NEW ORLEANS — Wind and rain from Hurricane Isaac forced a wave of concert cancellations in late August and over Labor Day weekend as remnants of the storm moved inland. Although 2012 wasn’t the worst year on record for named storms from the Atlantic — thanks partly to better infrastructure, Isaac wasn’t nearly as costly as Katrina in 2005 — freakish weather has cancelled a number of events this summer.
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NEW YORK – A draft for the safety standard of orchestra pit and forestage lifts is available for public review on the PLASA website. BSR E1.42 is being written to address the lack of a national standard in North America for orchestra pit and forestage lifts and to help establish minimum safety requirements and inspection procedures.
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SYDNEY, Australia – A new children’s theatre and performance space has opened as part of the new Darling Quarter precinct. The Lend Lease Darling Quarter Theatre is the home of the Monkey Baa Theatre Company as well. Jands completed the technical installation of the theatre as a turnkey project in partnership with The PA People. For lighting, the venue chose an ETC Ion 1000 console, along with a selection of ETC fixtures.
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PULA, Croatia — The 59th Pula Film Festival, held in the ancient Vespasian’s Amphitheatre, set a new standard for outdoor 3D film presentation.The 3D projection setup achieved one of the longest throw distances ever recorded at 73.6 meters (242 ft). The setup, which included an 18.70 x 8.45m Stagelite Stereo 3D Screen from Harkness Screens, achieved a wide-viewing angle of 60º allowing the 3D presentation to be viewed at suitable brightness levels throughout the entire seating area.
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DEVON, UK – S+H Technical Support has supplied 8,000 square meters of its ShowLED Animation curtain to the new series of Sky’s popular dating games show, ‘Love Machine.’ Set designer Patrick Doherty specified the Animation curtain to wrap around the entire back of the set and create patterns, texturing and other ambient effects. S + H is also supplying ShowLED Chameleon RGB Starcloth to mask around the back of the live audience in the studio.
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RATTVIK, Sweden – Open air theatre Dalhalla is located in a 60 meter deep former limestone quarry in central Sweden. This year‘s festival production lighting design by Anders ‘Hebbe’ Herbertzon from High Voltage Designs includes Robe MMXs and LEDWash 600s, recently purchased by lighting rental company Park Brothers. A strong light source was needed to combat the low, overhanging roof over the stage and the summer sun’s refusal to set until late.
Read More »SILVER SPRING, MD – Lighting production/equipment rental company Atmosphere, Inc. announces a change in ownership and management, with the addition of longtime associates Benji Tschudin and Andrew Platt as new shareholders and officers. In addition, Jessica Warner has been promoted to general manager. The company also recently updated its lighting inventory, beefed up its inventory control system and expanded its warehouse and trucking support operations.
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LAS VEGAS — Cory Wells, one of the founders of the seminal rock band 3 Dog Night, will be hosting the Parnelli Awards in Las Vegas on Oct. 20, executive producer Terry Lowe announced. The band had 21 Top 40 hits, and Wells sang nine of them, including “Mama Told Me Not to Come,” “Never Been to Spain” and “Try a Little Tenderness.”
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NEW YORK – After more than a decade in Long Island City, WorldStage has moved its administrative offices to midtown Manhattan in a newly-designed space at 259 West 30th St. The new neighborhood offers many advantages from proximity to clients and popular event spaces to the convenience of nearby Penn Station and the New Jersey warehouse. Shelly Sabel, the company’s new director of design, says her goal was to make the new administrative offices as “playful” as the personality of the company.
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MINNEAPOLIS – The Rental and Staging Network’s (RSN) second annual Leadership Symposium, “Partners in Confluence,” took place recently at the Minneapolis Airport Marriott. Representatives from Christie, coolux, IML and Draper were on hand. Sessions focused on enhancing collaboration between sales and operations, and the event also included networking opportunities.
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