FORT WORTH — USITT honored Eugene Lee with its 2014 Distinguished Achievement Award in Scene Design at the 54th Annual Conference & Stage Expo here March 28. USITT Scene Design co-commissioner Michelle Harvey, pictured right, presented the award. Lee was recognized for a career that includes 40 years as production designer for Saturday Night Live and three Tony awards for best scenic design, for Broadway’s Candide (1974), Sweeney Todd (1979) and Wicked (2004).
Read More »
FRANKFURT, Germany — Pasquale Quadri, founder and chairman of Bergamo-based Clay Paky SpA, received the lifetime achievement prize at the MIPA/PIPA awards on March 13 during Prolight + Sound.
Read More »INDIO, CA — Phillip K. Smith III, who used mirrors and LEDs to transform the look of an abandoned desert cabin from day into night for two weeks last fall, a project titled Lucid Stead (lucidstead.com), has been commissioned by the organizers of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival for a new work, Reflection Field. Also incorporating mirrored surfaces and LED light sources, the artwork is expected to serve as a key artistic focal point for the 2014 festival, which returns to the Empire Polo Club fairgrounds here April 11-13 and April 18-20.
Read More »MELBOURNE, Australia – The Emerson, an entertainment venue here that offers patrons dining, drinking and dancing options, is also adding visual flash with Martin Rush lighting fixtures sourced via Australian distributor Show Technology. South West Solutions designed and installed a system that includes six MH2 Wash, four MH1 Profile and four MH3 Beam fixtures, with a control solution that includes Martin M-PC V3 controller software accessed via a touch screen along with a M2PC control surface for live control.
Read More »
FRANKFURT, Germany – At this year’s Prolight+Sound Show, Hans Günter Dünkel from Motion in Fürth, Germany received a special award to commemorate the purchase of their 1000th SGM P-5 wash light. Pictured here, from left, are Thorsten Sattler (SGM Deutschland), Hans Günter Dünkel (Motion Light) and Michael Herweg (SGM Deutschland).
Read More »
Chauvet Professional’s ÉPIX 2.0 series of linkable LED display fixtures let designers add pixel mapped video content to their shows and designs using Art-Net or Kling-Net. Multiple ÉPIX 2.0 series elements can also be linked on top of one another to easily build vertical displays.
Read More »
LAS VEGAS – Le Maitre noted recently that its G300 smoke and haze machine has reached a 20-year milestone. The units have been adopted for use at theme parks, theatres and cruise ships since then – and also for emergency services training applications. Le Maitre credits the decision to include a haze option in the G300 as a key factor to the unit’s longevity.
Read More »
DALLAS – Gemini Light Sound & Video has invested in 30 Clay Paky Sharpy Washes and plans to add more to its rental inventory soon. “I can’t keep them in stock,” said project manager Jason Cain, who credited the fixtures for their “size, speed, color saturation and output.” Among the recent events where Gemini’s new Sharpy Wash fixtures were used: the National Cheerleaders Association’s High School National Championships at the Dallas Convention Center (pictured here.)
Read More »
EILENBURG, Germany – ChainMaster Bühnentechnik GmbH, based here, recently celebrated 20 years since the introduction of the first VBG70-certified chain-hoist controller for the entertainment production industry.
Read More »
PRAGUE, Czech Republic – AV Media added to the festive look of Prague’s hilltop Letná Park area during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics with a lighting installation that included more than 100 Robe moving lights. Olympijsky Park Soci-Letna 2014 was also the first big event for Cesko Sportuje, an initiative launched by the Czech Olympic Committee to promote a healthy lifestyle especially for children.
Read More »
VANCOUVER, BC – Lighting designer Rob Sinclair has incorporated 87 of SGM’s new X-5 LED strobes into the set for the current Miley Cyrus Bangerz tour, and he has been relishing the experience of working with them. “The thing I like best about these units is the light output and speed of response from command,” he says. “They behave like you would expect any conventional strobe, which is good and up against other nice bright fixtures in the rig the X-5 has no problem holding its own.”
Read More »