Features

Lightwave International announced plans to debut a full-color, 56-watt laser projector at LDI with irradiance close to 800W per square centimeter, which the company calls a new world record for full-color lasers used with live entertainment.

When Barry Manilow moved his show from the Las Vegas Hilton to the Paris Las Vegas for a new two-year residency, the production team wanted to make a few changes to better reflect and adapt to their new home. To do so, they brought in lighting designer Chris Medvitz of Lightswitch to create an intimate yet potent lighting design. Lightswitch then enlisted the assistance of PRG and 65 Vari*Lite luminaires from Philips Vari-Lite.

Simply Professional, an event staging company led by Sebastian Corkidi, was called upon by the Mexican government to play a key role in planning the $60 million celebration marking 200 years since Mexico declared independence from Spain and 100 years since the Mexican Revolution.

The Roskilde Festival’s Green Footsteps program encouraged fans to act with care for the environment before, during and after the festival. Lighting supplier Comtech also helped house and visiting designers walk the walk at the main Orange stage with energy-efficient GLP impression fixtures featured in the rig.

Parnelli Lifetime Achievement Award Winner "Wore Many Hats" for ZZ Top, Waylon Jennings, Randy Travis and Brooks & Dunn

Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn issued a joint statement upon hearing the news: "We can't imagine what we did to be blessed with the likes of Randy ["Baja"] Fletcher. We hate to think about what our career might have been like without him, as so many have been won and lost on the road. The importance of a trail boss like Baja is impossible to put into words. Not a show goes by that someone doesn't talk about the quality of our crew, and it all filters down from him."

Although the exhibition hall didn't open until 10 a.m. on the Sunday morning of Sept. 12, the networking before PLASA started on the streets of Earls Court in London in the days prior to the annual production industry exhibition. That's where the real gathering of the tribe began, where you were more likely to run into your industry friends and neighbors than in your own back yard.

XL Video UK supplied video equipment and crew for Help for Heroes in Twickenham Stadium, including LED for a scenic H-shaped feature that set the visual scene. The company also provided a full I-Mag/camera/HD PPU package.

Golfers and guests at the Old White Course at The Greenbrier during an official stop on the PGA Tour stayed informed with an LED video display from Upstage Video, a Daktronics rental partner.

Griffin Automation opted for Anolis LED fixtures for an installation at the Blue Martini club in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. to replace the venue's previous neon lighting scheme.

New Image Productions used 12 Chauvet COLORado 1 fixtures to light the backdrop of the runway for SwimShow 2011 at the Miami Beach Convention Center.

The design team for the five Broadway-style shows staged aboard Holland America's New York-themed cruise ship, the 86,000-ton Ms Nieuw Amsterdam, relied upon CAST Software's wysiwyg for previsualization.

The article that follows is LD William Mackwood's account of research undertaken by York University comparing a production using LED fixtures with the same production previously staged with all-conventional gear -ed.

In June of this year, our small production company, Out of the Box Productions, was presented with a unique opportunity. In 2004, we had originally produced our show Opera Erotique at the Events Centre, a nightclub in Victoria, B.C., which was lit entirely with conventional instruments. When we talked about remounting the show at the Tranzac Club in Toronto, we decided to conduct a comparative study by lighting the entire production with LED instruments – not just washes, but acting areas as well.