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Lighting helped transform the hotel room into a nightclub...

Lighting “The End of the Rainbow”

Broadway musicals lean towards spectacle — flashy lighting, dynamic choreography, show-stopping numbers to rouse the masses. But sometimes subtle is better, especially when it comes to a tragicomic play like End of the Rainbow, which is interspersed with musical numbers by famed singer Judy Garland, portrayed with pizzazz by Tony Award nominee Tracie Bennett.

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How To Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular photo by Lisa Tomasetti

High-Flying Dragons Bring Live Visuals to New Heights

Not wanting to rest on their laurels, Global Creatures, the masterminds behind one of the highest-grossing tours of 2010, Walking with Dinosaurs, are once again amazing audiences and pushing the entertainment technology envelope. Having teamed up with DreamWorks Animation, they are now sending dragons soaring through arena skies and immersing audiences in the mythical Viking world of DreamWorks’ How To Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular.

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Peter Morse

Peter Morse, Lighting Designer

Peter Morse is one of the most sought-after lighting talents in the live event industry. He was named the Parnelli Lighting Designer of the Year in 2004, was nominated for an Emmy in 1995, 1997, 2000, 2001, and won the Emmy in 1997 for Bette Midler’s Diva, Las Vegas HBO Special. His list of clients includes Madonna, Prince, Christina Aguilera, Andrea Bocelli, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Barbara Streisand, Usher and many more. He’s had an enviable career and continues to do big things — but he paused recently to go on record with PLSN about his journey so far.

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Greg Gundrum

Checkers Celebrates 25 Years

“Here’s a fun fact — we sell to over 60 countries, and for a company started right here in the Rocky Mountains, that’s kind of neat.”

So says Greg Gundrum, VP of sales and marketing for Checkers Industrial Safety Products, the company behind all those orange and black cable protection ramps seen at events large and small.

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Joe Branam, founder, Branam Enterprises

Joe Branam: Rigger, Visionary, Parnelli Honoree

All the developments in sound and lighting, all the visual candy designed by our greatest, most imaginative scenic designers, wouldn’t mean anything if an equally creative visionary did not know how to make it all fly. That’s the conclusion the Parnelli Board of Advisors came to in choosing to bestow the Parnelli Visionary Award to Joe Branam. Not only is he one of the rigging pioneers; he founded Branam Enterprises, an institution that has always and continues to create endless possibilities.

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Parnelli Hometown Hero Regional Winners 2012 - Lighting

2012 Hometown Hero Lighting Regional Winners

The readers have put the spotlight on who they think are the best of the best of their region when it comes to lighting, staging, and/or video. We have some fresh faces and some “repeat offenders.” All of these are bestowed with a little something to hang on their wall with the Parnelli logo and all the honor, glory, and bragging rights that go with it. Take a look at the companies here that you might not be familiar with, and reacquaint yourself with others — before heading on over to www.parnelliawards.com to vote for the best of the best. The winning company will be honored with the Hometown Hero Lighting Company of the Year award at the Parnelli Awards Oct. 20, 2012 at the Mirage in Las Vegas.

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Mega-Lite N-E Color FX9

Mega-Lite N-E Color FX9

Mega-Lite’s N-E Color FX9 is an LED strip fixture with matrix capabilities. Its nine tri-color RGB 3W LEDs (with 27 red, green and blue LEDs in all) are designed for smooth color mixing, and with the ability to generate a 2.5-foot beam with output measuring close to 100 lumens at 10 feet, the fixture is powerful enough to serve as a wall or cyc wash.

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Electric Forest Festival photo by Sebastian Collet/Guildworks

2012 Electric Forest Festival

There’s something primordial and mysterious — even psychedelic — happening in the forest. Laser beams cut through the wooded expanse and ricochet off 50-foot white pines sporting bounce mirrors, and artful lighting displays (some inspired by the symbolic designs inherent to Sacred Geometry) radiate throughout well-traveled and isolated locations of the woods.

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Analog Way Eikos EKS500 Matrix Switcher, front

Analog Way Eikos EKS500 Matrix Switcher

I have to keep reminding myself that computers really only do one thing at a time and, even then, it’s only what you tell them to do. It’s like I always tell my technophobe friends, “Think of it like a toaster, you can make toast — not lasagna.” Video gear is much the same way. In fact, that’s what I think distinguishes great products from mediocre ones.

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Going 3D

3D Stereoscopy-Friendly Media Servers

What is Stereoscopy? Since I live in Las Vegas, I’d wager a healthy bet that we’ve all seen a 3D movie at some point in our lives. And I’m sure we’ve wondered how it works while we’re wearing those funny cardboard (or, if you’re at a theme park, they might be plastic) glasses.

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