International News

[caption id="attachment_278806" align="alignnone" width="800"]AED joins the verto challenge[/caption]

FRANCE – With the appointment of AED France as Prolyte distributor next to its existing distribution partner Axente, Prolyte Group has guaranteed full distribution coverage in France, offering customers optimized access to the range of Prolyte products. Prolyte Group’s trusted partner Axente, who holds the position as Prolyte distributor and ProLyft Service Point in France for a prolonged period, made it possible to succeed to open the French market for Prolyte and grow a trusted and steady customer base.

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AUSTRALIA – Lexair Entertainment is proud to have been appointed the exclusive Australian and New Zealand distributor for American followspot giant Lycian Stage Lighting. Lycian followspots are found in venues and production rental houses the world over. As the industry leader with over 50 years’ experience in followspot design and manufacturing, Lycian have a well-earned a reputation for high quality, reliable and robust products. As North America’s largest followspot manufacturer, Lycian also boast the widest range of followspots to suit every venue from the largest stadium to the smallest school hall.

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[caption id="attachment_278801" align="alignnone" width="800"]Jeroen van Aalst (Controllux) on the left with Vorstin Production Assistant Robin von Zijl[/caption]

NETHERLANDS – Podium de Vorstin is a purpose built live music venue right in the heart of ‘media city’ Hilversum in the Netherlands. Its interesting modern neo-ecclesiastical steel architecture was created by Architekten Cie, and ensures that it stands out as an aesthetic landmark as well as a popular entertainment venue. Production assistant Robin von Zijl and technical manager Michael Sakkers were part of the team who chose Robe Spiider LED wash beams and DL4S Profile luminaires – 16 of each – in a recent technical upgrade.

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[caption id="attachment_278794" align="alignnone" width="800"]ProPlexDevices[/caption]

UK – BBC One’s musical show Pitch Battle recently completed a successful opening season with five pre-recorded episodes, plus the live finals.  Live broadcasts have zero tolerance for malfunctions (just ask Mariah Carey . . . or Janet Jackson) and gear must be 100% reliable.  For this reason, lighting designer Mark Kenyon insists on ProPlex Data Distribution Devices for all his show data networking.

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[caption id="attachment_278774" align="alignnone" width="800"]Clean Bandit appears at Glastonbury[/caption]

EUROPE – As Clean Bandit continue their touring progress towards a transatlantic sojourn in the USA in the fall, it seems an appropriate moment to consider the merits of Rob Sinclair’s production design. In particular, the unique constructions that inhabit the upstage area from left to right, manufactured by specialist show and event design house, Specialz Ltd.  These pods are four metres high with eight VDO Sceptron 10 fixtures in each pod. Each one is rigged on a stand that enables the pod to be rotated 360° to be either facing downstage or at 45° degrees making them all but invisible to the audience.

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[caption id="attachment_278768" align="alignnone" width="800"]Untold Festival held in Romania[/caption]

ROMANIA – Organizing a range of large-scale festivals in a short timeframe, Romanian production company Arena Events relies on Prolyte products to support the elaborate and signature design of its stages and safety of its audience. Forza Zu and After Hills in June, Neversea and Electric Castle in July and finally Untold in August. A full production agenda for Arena Events, to say the least. Prolyte Group works closely together with the mastermind behind these events, Corneliu Ladin. Prolyte fan from his first encounter with Prolyte and Prolyte products, he simply trusts Prolyte to deliver and perform.

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BRISTOL, UK – Evans Audio Visual Staging provided equipment and scenic elements across the whole site of the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, which took place Aug. 10-13. Hundreds of thousands of people visited Ashton Court, on the edge of Bristol, during the four-day Fiesta, and Evans was involved in multiple locations across the large site, normally a country park.

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MARYBOROUGH, Queensland, Australia – The Brolga Theatre in Queensland’s Maryborough in Australia is a typical regional venue – its 900 seat proscenium arch theatre hosts an international ballet troupe one night, Jimmy Barnes the next, and a local dance school the day after. Though the venue is just 17 years old, changes in technology mean replacement lamps are no longer available for their wash lights, leading the staff to assess how to upgrade for the future. The future, as they see it, is Elation’s Platinum Seven RGBWAC-UV LED wash light.

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NORWICH, U.K. – Miss Saigon, Messrs Boublil and Schönberg’s legendary musical, has recently embarked upon a major UK tour, taking the full West End production to every corner of the UK. The show opened at the Curve, Leicester in July before moving to Birmingham Hippodrome, from where it travels to Ireland, Wales, Scotland and back to England, culminating at Norwich Theatre Royal in September 2018. Travelling with the show, with its lighting design by the equally legendary Bruno Poet, are two MDG ATMe haze generators, purchased specifically for the tour by White Light.

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GHENT, Belgium – With many music stages and event spaces throughout the city’s UNESCO protected medieval center, the annual 10 day Gentse Feesten is a go-to event for Northern European music lovers. Shining brightly against the city’s beautiful gothic architecture was the festival’s Sint-Baafsplein square stage. Vince de Schinckel brought the stage (one of the festival’s largest) to glittering life with help from eight STRIKE 1, 20 Maverick MK2 Wash, and 16 Maverick MK2 Spot fixtures from Chauvet Professional, supplied by Belgian rental specialists Euro PA.

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LONDON – Mark Cunniffe, lighting and production designer for Robbie Williams, played a role in the development of SGM’s G-4 Wash-Beam fixtures, according to the Denmark-based lighting manufacturer. The designer was looking for a “small, bright, PC lens wash light that would give me a great beam of light while in a IP65-rated housing.” SGM tinkered with its existing technologies to come up with the kind of novelty fixture Cunniffe was looking for.

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LONDON – The 2017 Knight of Illumination (KOI) Awards has announced this year’s shortlist of lighting and video designers, recognized for their creative work in the Concert Touring & Events sector. The winners will be announced at the 10th anniversary KOI Awards ceremony, to be held at London’s Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith, on Sept. 17r. The Concert Touring & Events shortlist is the third and final shortlist to be announced, following the Theatre and Television categories announced in recent weeks.

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