Production/lighting designer Dale Doucette describes Heart’s touring schedule as “Two week tourettes.”
“During March to November, we do ‘tourettes’ — two weeks of shows in a particular section of the country in casinos and small 3,000-5,000 venues, then we go home. Every day is a different gig. I carry a file of shows and a handful of songs I keep consistent.
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This month, I continue on my quest to figure out which gear has the best return for a lighting company investment. Is it as easy as following the old “Supply and Demand” way of thinking? I always assumed that a lighting company chose what fixtures they would purchase based on what the customer’s latest needs were. But what if you did many shows each year with various LD types, and they all want different fixtures? Do the lighting buyers choose to base their decisions on the latest, coolest moving heads in the business? Or do they buy from certain manufacturers because they have good, lasting relationships with them and their salespeople?
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LOS ANGELES – Just 10 days before the 85th Annual Academy Awards, Visions’ President, Todd Roberts, received a call from the producers of Seth MacFarlane’s Oscar After-Party. Roberts was asked to come up with a stage design that could support a huge orchestra and be worthy of Oscar night.
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TOKYO – High End Systems’ new Hog 4 console debuted in February with Japan’s Kome Kome Club’s arena concert tour. Touring LD Makoto Shimizu from Lighting Big1 saw the console at LDI 2012 and was eager to specify it for the band’s 2013 tour.
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GLENDALE, CA – Kinetic Lighting will be hosting its 5th annual open house at its facilities here March 28, from noon to 7 p.m. Learning opportunities include side-by-side product comparisons, new product showcases and grandMA console sessions. Free tickets are available to industry members.
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UNCASVILLE, CT – The Mohegan Sun casino and entertainment resort has purchased a number of Clay Paky GlowUp portable, battery-powered luminaires. “We chose Clay Paky GlowUps because we do a lot of events on the fly in various locations,” says Brian Horne, lead lighting technician. We were looking for a wireless LED that we could connect to a console. One challenge is that since we’re a casino, WiFi can interfere with some of our equipment. The GlowUps…work within our system.”
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NEW YORK – For New York’s Fashion Week, Sapsis Rigging, Inc. (SRI) is the technical management company of choice for designers including Mark Jacobs, Tommy Hilfiger and Kenneth Cole. For the designers’ shows, production manager Michael Sapsis assembled a crew of more than 35 riggers who worked steadily for two weeks, installing 225 chain hoists, 3,000 ft of assorted truss, and one 4,000-pound sodium-vapor lighting effect, contained in a circular truss rig and lifted by a mother grid.
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SYRACUSE, NY—J. R. Clancy has expanded its U.S. staff by adding two dealer project managers. Kevin Auses, pictured left, previously worked as an associate with theatre design firm Auerbach Pollock Friedlander in San Francisco. Michael Braico, pictured right, was previously a technician for Production Resource Group (PRG). J. R. Clancy also named Philip Lunas as the company’s financial manager.
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LOS ANGELES – At this year’s Sound Check Xpo, Elation Professional hosts a seminar featuring lighting legend, Jonathan Smeeton. The seminar, “Concert Lighting From Idea To Design To Reality,” will be held Monday, April 22, at Sound Check Xpo in Mexico City.
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SONOMA, CA — Barbara “Bea” Oliver, a production and touring veteran with Oakland, CA IATSE Local 107, died March 4 following complications from liver failure. She died at home with family and friends at her side. Oliver was no stranger to touring and production. Her years with FM Productions, The Jacksons, Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Natalie Cole, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and the list goes on and on, placed her as one of the pioneers in the set, scenic and rigging trades.
Read More »HONG KONG – Hong Kong‘s leading TV station, Television Broadcast Limited (TVB), has recently made a major investment in GLP’s impression Spot One for its studios. Under a new management initiative to reduce the carbon footprint of the company, TVB’s engineering department needed an LED solution to replace their existing discharge lamp automated lighting system.
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SOUTH BEACH, FL — Event site Studio 743 dominates the skyline on Washington Avenue in the historic district of South Beach, with a modern tower lit by nine Iluminarc fixtures. More wash lights from Iluminarc enhance a water fountain with vivid colors. HMS Group of Miami supplied the lighting.
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