News

MIDDLETON, WI – Electronic Theater Controls (ETC) turned to Marshall Bissett to profile well-known LD Lee Rose, who has used many of the company’s products over a 46-year career. Rose has delved into the intricacies of lighting the stage for theatre, dance and rock productions, starting with Atlantis Philharmonic, the opening act at a Styx concert back in 1974. By the 1980s, Rose had ventured into TV and film lighting. Bissett’s profile of Rose follows:

KNOXVILLE, TN  – While the name may suggest otherwise, The University of Tennessee Medical Center’s annual fundraising gala, ‘An Evening in Orange’ was a glittering evening of white, with a lighting package donated by Bandit Lites. The black tie event and dance party took place April 16 and benefited The Cancer Research Endowment, where UTMC’s CEO Joe Landsman announced that, during this year alone, the Cancer Research Institute raised over $4 million.

LOS ANGELES — Empire Pro’s EPU (Empire Pro University) training program continues with an Educational Training and Product Workshop set for the company’s facility at 5675 Mansfield Way, Bell CA in the Los Angeles area. The event is the company’s 18th in-house event workshop, and it is open to AV and Lighting professionals. It will take place May 5, 2016 from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – Beach Park in Florida’s famous spring break city is 893 miles from Ryman Auditorium, birthplace of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. But for three days this April, the eyes of the country music world were on Fort Lauderdale, as the Tortuga Music Festival welcomed Blake Shelton, Tim McGraw, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Joe Nichols and Dierks Bentley and a host of other hot country artists to its main stage.

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ARLINGTON, TX – For WWE’s WrestleMania 32, held at AT&T Stadium (home of the Dallas Cowboys) on April 3, Syncrolite provided an arsenal of luminous firepower including MX4, SXL and XL fixtures. The setup for the 101,763 fans packing the stadium (a WrestleMania record) also included 40 of Syncrolite’s newest fixture, the SyncroMITE Beam. Introduced at LDI last October, the SyncroMITE Beam is now in full production and available for immediate rental and sale.

PITTSBURGH, PA – Four years after masterminding the set design for Blake Shelton’s first major tour, creative director Steve Cohen has been brought in again to unite lighting and video into a fluid stage set redolent of the artist’s Oklahoma roots. And once again he has relied heavily upon GLP’s LED fixtures, sourcing more than 200 of the German company’s X4 Series units from his regular vendor, Beame (formerly Atomic Lighting).

MIAMI – ADJ’s 2016 Nightclub Expo event, to be held at the ADJ Miami location, is set for Thursday, May 12, 2016 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. The facility is located at 13185 NW 47th Ave., Opa-locka, Florida 33054. This free event is aimed at venue owners of nightclubs, bars, lounges and restaurants with nighttime entertainment, as well as, nightclub DJs, lighting designers, tastemakers, nightlife influences, and party planners.

MINNEAPOLIS — When Minneapolis’ Skyway Theatre hosted punk-turned-EDM duo Adventure Club, LD Ryan Warffuel and others at Antic Studios filled the cavernous 2,000-capacity former cinema with big video and lighting looks using gear from Chauvet Professional. Warffuel, VJ/content creator Max Koehler and the rest of the Antic Studios team (Derrick Koehler, Brandon Rathke, and JD Vanderwiel) deployed 41 PVP S5 LED video panels, 12 Rogue R1 Beam fixtures and four Q-Wash 260-LED washes.

VENICE, FL – Coastlife Church recently added a new 400+ seat auditorium to its property. AVL integration company Crown Design Group outfitted the space with 33 Elation Colour Pendant color-changing LED luminaires. Opened in time for Easter services, the new house lighting system is both white-light functional and creatively full-color immersive when required.

LAS VEGAS — The Parnelli Board of Advisors has announced that Richard Fernandez will be honored with the 2016 Parnelli Lifetime Achievement Award. During an enviable 40-plus year career in the live entertainment business, Fernandez served as tour manager for the Faces, the Eagles, Bob Dylan, the New Barbarians, Frank Zappa, Crosby Stills & Nash and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers among others, traveling around the world and back scores of times.

NASHVILLE – Bandit Lites is providing gear for country artist Billy Currington’s Summer Forever tour. LD Chris Shrom turned to Bandit for Elation’s ACL 360 Bars, Robe Robin Pointes, Elation Cuepix 2-Cell WW Blinders, GLP impression X4s and Stageline Nitro 510 Strobes. Board operator Ian Saunders is triggering the cues with a grandMA2 Light console.