International News

PUY DU FOU, France – French theme park Puy du Fou’s Cinescenie, in the heart of the Vendée region in Western France, decided to use Martin Professional lighting products to light up the Cinéscénie show and installed six MAC III Performance fixtures (complete with framing module) at the edge of the set. The fixtures were supplied by lighting services provider MES, based in Vertou.

LONDON – White Light helped mark the 25th anniversary of The Phantom Of The Opera, supplying the lighting to a party at London’s Natural History Museum after the sell-out anniversary concerts at the nearby Royal Albert Hall. A projected Phantom mask covering the front entrance to the event helped set the scene.

KEMERBURGAZ, Instanbul – When the Hisar Educational Foundation in Turkey needed a lighting system for its new Culture Centre at its school in Kemerburgaz, Istanbul, they turned to Robert Juliat products. Local distributor, Elit Light Sound Technologies, took on the project.

AUSTIN, TX – High End Systems products play a part in the entertainment spectacle, Ben Hur Live, entertaining now in Rome and touring soon. A new word was coined for the monumental entertainment: “monutainment.” It’s replete with live chariot races, specially trained horses, and fire, water and wind effects. Media Resource Group (MRG) supplied HES gear from Preworks Austria, including 54 intellaspot automated luminaires.

SERIATE, Italy – When it was time for rock legend Paul McCartney to acquire a new rig for his recent tour of North America, LD Roy Bennett selected more than 80 Clay Paky Sharpy narrow-beam spotlights. The initial concept sprang from an idea suggested by McCartney himself. “Paul had talked about wanting a laser effect or a ‘cage of light,’” Bennett said, “and when he said that I thought, ‘alright, I know what can do that.’”

London – Lighting rental company Colour Sound Experiment (CSE) designs and supplies lighting and rigging for a number of UK clubs including the newly opened “Electric” live music venue in Brixton. Other current projects include The Box in Soho, four venues in Brighton and the Ice Bar in London. Each club has its own production needs, which CSE fulfills.

LONDON – Lighting designer Bernie Davis used Martin Professional’s new MAC Aura wash light on the BBC’s “Songs of Praise” 50th Birthday Celebration, which aired Sept. 25 from London’s Alexandra Palace. A host of other Martin products filled out the rig supplied from ELP.

MASCOT, Australia – Aussie musical icon John Farnham is on tour celebrating 25 years of his all-time bestselling Australian album, Whispering Jack. LD Chris Newman chose 32 Vari-Lite VLX luminaires, which changed his mind about LED fixtures.

LONDON – Nick Gray of creative lighting practice Renegade designed lighting for the main British Fashion Council (BFC) space in Somerset House and other rooms, along with many cutting-edge off site shows in one of his busiest Fashion Weeks to date.

LONDON – Garage-punk band The Horrors are making the most of their name and Halloween by performing under an appropriate “vibrant green” beam and other spooky looks. Their recent gig at London’s Roundhouse used an assortment of gear from White Light.

AARHUS, Denmark – Lighting designer Stephan Aue of Ambion GmbH is one of the first LDs worldwide to use Martin Professional’s new MAC Aura wash light. He placed 42 of the fixtures on the German rock band Guano Apes’ current European tour, controlling it with a Martin M1 console.