News

[caption id="attachment_275107" align="alignnone" width="800"]Zylight F8 B LED UV Fresnel[/caption]

LOS ANGELES – Zylight, a leading manufacturer and distributor of innovative LED lighting solutions, will showcase several of its stage and specialty lighting products during the USITT 2017 Annual Conference & Stage Expo, which runs March 8-11 in St. Louis. Co-located in the USHIO booth (#1911), Zylight will demonstrate its F8-200 LED Fresnel and F8-B LED UV Fresnel, as well as a variety of LDDE Nano*Pix LED soft lights and LedCyc modular LED backlight systems.

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[caption id="attachment_275090" align="alignnone" width="800"]Chauvet helps at the Opera[/caption]

PHOENIX – Composer Craig Bohmler was on a hiking trip through Arizona’s Tonto National Forest five years ago, when he came upon a small museum dedicated to Zane Grey, the prolific writer (64 novels and over 300 short stories) of American cowboy sagas. Intrigued, Bohmler began reading Grey’s Riders of the Purple Sage. Not long into the book, the composer envisioned turning the 1912 romantic story into an opera. His vision became a reality this March as The Arizona Opera premiered Riders of the Purple Sage, directed by Fenlon Lamb at Phoenix Symphony Hall.

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[caption id="attachment_275079" align="alignnone" width="700"]The Borgata Theater in Atlantic City[/caption]

MOORESTOWN, NJ – With the Borgata Hotel and Casino’s recent announcement of its new $11 million dollar conference and event space, branded the “Central Conference Center”, Starlite will provide an innovative and custom architectural lighting and control system throughout the 18,000 square-foot bi-level venue. The system, which includes ETC Sensor and Unison dimming paired with Paradigm architectural control, incorporates high-end touchscreen interfaces, which will allow the client to adapt the décor lighting based on the individual needs of the venue, event or client.

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[caption id="attachment_275076" align="alignnone" width="800"]Fifty Shades Darker Premiere[/caption]

LOS ANGELES –– The premiere for Fifty Shades of Grey sequel, Fifty Shades Darker, was held at The Theatre at Ace Hotel in Los Angeles. 4Wall Los Angeles’ events team converted the hotel’s parking lot into an elegant area welcoming the stars of the film. Lead actress and actor Dakota Johnson (Anastasia Steele) and Jamie Dornan (Christian Grey) were two of the many stars who walked the red carpet for the film’s opening night. Universal Pictures turned to 4Wall LA to provide a tasteful look for the arrivals, while incorporating elements of the movie in the overall design.

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[caption id="attachment_275073" align="alignnone" width="648"]Coldplay utilzes Solaris Flares[/caption]

SINGAPORE – Coldplay’s Head Full of Dreams tour resumes later this month in Asia. The tour has already made history by selling out 100,000 seats in Singapore.  At the same time, Kings of Leon is winding up their U.K. tour and heading for America. Paul Normandale of Lite Alternative Design is production designer for both tours, and the Solaris Flare is his LED fixture of choice – with 96 Flares used for Coldplay and 36 for Kings of Leon.

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[caption id="attachment_275059" align="alignnone" width="849"]St. Paul and the Broken Bones play the Ryman[/caption]

 NASHVILLE –– St. Paul and the Broken Bones shook the rafters of the Mother Church in a show stopping performance that left audience members feelings as though they left a revival, as the six-piece band from Alabama, currently promoting their newest album, Sea of Noise, brought their soulful sound to the historic Ryman Auditorium for a two night engagement with a lighting package provided by Bandit Lites. Lighting designer Chris Lisle sought to create an effective production package that harkened back to the old school looks of lighting.

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MIDDLETON, WI — Electronic Theatre Controls Inc. (ETC), founded by CEO Fred Foster in Madison, WI in 1975, has many long-term business partners. Writer Marshall Bissett profiled one of them — Florida-based Stage Equipment and Lighting (SEAL) — after meeting up with SEAL’s Mike Gold and Curt Contrata (pictured here, L-R) at ETC’s Rep and Dealer Workshop in Madison, WI. Marshall also spoke with SEAL VP Rick Rudolph. Here’s his account of SEAL, which has been around even longer than ETC, serving customers in Florida since 1967.

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[caption id="attachment_275045" align="alignnone" width="478"]Smash mouth gets assist from some Rogues[/caption]

CHANDLER, AZ — For a recent Smash Mouth gig in this Phoenix suburb, John Garberson of Creative Backstage used Chauvet Professional Maverick, Rogue and Strike fixtures on a Stageline SL250 stage. The setup included 10 Maverick MK2 Spots, 24 Rogue R2 Washes and four STRIKE 4 multi-formatted warm white effects. Flown on downstage, mid-stage and upstage truss, the moving fixtures were used to shower the stage with richly colored beams from multiple directions.

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[caption id="attachment_275040" align="alignnone" width="619"]Kinesys module[/caption]

ST LOUIS, – Motion control specialist and manufacturer Kinesys will exhibit for the first time – in its own right – at a U.S. trade show during the three day USITT 2017 stage expo in St. Louis, March 9th – 11th. Stand 1404 will focus on two of the leading brand’s most popular product ranges, DigiHoist intelligent motor controllers and the Libra range of load monitoring equipment, as well as highlighting Elevation vari-speed chain hoists which will interest those looking for more advanced automation systems.

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AUSTIN – Barco and ETC announced today that they are in the midst of serious discussions wherein ETC would acquire High End Systems, Barco’s lighting activities, part of the Entertainment division. While the timeline for the completion of this acquisition is still unknown, both parties are committed to moving forward with a successful transaction. 

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CARLSBAD, Ca. – The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) has announced that the organization will make a grant to the Entertainment Services and Technology Association (ESTA) Technical Standards Program (TSP). Accredited by the American National Standards Institute, ESTA’s TSP standards are used each day by manufacturers, dealers, installers, production companies and end users to provide a safe working and performance environment in venues of all sizes. The standards serve to prevent accidents, protect lives and property, and create cost and time efficiencies in the entertainment industry.

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LAS VEGAS — 3G Productions, Inc., a Las Vegas-based event production company with operations in the Los Angeles and Miami areas, announced on March 1 that they will buy the assets of Beachsound, the sound-and-lighting rental company based in Miami Gardens, FL for an undisclosed sum. Following the completion of the transaction, 3G expects to integrate all Beachsound employees into the pro forma organization. Beachsound founder and president Andre Serafini will join 3G as Vice President with responsibility for business development in the eastern region.

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