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The Mystery of the Lost Light, part 2

Cue Theatre Vibe, and Go

Last winter, I got a call from a Chicago friend asking if I would be interested in designing the lighting and a set for a theatre tour. The artist is R. Kelly, a popular R&B singer, and he wanted to do something different. Robert (the artist’s real name) was used to playing arenas, but this time he wanted an intimate show in a theatre environment, complete with set changes and different themes for five sets of music.

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Hey, You, Get Off of My Cloud

“No man is happy without a delusion of some kind. Delusions are as necessary to our happiness as realities.” – Christian Nevell Bovee, author/lawyer

If ever you feel like the deposits in your self-esteem account are outpacing your withdrawals, you might consider letting your significant other loose with your ego credit card. That should take care of any excess balance you might have.

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Three Years After Rhode Island, Pyro Shoots Back

On Feb. 28, there was an explosion on the steps of the state capitol building in Nashville. It wasn’t terrorism; in fact, it was a politician who pushed the plunger. Rather, it was a wakeup call, a demonstration of the power—and the danger— of pyro, and it came almost three years to the day that nearly 100 patrons died in a pyro-induced fire at The Station nightclub in Warwick, R.I.

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Riders on the Storm

It was a day just like any other Texas day  at the Cotton Bowl: hot and humid. A crew from Showlites was making steady progress, and we were well ahead of schedule that day, putting up a fairly decent-sized lighting rig for a Journey show that was about to be unleashed upon unsuspecting Dallas residents that weekend. The rig was a 400-plus lamp system, not including audience lights and the Molefays that were to be used on the P.A. wings to light two enormous scrims on either side of the screens used for Eidophore (large scale) projections.

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At the Copa, I Mean, the Hilton

As Las Vegas continues to boom, it seems as if there is constantly a new hotel vying for our evenings (and our checkbooks): Cirque du Soleil shows now outnumber the seats at a blackjack table, Celine Dion performs in her own Coliseum, Elton John fills in when she’s weekending in the Hamptons and Franco Dragone produces everything but burlesque shows.

To compete in this field, venues on the strip are going after big-name performers that can pull in viewers from every generation, including one of the most well-known crooners of modern day, Barry Manilow.

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Getting Your Video Freak On

For most event companies, video is a jump that seems too costly to make and the return on investment is questionable. That does not need to be the case with the new technologies being applied to processing equipment and to projectors.

Starting with a small system for corporate A/V or club use, a complete system can be assembled for less than $50,000. The system will include a basic input switcher, the appropriate amps and drivers, cabling, and for simplicity’s sake, one screen and projector.

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Let’s Talk Content

What are you going to do when…

  • The content you’re going to use for a show is being specially created for the gig, and the art department comes to you to ask about the media server’s specs?
  • During the first day of rehearsal, the client hands you a JPEG of one of the corporate VIPs and wants to use it in the show the next day?
  • You use your video camera to capture a beautiful sunset in an exotic location and you want to use it on your current fashion show? What’s the common theme in all of the above scenarios? The content will not all be correctly optimized, and it will need to be re-rendered and exported in a new format before it can be used in the media server properly. As the programmer of a media server, familiarizing yourself with the manufacturer’s specs regarding codecs and file types is an important part of your role.
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Selecon Rama 6″ FFT PC

Last month, I heard that Selecon, the New Zealand lighting manufacturer, had designed a new conventional lighting fixture that was going to make people interested in a Fresnel. It was hard to get excited. A couple years ago, people crossed a PAR with a Fresneltype lens and that did not thrill me. But then I actually used the new Selecon fixture.

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From Theatre to Television

Andre Huff took a unique route on his way to the world of television lighting. He started working for a lighting manufacturer, then in theatre and concert touring. His biggest challenge? Helping his clients understand that not every show can be like the Grammys. In this month’s interview, we caught up with Huff and he explained why it’s a challenge that he’s ready to (True) Grip.

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Queen and Paul Rodgers

My first experience seeing Queen live was in 1976 at the historic Winterland Auditorium in San Francisco. It was one of those rare magical moments that you don’t forget. There is no one on the rock scene who can match the singing and stage presence of Freddie Mercury. Freddie’s gone, but not the memories that will live forever. Brian May, whose unique guitar style is unsurpassed, and Roger Taylor, whose rock anthem drumming defines the style of the band, have embarked on the first Queen tour in 20 years. They’ve brought with them the talent of Bad Company vocalist Paul Rodgers to sing the hits of both bands, from “Tie Your Mother Down” to “Can’t Get Enough” to “We Are the Champions.”

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Bringing Brecht to Broadway

The Threepenny Opera, Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s classic musical that opens this month at the famous Studio 54, is not your ordinary musical. It was adapted from The Beggar’s OperaThe Threepenny Opera written by John Gay in 1728 as a comedic satire about the interaction between the classes. The Threepenny Opera was written by Brecht in 1928, who used it as a focus for his new style of theatre. This style, which would become known as Brechtian theatre, explodes onto the stage in this revival, using modern conceits to fulfill Brecht’s original vision of the play. Lighting designer Jason Lyons completely captures the style and complexity of the piece as he brings his own touch to this classic work.

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