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The Tetris of Broadway

The dazzling drop and staircase combo from the Follies section. Images courtesy Beowulf Boritt.

The Tetris of Broadway

Beowulf Boritt is known for his bold, ambitious scenery in shows like Act One (a musical with a three-story revolving turntable) and Thérèse Raquin (a play with a river upstage). But for Prince of Broadway, the musical revue of the work of Broadway legendary Harold Prince, the Tony Award-winning scenic designer got a chance to create numerous old-school set pieces. The challenge was not to make everything fit onstage; it was storing it all in the wings of the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, which has not had a musical production mounted there since the Prince-directed Lovemusik, which Boritt also designed sets for, back in 2007.

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Lady Gaga 2017 'Joanne' tour photo by Steve Jennings

Lady Gaga ‘Joanne’ World Tour

Note: This feature was prepared shortly before tour dates in late September and October were postponed or cancelled due to Lady Gaga’s hospitalization for body pain caused by fibromyalgia. The tour is set to resume Nov. 5. —ed.

Lady Gaga’s Joanne World Tour is a two-hour extravaganza to behold. Her performance starts on a main stage. She later walks out into the arena via bridges that lower from the ceiling, bringing her to three intimate stages within the audience… for closer fan interaction. We spoke with key members of the production that bring this all together, starting with LeRoy Bennett, production and lighting designer.

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Pyro extended 200 feet into the air above the roofless stage. Metallica 2017 tour photo by Steve Jennings.

Metallica WorldWired Tour

Metallica’s current “WorldWired Tour” is in support of the band’s Hard Wired… To Self-Destruct album, released last fall. We spoke with the band’s longtime lighting designer and director, Rob Koenig, about working with Dan Braun (show director and set designer) and the tour’s design and logistics he’s encountered for this massive production that’s been filling stadiums around the world. The tour began last year and included a run of stadium dates in North America this past summer. The band is continuing with a series of dates in the U.K. and Europe this fall and next spring.

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Marcia Kapustin at videoworld in Brazil

Marcia Kapustin

Video Content Producer, Video Director and Lawyer-in-Training

Marcia Kapustin, principal of Kosher Pixels, is a video content producer and a video director, working extensively in concert touring. She has currently taken a hiatus from touring to get a law degree. She has worked with a variety of bands, most notably Paul McCartney and Metallica, since her first major tour as assistant video director for U2’s 1997-1998 PopMart tour.

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Kid Rock on the thrust provided by Gallagher Staging

Kid Rock Opens Little Caesars Arena in Detroit

LD Makes Use of State-of-the-Art House System for Six Sold-Out Shows

In retrospect, there was no question: Who else could have opened a new stadium in Detroit but Kid Rock? The hometown favorite sold out the new 20,000-seat sports complex’s six dates in mere hours. And, while all the shows went well, a few of the early ones didn’t go perfectly, as longtime Kid Rock LD Nook Schoenfeld was the guinea pig taking a brand new technologically-advanced stadium out for its first ride.

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The 20,000-capacity arena is the new home for the NHL Red Wings and NBA Pistons hockey and basketball teams, while also hosting major concerts and other eveents. Photo by Todd Kaplan

Little Caesars Arena in Detroit: Built to Rock

New Arena Immerses Attendees with State-of-the-Art House Systems

“I believe we just opened the nicest, coolest arena I’ve ever had the pleasure of gigging in,” says Kid Rock LD Nook Schoenfeld after six sold-out shows at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. “It is an amazing structure; the likes of which do not exist anywhere in the world.”

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The view looking down with Elation LED strips on. Photo by Robin Sheridan

Focus on Rigging; Little Caesars Arena’s SkyDeck

InterAmerica Stage Provides its Largest SkyDeck for New Arena in Detroit

Detroit is known for many things. It’s the Motor City, the Arsenal of Democracy, and the birthplace of Motown. It’s home to four major sports franchises: the Tigers, the Lions, the Pistons and the Red Wings. It’s the fourth largest city in the Midwest, and now, it’s home to the largest SkyDeck tension wire grid in the world.

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The nightclub turned to Tirso Lighting for the upgrade.

NYC’s Arka Room

Tirso Lighting Helps a Popular Manhattan Nightspot Rebrand

Arka Lounge operated for 16 years as one of the more successful nightspots in the Washington Heights area of upper Manhattan. Rebranded last December as Arka Room, owners of this sophisticated, intimate place to party are hoping for the same run of success they enjoyed for nearly two decades.

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Hurricane Harvey/NOAA Satellite Image

Hurricane Relief: How Our Industry Helps Others Weather the Storm

The worst of times can bring out the best in the human spirit. The world witnessed this with people helping people during Hurricane Harvey’s flooding in Texas and Louisiana. Before the waters subsided, Hurricane Irma pounded islands in the Caribbean, Cuba and Florida, and not long after that, Hurricane Maria pummeled Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Meanwhile, major earthquakes crumbled buildings and lives in Mexico.

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Hand in Hand 2017 logo

Televised Benefit Concerts for Hurricane Relief

“Hand in Hand” and “Harvey Can’t Mess with Texas” Concert Benefits Raise Millions for Hurricane Relief

“Hand In Hand: A Benefit for Hurricane Relief” was a one-hour star-studded telethon on Sept. 12 with more than 130 artists and celebrities urging donations to aid the victims of hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

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The musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda was staged at Geva Theatre Center. The morning after a power outage in Washington Heights, dawn lighting brings life to the cast of In the Heights. Photo by Goat Factory Media.

‘In the Heights,’ in Rochester, NY

Upper Manhattan is Reborn Upstate

Take a Tony Award-winning musical featuring a large cast of dancers and flamboyant choreography infused with salsa, merengue and hip-hop. Surround this cast with scenery that depicts the working storefronts of a bodega, a hair salon and a car service. Light it up with dozens of colors, patterns in motion and — in a purely 21st-century moment — the glow of smartphone screens.

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