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Ayrton Diablo—Lights that Don’t Go Wrong

“For Mischief’s Magic Goes Wrong, it is the show that is comedy chaos on stage,” opens its lighting designer, David Howe. “It must never be the lights that go wrong!”

Co-written by Mischief and international magicians, Penn and Teller, Magic Goes Wrong, first opened at London’s Vaudeville Theatre in 2019 before touring the UK since July ’21. A West End version returned to London in October with a relaunch at the Apollo Theatre that will run until February 2022. The comedy play is presented as a fundraiser and features a string of inept magicians doing their best acts to raise money for ‘disasters in magic’. The result is a fast-paced variety show with high production values and great audience interaction.Read More »Ayrton Diablo—Lights that Don’t Go Wrong

Jeremy Billig Succeeds Malcom McLaren as CEO of the McLaren Engineering Group

Malcolm McLaren, PE, Founder and Chairman, is pleased to announce the next phase of McLaren Engineering Group’s succession plan with the appointment of Jeremy Billig, PE, current President, to the role of CEO. Billig will be taking the helm of McLaren’s operational structure as Mal shifts into a new strategic position as Executive Chairman of the Board.Read More »Jeremy Billig Succeeds Malcom McLaren as CEO of the McLaren Engineering Group

Robe Adds Magic to Cinderella Panto Production

The UK panto season is back with a big bang after waiting in the wings during 2020 as the country squared up to Covid-19, reigniting all things panto like slapstick comedy, low-brow innuendo, gawdy sets, psychedelic vibrance, and total craziness for which it’s known and appreciated, with lighting designers around the country delighted to be back working on this peculiarly English—and highly expressive genre of performance.Read More »Robe Adds Magic to Cinderella Panto Production

The New 1/52 Project Grant Program Encourages Early Career Theater Designers and Industry Diversity

The 1/52 Project is a newly launched financial grant program which will offer $15,000 grants to theater designers. The project hopes to encourage early career designers from historically excluded groups with the aim of diversifying and strengthening the Broadway design community. The 1/52 project is funded by designers with shows running on Broadway who are encouraged to donate one week every year of their weekly royalties to this fund, thus the name of 1/52 Project.Read More »The New 1/52 Project Grant Program Encourages Early Career Theater Designers and Industry Diversity

Houben Souren and Elation Make the Grade on Dutch University Auditorium Upgrade

Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) in the Netherlands is one of the leading technical universities in Europe. The school’s auditorium, the heart of the campus where students attend lectures and presentations of all types, recently received a lighting upgrade of Elation luminaires specified and installed by AV company Houben Souren.Read More »Houben Souren and Elation Make the Grade on Dutch University Auditorium Upgrade

2022 Grammy Awards Ceremony Postponed; Sundance Film Festival to be Online Only

Originally set for Jan. 31 at L.A.’s Crypto.com Arena (formerly Staples Center), the 64th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony has been postponed, with no new date confirmed. Also last week, organizers of the Sundance Film festival announced that their event, prepped as a hybrid online/in person gig with a Jan. 20 start date, will proceed as an online-only event.

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TCG Appoints Joshua Henry Jenkins as Director of Marketing


Joshua Henry Jenkins has been appointed as the new director of marketing of the Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre. Jenkins will be responsible for creating, implementing, and measuring the success of a comprehensive marketing plan that advances TCG’s mission to lead for a just and thriving theatre ecology. Working with a portfolio that includes individual membership, events, and publishing, Jenkins will raise the valuation of TCG’s programs within the theatre field while championing the not-for-profit theatre to the broader culture.Read More »TCG Appoints Joshua Henry Jenkins as Director of Marketing

Vienna State Opera Invests in Robe FORTE HCF Moving Lights

The Opera House wanted the human touch of the operator being involved rather than having a tracking system, so the FORTE Followspots are fitted with Robe’s LightMaster kit handles which enable the followspot operators to control the size and the intensity of the fixtures, while the other parameters are run via the venue’s main ETC GIO lighting console. Photo by: Ingo Dombrowski

The Vienna State Opera House in Austria—also home to the Vienna State Ballet—has invested in new Robe FORTE HCF LED moving lights and FORTE HCF Followspots, selecting the high CRI LED engine option for these powerful fixtures which utilize Robe’s unique TE (Transferable Engine) technology. TE is a powerful, intelligent, and eco-friendly lighting solution enabling different engines—high powered, high CRI, ‘tungsten’ etc., —to be used in the same fixtures. They can be changed quickly and easily in 5 – 7 minutes. Read More »Vienna State Opera Invests in Robe FORTE HCF Moving Lights