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Designing the Hurt for “Hedwig”

Hedwig and the Angry Inch photo by Joan Marcus

Designing the Hurt for “Hedwig”

The acclaimed, Tony Award-winning revival of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which originally debuted off-Broadway in 1998 and then became a cult film in 2001, has been fueled by the punk-ish charisma of its star Neil Patrick Harris. (The show now stars Book of Mormon’s Andrew Rannells.) A story that was too controversial for the Great White Way 16 years ago — a rocker flees East Berlin by becoming transgender and marrying a U.S. military officer, comes to America, and falls for future rock star Tommy Gnosis, who eventually takes their songs and abandons her for a life of fame and fortune — is very timely now.

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Motley Crue Final Tour photo by Todd Moffses

Motley Crue: The Final tour

Cleverly named The Final Tour, Mötley Crüe’s final tour began July 2 in Grand Rapids, MI. And final it is. In January, under a banner proclaiming “All Bad Things Must Come to an End,” the iconic band’s members held a press conference in Hollywood, complete with a New Orleans-style funeral marching band, at which they publicly signed a legally binding “cessation of touring” agreement. It prohibits them from going on the road together or individually under the Mötley moniker after their current 18-month worldwide victory lap ends. No biennial reunion tours, no country fair oldies circuit, no package cruises.

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Lady Gaga Artpop Ball tour photo by Steve Jennings

Lady Gaga ArtRave: The Artpop Ball Tour

LeRoy Bennett’s resume of clients is any designer’s dream. In just the last few years alone, his work as production and lighting designer has included the likes of Beyoncé, Paul McCartney, Bruno Mars, Nine Inch Nails, Katy Perry and Kelly Clarkson, and that’s not even the full list. Returning to the stage on her Artpop Ball Tour of 2014 is Lady Gaga. Bennett’s first venture with her was back in 2010 on her Monster Ball Tour and, since then, handled visuals for her DVD and iTunes Festival shows. Along with a few words with Bennett, PLSN touched base with touring lighting director Whitney Hoversten about the latest Gaga extravaganza.

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Sarah McLachlan Shine On tour photo by Steve Jennings

Sarah McLachlan Shines On

Ready to launch into the next song, Sarah McLachlan suddenly stops and squints into the spotlight. A fan has come to the footlights with an ill-timed request. Lifting up her T-shirt, the fan asks: Would McLachlan autograph her bra? McLachlan repeats the request into the microphone with surprise and a laugh, while the audience collectively groans at the fan’s faux pas. McLachlan calls for a pen and signs. Now the fan lifts up her boot. She has another request. At this point, security guards grab the gal and guide her away.

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Terra Tractus: The Earth Moves. Photos by Judy Barbosa and Charles Erickson

LD Jamie Burnett on “Terra Tractus: The Earth Moves”

Since environmental artist Joy Wulke founded Projects for a New Millenium in 1993, the nonprofit organization, now called Projects2K (www.projects2k.org), has been raising awareness of ecology and the natural world through a fusion of art and science. The group has staged a variety of site-specific shows, turning to the Stony Creek Quarry near its home base in Branford, CT for a number of productions over the years. They include Visualization of Time (1995), Terra Continuum (1999), Terra Lumina (2001), Terra Alchemica (2002) and Terra Mirabila: If Rocks Could Dream (2005).

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The History of Martin Professional

In Martin Professional’s early days, it was all smoke and mirrors. Literally. Entrepreneur Peter Johansen founded the company in 1987 in Aarhus, Denmark with the main factory located in the city of Frederikshavn, about 115 miles north of Aarhus. It all started with smoke machines, based on experiments using dry ice in a coffee machine. The Martin name was acquired through cooperation with a French smoke machine company. It soon added lighting products for discotheques but quickly diversified into lighting for the professional markets, particularly lights with moving mirrors such as the PAL 1200 and fixtures with moving heads.

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Al Nahar TV's

Al Nahar TV’s “Minute To Win It” Rig Includes PR Lighting Fixtures

CAIRO – Filmed in front of a live audience, the set of the new game show franchise, Minute To Win It, features 48 of PR Lighting’s XR 200 Beam fixtures, 36 of the XLED 1037 and 24 of the XL 300 Beam. “They provided superior color mixing and the designer was also impressed with the light weight — as well as the fact that the fans ran virtually silently, which is essential for a TV production, ” said Hamed Arafa, CEO of Hi-Lights Egypt.

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ESA president Jim Digby

Event Safety Alliance Moves Into Next Phase

In what began as a conversation involving concerned live event professionals the month after the Indiana State Fair stage collapse in August 2011, the Event Safety Alliance (ESA) is expanding its influence over event safety in North America. As it celebrates its unofficial third year this month (it incorporated in February of 2012), the ESA has made solid progress in their quest to align the industry with best practices in live event safety guidelines. A four-day training session, a new strategic partnership, a new headquarters, and The Event Safety Guide are some of their recent accomplishments.

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3D projection mapping precisely matches projections with multi-faceted surfaces. Credit: Kelly McKeon.

Masking vs. Mapping

As projection mapping continues to grow in popularity for outdoor events as well as indoor applications like retail displays, trade show booths, stage shows, etc., an important discussion has begun to take shape among professional projectionists and content creators: when clients ask for video projection, do they want true 3D mapping projection, or are they merely visualizing 2D projection with masking? It’s important to know the difference and the workload associated with delivering each of these so that you can meet (and often exceed) their expectations.

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The Design Oasis

The Design Oasis

Luccas Oliveira and Abbas Ritscher, co-founders of The Design Oasis in Davie, FL, both have a background in lighting design. As such, they became aware of a distinct market need – for 24/7 rental service and support. They embraced that “client-centric” vision from the start.

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OneRepublic Tours with Elation EVLED 20 LED Panels

OneRepublic Tours with Elation EVLED 20 LED Panels

MORRISON, CO – Elation Professional’s EVLED 20 LED panels played a key role on OneRepublic’s Native tour, forming a focal point of the show’s unique diamond-shaped set look. The EVLED panels are located upstage behind the band and remain static during the show. LD Chris Lisle explains: “The overall look of the show is comprised of diamonds, and the center focus is three diamond-shaped video panels made up of Elation EVLED 20s that slightly overlap each other. There are a few tiles of each screen strategically removed to create a unique look.”

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