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Playlist Live Orlando 2016

Nook Schoenfeld, Editor, PLSN

Suck It Up, Buttercup

Last month, I went to a couple different lighting conventions. The USITT show in Salt Lake City is a show that is designed to teach todays’ college students who major in theater a thing or two. It’s a place where I see all sorts of great people who now teach or demo gear for companies as opposed to running shows themselves. I get quite an education at this show because it’s not as crowded as LDI and folks have more time to teach you. The other show was the Prolight + Sound show in Frankfurt. For those who have never been, let’s just say it’s several times the size of LDI.

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Opening hootenanny dance scene. Photo by Jake DeGroot

Twisting the Grid for ‘The Robber Bridegroom’

Director Alex Timbers seems to have a penchant for period timepieces gone askew. He displayed this trait while directing previous productions such as Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson as well as the Tony Award-winning Peter Pan prequel, Peter Pan and the Starcatchers. He continues down this road with his latest production, the remake of the 1975 musical The Robber Bridegroom, an 18th century Southern romp inspired by a short story by Eudora Welty.

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Impact Production Services

Impact Production Services Adds Martin Fixtures to Inventory

MILTON KEYNES, U.K.––Impact Production Services (IPS) has added more than 100 lighting fixtures from Martin by Harman to its rental stock, including upgrading all existing MAC Auras to the enhanced XB edition. The significant investment also included the addition of the first Moving Head LED Profile fixture to the IPS inventory in the form of the MAC Quantum Profile. Completing IPS’s new line-up is the Atomic 3000 LED Strobe, combining the power of the traditional strobe with the flexibility of an LED product and the backlight of an Aura.

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The opening depicts the artist trapped in a box. Photo by Steve Jennings.

Justin Bieber’s ‘Purpose’ World Tour

Cory FitzGerald Lights a 20-Truck Tour Featuring Skateboard Ramps, Trampolines and a Waterfall

Canadian singer Justin Bieber has a new Purpose. It’s the title of his new album and his world tour. It’s also the mantra he adopted to refocus on his music, apologize for his headline-making mistakes and to reinvent his image to make new waves in the world. With all that said, Justin Bieber desired “a new approach” to his third world tour.

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Opening video gag with top entrance reveal. Photo by Ben Dickman

Pentatonix World Tour

Supporting an A Cappella Group with Lighting and Video

You can’t build the visual elements of the show around the lead singer, because, well, there are five of them. You can’t move in and out on the band because, well, there isn’t one. Clearly the five singers that make up the a cappella group Pentatonix presents a challenge, one that was embraced by a creative team that included lighting and set designer Sooner Routhier and Robert Long; Moo Creative’s editor/senior graphic artist Andy Reuter; and choreographer Lindsey Blaufarb.

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Dueling keyboards flanked the singer. Chvrches 2016 tour photo by Steve Jennings

CHVRCHES ‘Every Open Eye’ Tour

Production designers James Scott and Louis Oliver formed Okulus Ltd. in 2014 and have since gone on to work with many clients at different stages in their careers, supporting shows in venues ranging from clubs to stadiums. PLSN spoke with Scott and Oliver about the current Chvrches tour they designed.

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Barbra Streisand lit by Peter Morse

A Chat with Peter Morse

The list of top lighting designers in the world is a short one. No such list would be complete without Peter Morse, who is a story all in himself. From teenage folk singer to Emmy (as well as Cable ACE and Parnelli) award wins, he’s led a spectacular life. Articles chronicling his lighting career are many, but few know that lighting is just part of the long road Morse has traveled.

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