News

NEW YORK– A.C.T Lighting, Inc. will host a new product showcase in Manhattan on June 21 and 22 featuring the latest products from Clay Paky, MA Lighting, MDG and Robert Juliat.  The by-invitation event will take place in the Ford Foundation Studio at the Pershing Square Signature Center in the midtown theater district. Hours are from 10 am to 6 pm on Tuesday, June 21 and from 10 am to 4 pm on Wednesday, June 22.  Coffee, refreshments and light snacks will be served. A.C.T Lighting is the exclusive distributor of the brands in North America.

LAS VEGAS – For Raiding the Rock Vault in Las Vegas (pictured here) and its brand-new country cousin, Raiding the Country Vault in Branson, MO, audiences get to see genuine rock and country artists (and not just impersonators) do their thing. The shows’ production was developed by lighting designer Paul Dexter. Both productions present the biggest selling classic songs from an unrepeatable era (mainly 1965-1990) and include Elation Professional Platinum Series moving head fixtures and Cuepix Panel LED matrix blinders as visual support.

GLENCOE, IL – Writers Theatre recently opened a new 36,000-square-foot performance space in Glencoe, IL Lightswitch Architectural designed the architectural lighting and controls for the entire complex, including the exterior and Litowitz Atrium, pictured here.

NEW YORK — In an evening that was at once somber, defiant and celebratory, less than 24 hours after the deadliest mass shooting in American history claimed 50 lives at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, the hip hop musical, Hamilton, which had received a record 16 Tony Awards, dominated the winner’s circle with 11 wins, including LD Howell Binkley’s award for “Best Lighting Design from a Musical.”

NASHVILLE – Cyndi Lauper’s career has spanned more than 30 years, and while she’s known as a pop pioneer, she’s recently made another bold move to country airwaves with her newest album, Detour. Bandit Lites provided the lighting package for the first leg of the Grammy, Tony and Emmy-award winning performer’s summer tour, which kicked off in Nashville at the Ryman Auditorium. In addition to performing songs from her new album, Lauper also treats fans to her classic hits, “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and “True Colors,” while telling anecdotes of her adventures.

CHICAGO — MayFest returned to Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood from May 20-22, 2016, with rock veterans 7^th Heaven headlining the final night. Zach Scott designed the lighting for the band, which has opened for the likes of Bon Jovi and Kid Rock. Scott included Rogue R2 Beams from Chauvet Professional in the lighting looks at the event.

RALEIGH, NC – Alpha Production Group, which recently took delivery of six Clay Paky Scenius moving head spotlights, quickly sent them out to support the looks for Lauryn Hill’s tour, now making several stops along the Pacific Northwest. In the Lauryn Hill rig the Scenius fixtures were mounted on downstage truss to serve as washes for the artist and her band. They are also used midstage on cases for more atmospheric sets. Alpha Production Group purchased 16 Clay Paky Sharpys from A.C.T Lighting about 18 months ago and has a pair of grandMA2 Light consoles, which A.C.T Lighting also represents in North America.

MANCHESTER, TN – Synthpop trio Chvrches has been touring with a lighting design by Louis Oliver and James Scott of Okulus that includes Philips’ Showline SL Nitro 510C LED strobe fixtures to meet the band’s interest in having a strong video element but without using a conventional screen. The band performed recently at Bonnaroo 2016.

NASHVILLE — For Florida Georgia Line’s Dig Your Roots tour, named for the country duo’s third album, which is due out in Aug. 2016, Baz Halpin and Chris Nyfield are using 62 Strike 4 warm white LED fixtures from Chauvet Professional. The LDs arranged the Strike 4s, which were supplied by PRG, on five light ladders. Positioned on a trolley style track upstage, the ladders can be moved horizontally during the show. Running their rig with a grandMA2, Halpin and Nyfield control each 100-watt LED cell in their Strike 4 fixtures individually.

LAS VEGAS – At InfoComm 16, Calibre is launching a streaming video input option for the company’s 7th-generation HQView600 series presentation scaler-switchers, LEDView700 series LED scaler-switchers and HQUltra700 series live events scaler-switchers. Pictured here is Tim Brooksbank, CEO.

LIBERTY, MO — Pleasant Valley Church has installed 120 Chroma-Q Inspire color-mixing LED house lights. Stark Raving Solutions worked with Chroma-Q distributor A.C. Lighting on an LED house light “shoot out” before replacing the church’s existing 500W incandescent house lights. The goal was to provide an immersive worship environment for its congregation and to dramatically reduce the venue’s ongoing operating costs.