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Building a Better Backdrop

Building a Better Backdrop

While more and more Broadway shows have been shifting from traditional scenery to video walls and more elaborate practical sets, the art of the painted backdrop appears to be slowly waning. But in reality, many scenic designers still rely on this familiar stage element to create dynamic backdrops, and they can create a heightened sense of perspective when used the right way. Scenic designers Beowulf Boritt, Anna Louizos and Kevin Depinet all shared stories about their experiences with traditional backdrops on various productions they have worked on over the years.

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Enrique Iglesias & Pitbull, Live

Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull enjoyed a very successful co-headlining tour across North America last year where they switched off night to night, performing to packed arenas. Following their 2015 “Time of Our Lives” co-headlining trek, the 2017 tour, “Enrique Iglesias & Pitbull Live,” netting a combined $40 million in ticket sales from separate tour legs in June/July and October/November, according to Billboard. We spoke with designers Travis Shirley (Enrique) and Tom Sutherland (Pitbull), along with Pitbull LD and programmer Craig Caserta.

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Ozuna’s ‘Odisea’

When lighting designer and production manager Alex Soto talked to his team about creating a look for reggaeton star Ozuna’s homecoming concert at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan last fall, he set a clear directive “Let’s make it look big!”

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The Killers ‘Wonderful Wonderful’ World Tour

The Wonderful, Wonderful world tour is the fifth major concert tour by the Las Vegas rock band The Killers, to support their fifth studio album (of the same name) which was released last September. Back behind the lighting console is Steven Douglas, the only LD they have had since he started working with them in 2005. The band started the tour playing festivals last fall, then touring in the U.K. and Ireland before Christmas, where they have had a large following for most of their career. They embarked on a U.S. arena run at the start of the year.

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Rigging Focus: Acass-Systems Keeps The Killers’ Tour Wonderful…and Safe

As is the case with most large-scale designs, an artist and his production staff will sign off on some great artwork that paints a beautiful picture. Then it’s up to the production manager, with the aid of said designers, to find someone that can make this vision a reality. This often requires some engineering of the serious kind, as life and death can be involved when tons of scenery are moving overhead.

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Rumba Room Live

Rumba Room Live, an upscale Latin-themed nightclub and concert venue in Anaheim, CA, has passed the one-year mark in its new Anaheim GardenWalk location. Built new from the ground up and open since Dec. 2016, Rumba Room Live has been drawing crowd with Elation entertainment lighting and video systems, energizing the nightclub scene in Anaheim. The 10,000-square foot venue has the flexibility to host 1,000 people and hold a variety of events, yet it maintains a chic, intimate feel.

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Day for Night Festival

At the Day for Night festival, which made good use of a disused Post Office building in Houston, Texas, light artists and robots shared the stages with the music makers. Planning and staging for the event was right in line with the festival’s creative aesthetic. The names of each of the four stages — two outdoor, two indoor — are representative of the RGBW color model spectrum, known to tech geeks and video and lighting designers the world over.

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Mike Ledesma and the Art of Lighting Latin Music

The term Latin Music gives the average listener a fairly straightforward idea of what they are about to hear. It would seem to be an easy genre to pigeonhole, as is the wont of most music journalists. But, pay a bit closer attention to the ensemble of percussionists that actually lead the band, more than just providing a backbeat, and the rich diversity of its myriad roots soon comes out. Michael Ledesma has been listening to those polyphonic rhythms all his life.

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George Elizondo

George Elizondo is an award-winning, Parnelli nominated, well-respected video director. He’s made his name in concert touring and live events working with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Aerosmith, Sting, Chance The Rapper, Guns N’ Roses, Jennifer Lopez, the Dixie Chicks and Sir Elton John, among other. But Elizondo originally started out in the family business on the back lots of Hollywood. PLSN caught up with him to give us 1,000 words on his background, his work and what he loves about his job

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At MEGA Systems, It’s a Family Affair

M.E.G.A. Systems Inc. (Mega) consists of the four Cabada brothers, doing what they do best — developing new fixtures, selling all kinds of gear, maintaining relationships with clients and backing their products. They do all these things well, because each brother has a separate job in the company that they are responsible for. They work in tandem, and despite their different roles, all company-wide decisions are made by the four partners. On top of that, I love hanging out with all of them because they are happy, fun people who have a zest for life.

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17th Annual Parnelli Awards

The 17th annual Parnelli Awards gala, held Friday, Jan. 26 at the Anaheim Hilton during NAMM 2018, honored Bobby “Boomer” Thrasher, Jonathan Smeeton and John Stadius with the Lifetime Achievement Award, Visionary Award and Audio Innovator Award, respectively.

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Vari-Lite VLZ Spot

It is, I think, uncontroversial to consider the VL3000 spot fixture as having a special place of prestige among intelligent fixtures. In that 1200-watt fixture Vari-Lite realized a truly excellent light, one that set the standard for the quality of its brightness, effects and optics, and it has been used extensively in entertainment lighting since its inception. It was, to understate things, a very usable intelligent light.

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