International News

BRATISLAVA, Slovak Republic —Slovakia, the latest EU country to accept the Euro as its national currency, staged a live, televised celebration lit by LD Martin Kubánka using Robe moving lights. Branislav Mišík directed the event, staged at the Slovak National Theatre, and Kubánka worked with DoP Vladimír ÄŽurčanský and set designer Daniel Šichman on the event, which was produced for STV1 by Red House.

WEXFORD, IRELAND—Robert Juliat has supplied a substantial quantity of its 1K and 1.2K fresnels and PC fixtures to Ireland’s first custom-built opera house, the Wexford, located in Wexford, in Southeast Ireland. The Wexford Opera House is a state-of-the-art venue concealed behind a re-instated street front in the town’s main street. Occupying 4.5 times the space of the old opera house it replaces, Wexford Opera House is a multi-purpose performance space capable of offering a varied, year-round program of opera, theatre and dance.

BEIJING — The launch of the Mercedes B Class in China, organized by the agency Munich One, revolved around the idea of a digital reveal. After an initial project meeting, the design team led by Andree Verleger and Guido Gesell approached coolux to explore possible uses of multiple projectors onto a full-sized car for this corporate event.

DUSSELDORF — On a scale of difficulty, supplying a safe rig might not rank up there with identifying your cows blindfolded, solely on the basis of the noise that they make while munching apples. Or as dangerous as pushing a car with a spear — the tip of which rests on your throat.

ENSCHEDE, The Netherlands — The Muziekkwartier, a new 80 million Euro venue, has opened with Robe moving lights installed in two of the multi-purpose spaces inside. After 18 months of construction, the new theatre replaced a previous building, with different venues inside run by several companies.

Nocturne Productions opted to include Medialon Manager for the Eagles’ Long Road Out of Eden world tour, and Medialon programming specialist Automation 4 Ltd. joined the production team to assist in programming the show control system — while allowing for band members to improvize.

BIRMINGHAM, U.K. — XL Events supplied five large LED screens, cameras, PPU, a Catalyst digital media server and crew for the Live Action Arena at the 2009 Autosports exhibition, staged at the National Exhibition Centre. The center screen was made from 75 square meters of Lighthouse R16 LED panels and was flanked by two 30 square meter Lighthouse R7 screens.

DUSSELDORF, Germany — Lighting designers Andreas Ellmerer and Thomas Brügge used nearly 180 Robe ColorSpot 1200E ATs for “TV Total Stock Car Crash Challenge,” a show staged at the LTU Arena that featured the car-racing skills — and aggression — of celebrities from the music, TV and sporting worlds.

SPLIT, Croatia — The first newly-built arena to open since Croatia was formed in 1991 opened in late December after 430 days of construction. The arena’s 28,500-square-meter hall, with a seating capacity of 12,000, has been equipped with a chain-hoist system using hoists and a controller made by ChainMaster.

BEDFORD, U.K. — Bandit Lites, Ltd. moved their European operations into a new, larger facility. The 50,000 square foot facility includes 6,500 square feet of office space, with the remaining space divided between the Technical Services Department, the LED and Special Effects Department and the Generic and Rigging Departments. The facility also houses a virtual programming suite, storage space and enough space for Bandit to prep several lighting systems simultaneously.