HOUSTON — Christie Lites supplied four grandMA consoles, four grandMA Lites and a 12-person crew for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)’s WrestleMania XXV, telecast on pay-per-view from Reliant Stadium in Houston.
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VILNIUS, Lithuania — White Light and theatre owner ATG have been phasing out the Strand 500-series lighting consoles used for ATG’s U.K. venues, replacing them with ETC’s Eos and Ion consoles. But if the plan called for the older consoles to be used for rentals and parts, at least one of the units has been put to full-time work again for a Lithuanian production of Sweeney Todd.
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LONDON — The European tour supporting Pink’s fifth album, Funhouse, featured a set design by Mark Fisher of Stufish and lighting and show direction by Baz Halpin, with sets manufactured by Brilliant Stages. XL Video UK supplied cameras, PPU, LED surfaces, media servers and projection.
Read More »NEW YORK — The Joint Training Initiative of The ESTA Foundation and USITT announces a Rigging Safety Training Session to be held at Highline Performing Arts Center, Burien, Wash. The event will be hosted and co-produced by Highline PAC in association with Highline Public Schools.
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BURLESON, TX — Heavy rain couldn’t extinguish the IGNITE Passion, Compassion, Justice festival, one of the Southwest’s biggest Christian music festivals recently. The soggy conditions also failed to short-circuit the wide-screen LED visuals provided by Keller, Texas-based GoVision.
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MEXICO CITY — Before launching his current world tour with a full band, Elton John performed a series of solo concerts in South America and Mexico with a rig equipped with Martin MAC moving lights. The concerts benefited Buchanan’s Forever, a charity that supports local community enrichment programs.
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LAS VEGAS — The New Joint, a $60 million venue that opened last month at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, is equipped with lighting and control products from High End Systems. LD Alex Ares, pictured here, and Montreal-based Solotech worked with a gear list that includes 13 Showguns, four DL.3 digital lights with a D-Tek D-Mix Pro switcher, two Showpix pixelation luminaires and a Road Hog Full Boar console.
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STOCKTON, CA — Since arriving here for the 2005/2006 season, the Thunder hockey team has resonated with Stockton area sports fans, leading the ECHL league in attendance for four consecutive seasons. The team plays every game before a packed house at Stockton Arena, a 10,000-seat facility located along the city’s downtown waterfront.
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Randall “Poodie” Locke, road manager for Willie Nelson, died May 6 after suffering a heart attack at his home in Briarcliff, Texas. Locke was 56. Having worked with Nelson since 1974, Locke was described as “the heart and soul of the road crew” by Nelson’s biographer, Joe Nick Patoski, author of An Epic Life.
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It seems like the concept of the original musical, and particularly one that is not self-reflexive, has been harder to find on Broadway lately, especially in an era where movies are being turned into musicals and old movies are being turned into musicals then back into movies again. Frankly, the trend is tired, which is why Billy Elliot: the Musical stands out.
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It should be required for anyone aspiring to be a lighting designer, programmer, or director to go see a Bruce Springsteen show. For 25 years, Jeff Ravitz has been his lighting designer and designated keeper of the flame of the classic rock show. Along with lighting directors Todd Ricci and John Hoffman, Ravitz schools the industry on how to do it right.
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The first time Scott Warner knew what he wanted to do in life was at a concert. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he knew he’d find it somewhere around the front of house. After studying to become a sound engineer, he realized he really wanted to play with lights. Luckily, his best friend knew a band that could help him realize his dream.
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