight-hour show embraced cultural song and dance from across Russia to mainstream rock and pop acts. The Alexandrov Military Choir performed with 75 members on stage, its first UK appearance since 1967.

John Radford, Technical Project Manger for Stage Electrics Production Services, worked closely with production manager Colin Nightingale to supply technical event production including provision of staging, lighting, sound, site distribution and LED screen and cam

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USA - Global Truss America's new, ultra-thick F44P square/box trussing promises production houses the ability to rig industrial-strength fixtures. With a heavy-duty load capacity, the F44P is, says the company, "a virtual beast of burden" designed for those who need extra-strength truss.

The F44P is rigid enough to bear even the heaviest of loads with 3mm thick truss walls. Completely hand tig-welded, the F44P is made from extra-strong 6082-T6 aluminium alloy, a corrosion-resistant material three times lighter than steel used in aircraft manufacture. Like all Global Truss products, the F44P bears the TÜV seal of approval. With a wide overhead span of 15 3/4 inches (400mm), the F44P offers space to safely mount lighting equipment and effects of all shapes and sizes. It features a main tube diameter of approximately 2 inches (50mm), with 1-inch (22mm) diagonal bracing

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UK - Following the launch on its website of a complete range of training courses, Stage Electrics has now announced the first pair of course dates, both of which will be hosted by the Newcastle Theatre Royal.

The first, on February 8, is entitled Electricity at Work - The Entertainment Environment; this was recently presented at the National Theatre and is designed for technicians, senior technicians and chiefs across all disciplines. The second course, on February 9, is Pyrotechnic Safety Awareness, presented in partnership with Lincoln Parkhouse of Just FX. It is, says Stage Electrics, the 'must-do' pyro course for anyone controlling, using or licensing pyro in venues.

Brian Cleary, business development manager for Stage Electrics' safety services department, said: "Our intention is to work with our customers and partners within the industry to provide aff

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UK - LiteStructures is showing its product range at the 2005 Event Show on Stand 447, which will also be the launchpad for a new northern England multipurpose venue - XS!TE. The latter, with an audience capacity of over 2,000 and more than 15,000sq m of space, is within reach of the major conurbations of Bradford, Doncaster, Leeds, Sheffield and Wakefield and is complemented by bespoke staging and lighting capabilities.

Located within the established Xscape recreation complex at junction 32 of the M62, the venue offers event organisers the additional benefits of a real snow ski slope, ice wall, bowling alley, ski ride and numerous bars and restaurants. The site has more than 1500 free parking spaces and excellent transport links and, with its own railway station and hotel on site, the venue is an event organisers dream come true. The unique £2 million development of XS!TE is be

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UK - Star Events Group has teamed up again with the Arena Group to create an infrastructure for the spectacular watersports pool at the Schroder's Boatshow at ExCeL in London's Docklands. The team designed and built the support for the 70m x 25m pool that held over 2,100 tonnes of water. Windsurfing, wakeboarding and sailing pros demonstrated their skills, using wind generated by the huge fans that flanked one entire length of the pool. 24 of these fans, each weighing 1 tonne, were supported on a raised structure also supplied by Star Events Group.

For the second year running, working closely with the National Boat Show (NBS), Star Events Group was brought in by the Arena Group to supply ExCeL with a complete temporary facility that was fully available from the first day of the exhibition tenancy. This enabled NBS to concentrate fully on the production requirements. This year's

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UK - Serious Stages supplied a 12 metre Orbit stage and roof system for the final of TV series Celebrity Big Brother at Elstree Studios. The latest Big Brother winner was ex-Happy Mondays dancer Bez - initially considered an outsider - who attracted huge public support along the way and squeezed Blazin' Squad rapper Kenzie and actress Brigitte Neilson into second and third places respectively.

Serious Stages was contacted just five days before the final by producers Endemol, after deciding they wanted the stage for the final evictions live on the Sunday. Eight Serious crew, led by Shaun Dixon, erected a standard one-bay Orbit roof system, 12 metres wide by 12 metres deep. The stage was completed and ready for lighting, audio, set and other production elements to commence their get-in on the Saturday morning. At the end of the show itself, the house guests were inte

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The Netherlands - A CyberHoist / InMotion 3D motion control system is adding a key creative ingredient to the current tour by arch metal band Rammstein, which is due to run around the globe throughout 2005, taking in the UK in February beginning this week. With sales of their current album Reise, Reise already topping one million Rammstein are Germany's leading international rock act. No small feat for a band that sings almost exclusively in its native tongue, part of their success is founded upon a reputation for spectacular stage shows overflowing with wild pyrotechnics and fantastical lighting. This tour calls upon the twin talents of production designer Roy Bennett and CyberHoist/InMotion 3D, the PLASA Award-winning motion control system from XLNT Advanced Technologies.

"Since I first saw the system I've wanted to try it out," said Bennett. "Rammstein h

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USA - The USA's Entertainment Technician Certification Program Council has announced the appointment of Rigging Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). These people, all highly respected in their field, have agreed to volunteer considerable time to the development of the industry's first rigging certifications. Selected for their breadth and depth of knowledge, the SMEs will work closely with the Council's selected psychometric services provider, Applied Measurement Professionals (AMP), to develop the examinations.

The SMEs are: Roy Bickel, John Bleich, Eddie Blue, David Boevers, Olan Cottrill, James Doherty, Harry Donovan, Kelly Green, Glenn Hufford, Edward Kish, Stephane Mayrand, Joseph McGeough, Brian Miller, Walter Murphy, Rocky Paulson, G. Anthony Phillips, Eddie Raymond, Michael Reed, Bill Sapsis, Peter Scheu, Karen Seifried, Scott Sloan, Sammy Stokes, and Jack Suesse.

The SMEs

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UK - London based production house GSP Ltd appointed Drapes specialist Blackout and sound specialists Canegreen Commercial to help realise the setting for the film premiere of The Phantom Of The Opera, staged at the National Hall, Olympia. The movie is an adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's romantic stage musical.

Blackout's project manager Chris Brain collaborated with GSP's managing director Emma Gold and GSP's appointed set designer to dress the venue to their specifications. The set recreated in minute detail an opulent theatrical environment in the film's signatory red and black colours. To set the scene an eclectic mix of props was sourced both from the movie and GSP's creative team. The stage was crowned by a 5 x 8m 25,000-crystal chandelier supplied by Swarovski. As a finishing touch 1,000 black-edged red roses, supplied by Jayne Copperwaite, were suspended on fish

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UK - Serapid, the leading supplier of push-pull and lifting chains and Quick Die Change machinery, has announced the formation of Serapid Limited in the UK. The new company has been established to provide an improved level of sales and service to the UK and Scandinavian markets, which to date have not received the level of attention they deserve, say the company.

Mr. Said Lounis, owner of the Serapid Group, says: "The UK and Scandinavian markets are of strategic importance to the Group, and the formation of Serapid Limited is in response to the needs to provide a higher level of support to these markets for the purpose of achieving the level of sales that should be expected from these countries with their advanced industrial bases."

The company is jointly owned and will be run by Iain Forbester, who joins the company from the stage engineering industry, and who has

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UK - On 3 February 2005 Nelson Mandela spoke to a mass rally of an estimated 20,000 people in London's Trafalgar Square. The primary aim of the Make Poverty History Campaign is to get the debts of developing countries cancelled. Also featuring at the event was Sir Bob Geldof and Channel 4 presenter June Sarpong while Jamelia provided entertainment with a live set.

Stage Electrics supplied staging for the rally including a custom-designed platform to fit on the square's main staircase and two dedicated press platforms to support a press presence of 350. PA equipment was also supplied by Stage Electrics, taking advantage of EAW's KF730 and SB730 wide angle dispersion to provide wide coverage throughout the square combined with a JF260 acting as centre fill for the press pit at the front of the stage.

Sound was operated by Chris Coxhead from a Soundcraft Series Five console with

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UK - Total Solutions announced the appointment of Mervyn Thomas as the group's business development director. Thomas, formally general manager at James Thomas Engineering, sees this new role as a natural progression in his career.

"I see Total Solutions leading the way forward with its well known suite of industry standard truss brand names," says Thomas, "and I welcome this new and exciting challenge". Amongst the general activities associated with his appointment, Thomas will be responsible for developing and managing the ongoing manufacturing license agreement program which began last year when African Trussing were the first to start producing the Total Fabrications product range in South Africa.

Group MD Chris Cronin says: "I have known Mervyn for many years and have always considered him a good friend. It is a huge privilege to finally be working

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USA - Show Distribution Group Inc of Canada, ChainMaster's exclusive distributors in the USA, Mexico and Canada, has moved to larger premises so as to be able to extend still further its range of activities. The new 2,000sqm facility in Quebec offers considerably more space for the Service department plus greater storage capacity to meet increasing demand.

Show Distribution has more than 300 rigging lifts, 100 VarioLifts and 25 VarioTrolleys at its disposal at all times; this is material that Show Distribution has purchased and uses to support customers in the hire business who, in 2004, accompanied tours by Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, Shania Twain and Tim Graw with lifting gear and controllers from ChainMaster. Show Distribution also furnished chain hoist systems from ChainMaster for live shows and marketing events staged by Everlast Productions of Florida and

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USA - Tomcat celebrated 13 years of in depth industry training courses with another successful Hoist and Rigging Workshop in Midland, Texas. Top-notch instructors and 62 industry professional participants from all over the United States, and even Mexico attended the workshop as well as the all new Advanced Workshop.

Don Dimitroff of Columbus McKinnon, as well as TOMCAT's own Dave Sowa, coached participants through the Lodestar electric chain hoist. Rocky Paulson of Stage Rigging, a Freeman Company and Morgan Neff of Mine Safety Appliances stressed safety in rigging techniques and fall protection equipment while Keith Bohn, Tomcat design manager, and Will Todd, Tomcat project manager, offered a course in truss theory and design. Not only did participants receive four days of power-packed, informative classes, but also four nights of fun filled entertainment, including the traditi

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UK - Hawthorn Theatrical hosted their 18th birthday in style when they transformed their Leicester premises into a party venue. Around 300 invited clients and Hawthorn's staff moved between the main bar (complete with table football and giant Jenga), a nightclub with live band stage, karaoke room, second live band room, and a chill-out room as they partied the night away to the early hours.

After 18 years providing technical and creative solutions for events of all shapes and sizes, Hawthorne's general manager Simon Wood, working with MD Martin Hawthorne, applied their experience to produce a stunning party. This included supplying everything from their own décor, lighting, screens, sound and power, having considered all of the health and safety issues.

Martin Hawthorn, founder commented: "It seemed an ideal opportunity to thank our customers and 60 full-time staff for

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UK - After three years working in California for Total Structures Inc, Peter Hind has returned to the UK to join consulting structural and civil engineers, Anthony Ward Partnership Ltd working from their offices near Winchester in Hampshire. However, his return to consulting engineering will not mean the end of his involvement with the design and use of aluminium structures in the entertainment and associated industries which stretches back over 20 years.

Anthony Ward Partnership Ltd has a reputation for providing innovative design solutions for projects within the building construction industry and now offers a range of structural engineering services relevant to the entertainment industry including concept design, preparation of engineering calculations and drawings, inspections and third party reviews. Hind will also continue his work with ESTA Technical Standards in America

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UK - With a total of 132 points, Summit Steel's installation of Cirque du Soleil's ambitious Dralion show at London's Royal Albert Hall has broken the record for the most number of rigging points ever installed into the venue. The previous record was also set by Summit Steel - for installation of the same show last year. What's more, the rigging process also had to be completed in and even shorter time slot of two days less than last year.

Summit continued its working relationship with Cirque du Soleil, with this, the fifth Cirque production they've installed into the RAH for Dralion's fully sold-out five-week residency. Summit's Chris Walker started work on the project in September 2004. Working closely with a team of people including Cirque's rigging project manager Ewen Seagel; Marc-André Leclerc, technical manager for the transfer to the RAH; Adrian Bray, t

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UK - When the stage fly system of the Wallingford Corn Exchange was condemned by load inspectors, Philip Burton, the venue's new volunteer general manager, turned to Tomcat UK who sent their technical manager, Paul Jordan, to the venue. "The project was a challenging one for us," says Jordan, who was one of the first to survey the system. "The existing system was suspended from small tube members resting on the internals of the building's cast iron portal frames. The pulleys were of unknown origin and ropes were of different constructions. The gallery platform support structure was manufactured from a scaffold-type arrangement which had a timber top and was buried into the side stage walls without any exterior fixings. The existing header beam arrangement consisted of a 2" diameter tube slung between the cast iron portals, which had a timber beam clamped to it

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UK - The Sage Gateshead, the stunning new £70m home for live music in the North of England, is at the heart of the regeneration of Tyneside. Funded by the largest Arts Lottery grant outside London, The Sage Gateshead is the first building for the performing arts to be designed by Foster and Partners and aims to be an inclusive, open-for-everyone music venue. It includes two concert halls, the Northern Rock Foundation Hall for rehearsal and performance and a 25 room Music Education Centre designed to pioneer a fresh approach to musical discovery. Theatre Projects Consultants (TPC) was responsible for the technical design, working with acousticians Arup Acoustics.

Hall One, with a capacity of 1650, is the largest of the two concert halls and uses retractable acoustic curtains, as does Northern Rock Foundation Hall, whereas the unusual design of Hall Two called for acoustic banne

  1. Leisuretec distributes LiteStructures
  2. SoftLED in the UK
  3. Stage Technologies with Award Winners
  4. Summit Rigs for Stryker in Prague
  5. Wembley Arena Pavilion opens
  6. Chainmaster satisfies BGV D8+ standard
Page 95 of 232
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