DALLAS – ChamSys is offering church techs four introductory hands-on lighting console sessions on Wednesday and Thursday, October 11 and 12 at WFX this week. Phil Watson from Chamsys, pictured here, will be available to teach anyone interested. Free of charge, the 45-minute sessions will take place in room C-145 at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas.
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LAS VEGAS – PLSN readers have chosen the six regional winners of this year’s Hometown Hero Award competition. These top vote getters from each of five U.S. regions plus all of Canada will be automatically entered on the Parnelli Awards ballot. PLSN readers will then get a chance to vote on which regional company will be awarded the coveted honor of Parnelli Hometown Hero Lighting Company of the Year. The Parnelli Ballot will be posted on parnelliawards.com in early November. The nominations process for all remaining Parnelli Award categories is now underway.
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SECAUCUS, NJ – BML-Blackbird Theatrical Services notified police about the theft of a Penske rental truck from its parking lot over the weekend. The truck was loaded with lighting gear intended for a series of shows in New York. A driver who arrived to take the truck into the city reported the loss to police. Surveillance video captured a car dropping off a suspect. That suspect managed to pick the lock and hotwire the vehicle in a matter of minutes.
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CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA – Every lighting designer considers the surrounding environment when colorizing an event. For Colombian LD Victor Cervantes, this invariably means using CHAUVET DJ color washing fixtures to endow his creations with ample amounts of amber. The owner of IVC Producciones, Cervantes is based in Cartagena, a tradition-rich city on the Caribbean coast that is blessed with some of the most beautiful sunsets in the world. Each evening the setting sun casts the city’s centuries-old stone buildings in a warm glow, creating a panorama that mesmerizes locals and visitors alike.
HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA- Pacific Coast Entertainment, provider of staging and theatrical services, has acquired Santa Ana-based California Stage & Lighting, affectionately known as Cal Stage. Cal Stage has been a legend in the Southern California entertainment industry since 1982. Their focus on the theatrical, themed and live event industries has been invaluable to the market.
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NASHVILLE, TN- A new and hopefully Broadway-bound musical, Part of the Plan, opened to rave reviews this month in the Music City’s Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC). The musical draws its score and inspiration from the deep catalog of singer/songwriter Dan Fogelberg. Lighting Designer Jason Kantrowitz turned to 4Wall New York for the gear needed to light the musical’s debut at TPAC, in hopes of continuing its journey on to Broadway. After multiple prior readings of the show Part of the Plan, the producers’ goal for this developmental production was to see the fully staged material performed in front of Nashville audiences in order to hone the script.
DALLAS – Visit Front Porch Productions’ display (Booth 407) at the 2017 WFX Conference & Expo to see High End Systems’ latest Bright White LED automated luminaires and HOG 4 control products. Front Porch Productions will be showing High End’s new SolaFrame 750 and SolaFrame Theatre, along with SolaSpot 2000, SolaSpot 1000, SolaWash 19 and SolaWash 37. HOG 4 lighting control products on display will include the HedgeHog 4X, Road Hog 4 and the flagship HOG 4 consoles. High End Systems Regional Sales Managers Noel Garcia and Bobby Hale will be joining Front Porch Productions staff at the conference to demo products and meet with customers.
EUROPE – Since their first gig in 1982, Metallica has actively toured their entire music catalog, along with their epic stage setups across the globe. With over three decades of concert performances, these rock legends delivered once again with WorldWired Tour. Celebrating their 10th studio album, “Hardwired…to Self-Destruct,” the WorldWired Tour pushes technological boundaries by debuting the world’s first autonomous indoor drone swarm in a major touring act and revealing a new, in-the-round stage design, custom-built by TAIT.
WORLDWIDE – Fatboy Slim’s long-term lighting designer, Stephen Abbiss, has chosen to use the superior live control capabilities of Avolites’ Tiger Touch II console for the DJ’s summer season of festival shows and one-off headline slots across Europe and Australia. Known for his flexible performance style, British DJ Norman Cook – a.k.a Fatboy Slim – demands a highly personalized approach when it comes to his production lighting.
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ESTONIA – Every year, the charismatic island of Saaremaa in Estonia stages ‘Opera Days’, a major international opera festival organized by the Eesti Kontsert Hall in Tallinn, which this year featured the world premiere of an exciting new production – “Nurjatu Saar’ (The Evil Island’) – by famous Estonian rock musician, pianist and composer, Rein Rannap. This was performed in a large 2200 capacity structure erected in front of Kuressaare Castle in the island’s capital.
AIMC/GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA – Christie®, a leader in creating and delivering the world’s best visual and audio experiences, is offering the first-ever preview at the 72nd Australian International Movie Convention (AIMC) of the next generation Christie CP4325-RGB pure laser cinema projector. The convention takes place at The Star Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, October 8-12.
LONDON – Ayrton exhibited at the 40th PLASA London 2017 with its exclusive UK distributors, Ambersphere Solutions, where it successfully launched three new products to the great delight of visitors to PLASA, which welcomed an increased footfall and more international visitors than ever. Ghibli™, MiniPanel™-FX, and WildSun™ K25 TC were introduced to the market and received an incredible response: