WASHINGTON, DC — Not all Christmas lighting ceremonies are matters of national security, or need to be attended by the Secret Service. For the National Christmas Tree lighting event staged earlier this month, however, LD Stefan DeWilde made sure Atmosphere Inc. provided a grandMA console, and a second one as a backup.
Read More »VICTOR, NY — Vortek, a division of Daktronics, is moving its manufacturing facility a mile from the current facility in Victor, N.Y. The theatrical rigging design and manufacturing company was seeking more space and an updated facility to support its plan to expand its capacity to server national and international customers.
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AUSTIN, TX — Barco announced that the High End Systems Showgun 2.5 automated luminaire, previewed at trade shows this fall, has been released. The instrument offers 30 percent more photonic output than its predecessor via a new 2500-watt Philips MSR lamp source, producing 130,000 lumens of light. High End Systems co-developed the lamp with Philips.
Read More »Tomcat USA Inc. has announced the departure of Mitch Clark, founder and president of the company. Vitec Group’s Stefano Rosellini made the announcement. Tomcat became part of the U.K.-based Vitec Group in late 2006.
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NORTH CREEK, NY — Creative Stage Lighting recently named Donna Cleveland sales service manager. Cleveland will oversee CSL’s customer service and various internal projects. Cleveland was previously with Creative Stage Lighting for 10 years as Customer Service manager. She also brings recent experience from The Original Lincoln Logs, a national company with headquarters in Chestertown, N.Y.
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HOUSTON — The 9th Annual Latin Grammy Awards was the first where a female performer, Gloria Estefan, was named Persona del Año. The awards program’s lighting rig also steered away from the status quo with new LED-based fixtures supplied by Zenith Lighting Inc., including Coemar’s Infinity ACL, Infinity Wash XL and ParLite LEDs.
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NEW YORK — Every year, more than a million people get their holiday kicks by traveling to New York to see the Rockettes at the annual Radio City Christmas Spectacular in New York. Well over 100,000 more wait for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular Arena Tour to come to them. In all, 34 trucks and 16 buses travel to 18 arenas with capacities between 7,000 to 12,000 people.
Read More »LOS ANGELES — XL Video announced that John Wiseman has stepped down from his position as president of XL Touring Video, a division of XL Video, and that John Bowman, who has been with XLTV since it got started in 1996, has been promoted to lead operations for the company.
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FAIRFAX, VA — George Mason University (GMU) upgraded an outdated rigging system for its 2,000-seat concert hall with 45 of J.R. Clancy’s PowerLift automated line sets and the company’s SceneControl 500. The upgrade gives the venue the ability to mount more elaborate productions and simultaneously addresses safety concerns.
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NEW YORK — Billy Elliot – The Musical, staged in both the U.K. and Australia, is stepping up to Broadway with more than 100 moving lights including 50 ETC Source Four Revolution fixtures. LD Rick Fisher has been using the automated fixtures for the show since it opened in London.
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LOS ANGELES — The fourth annual Stage Lighting Super Saturday all-day training seminar is set for Feb. 7, 2009, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Presented by Sonny Sonnenfeld and Scott C. Parker, the seminar will take place at the West Adams Preparatory High School in Los Angeles, with a training sessions led by stage lighting professionals covering basic and advanced topics.
Read More »NEW YORK — The ESTA Foundation / USITT Joint Training Initiative has posted a calendar online that lists industry training events available at www.estafoundation.org/seminars/trainingcalendar.htm. Anyone who wants to add a training event to the list can send information [email protected]
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