General

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14 March 2016

Box office takings have more than doubled to £18.1m from £8.3m in 2010/11, when the company had reduced operations due to the refurbishment of the Royal Shakespeare and Swan Theatres. Its audience almost doubled between the two seasons - up to 708,022 people in 2011/12. Percentage capacity remained static at 89%.

The results were reported at the RSC's annual general meeting in Stratford, which saw artistic director Michael Boyd and executive director Vikki Heywood hand over to Gregory Doran and Catherine Mallyon respectively.

NT in NYC - The National Theatre has announced that it is opening a New York

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14 March 2016

Midas announced the gong during a pre-PLASA distributor's dinner and then later in the week on the Midas PLASA Stand during the European press launch of the PRO1 and VeniceU.

"The award was made in recognition of Britannia Row's design and application of the largest, most complex network of Midas consoles to date," explains brand manager Richard Ferriday. "The system was used on the hugely demanding Queen's Jubilee Concert where more than 250,000 people packed into The Mall, St. James's Park and at the Queen Victoria Memorial, to watch the stellar line up of bands, who performed in quick succession, as millions more watched around the world on TV."

"We are delighted to be

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14 March 2016

Although the show attracted fewer visitors than last year, following a quiet - and gloriously sunny - Sunday, numbers picked up again for Monday and Tuesday, and after an unusually busy final day the overall visitor attendance reached 11, 500 (subject to ABC audit). Despite anecdotal reports of reduced international turnout, the overseas attendance was in fact a robust 25% of the total footfall, compared with 26% in 2011. The overall response from exhibitors, however, was vintage PLASA - excellent quality visitors and good levels of business - plus a strong sense of the buzz returning to

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14 March 2016

Lord Grade on behalf of the industry commented, "We appreciate the opportunity to meet the Minister and discuss issues affecting the future viability of our industry. Spectrum policy is an important and evolving area of the Government's work, and essential to the future of world-leading content production in the UK.

"It is good to see that the Government is listening to the concerns of the industry, and committing to an on-going dialogue."

Peter Roberts on behalf of BEIRG said, "The UK creative industries generate tens of billions of pou

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14 March 2016

In addition to the latest ideas from Penn Elcom, the newest products from Pro Audio Stash, Rackz and CLD Distribution all attracted interest over the four day show.

Penn Elcom chairman Roger Willems states, "It was a good opportunity to meet many of our existing customers from the UK as well as make some new contacts."

The integrated stand also highlighted Penn's quality metalworking and manufacturing capabilities in the UK, and how this and other synergies help fuel the development of innovative and cost-efficient product lines across the sister companies.

"Overall this enables us to offer a very 'joined-up' range of complimentary products," confirms Wille

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14 March 2016

For over 30 years, MDG has created fog and haze generators for entertainment, industrial, firefighting and military customers. Based in Montreal in Canada, the company's philosophy is to develop and produce the best generators on the market.

"We chose ULA Group as our distributors because their degree of dedication to our industry matches MDG's own," says Martin Michaud, president & CEO of MDG. "Coupled with ULA's unsurpassed knowledge of the Australian market, we believe this to be a very exciting, effective combination."

ULA Group marked the new appointment by introducing the MDG fog generators during Entech Connect show in Melbourne (18 - 19 July 2012), where they received positive feedback from visitors.

The MDG machines are well respected and

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14 March 2016

Teams were entered by companies throughout the events industry; manufacturers from the lighting and sound sides of the industry (Martin Professional & Meyer Sound) as well as rental & sales companies (White Light, Autograph & Delta Sound). The video industry was represented by a team from Creative Technology with the rigging fraternity represented by Unusual Rigging. Ted Moore from Stage Technologies was flying the flag for the automation sector. End users were also represented with teams from Ambassadors Theatre Group and the English National Opera.

Once the scores were added up, it was the Autograph team who was victorious and claimed first prize over Meyer Sound. The sec

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14 March 2016

Brenner's background has been as a touring industry executive with over 25 years experience and has included producing tours for such stellar names as Jonas Brothers, Justin Timberlake, Backstreet Boys & Britney Spears. His responsibilities in this role covered all things creative, organizational, logistical and financial, all terrific skill-sets that he now brings to Le Maitre.

Says Brenner: "I'm really looking forward to working with such a well established company. Maintaining excellent customer satisfaction will be a top p

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14 March 2016

D-Tools Regional Training events provide a classroom-style venue for hands on training delivered by expert trainers. This training will make it convenient for UK and Europe based companies to send one or multiple attendees to experience three days of intense hands on instruction, says the company.

The UK training event is planned to help attendees get the most from the all new D-Tools SIX. Attendees will learn tips, tricks, best practices and ways to build their businesses with D-Tools from expert D-Tools instructor, Ryan Brown of Media Environment Design (MED). The course content is

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14 March 2016

This will focus on supplying a selection of professional audio, AV and lighting products and accessories that are not currently directly available in the UK.

It follows healthy trading for the company's design and rental business over the last two years, with the intention of expanding UEP's sphere of trading.

"The sales division has been planned for some time - it was just a question of waiting for the right moment to launch," explain UPE's Steve Butcher, adding that it will bring a dynamic new angle to UEP's operation, which has been running successfully for 15 years, specialising in all areas of corporate and live events and presentations.

UEP Sales will function comple

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14 March 2016

Business Minister Michael Fallon said, "From today [Monday] businesses are freed from the red tape that holds them back." The change was introduced through a private member's bill, introduced by Liberal Democrat Don Foster, in order to amend some of the bureaucracy imposed on gigs by the 2003 Licensing Act. The success is a relatively rare example of a House of Lords private member's bill making it i

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14 March 2016

The month-long ballot will decide places on PLASA's European and North American Regional Boards, together with a single seat on its over-arching Governing Body.

The role of the Regional Boards is to represent the interests of members affiliated to those regions, ensuring that PLASA offers strong on the ground support to members. Both the North American and European Regional Boards are looking to fill a number of places for 2013.

For the European Regional Board, Martin Hawthorn of Hawthorn's has put his name forward for a second term as Treasurer, Chris Parry-Jones of Gallowglass and Mark Surtees (incumbent) of Outback Rigging have put their names forward to represent Production Services members, Gerry Francke of Creative Technology and Noreen O'Riordan of Entec So

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14 March 2016

The Academy took many enquiries for its Foundation Degree in Live Events Production, for which there are still places for this November. It also had a lot of interest from overseas companies wanting training delivered in their home country.

Said sales & business development manager Sara Gleadhall, "What was surprising this year was the number of enquiries we had from companies and professionals abroad who are desperate for us to take our training overseas.

"We are currently looking at developing packages of training in essential backstage skills and certificates to deliver in foreign countries."

The Academy launched a student competition to win a week's work experience on the set build of a major

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14 March 2016

When tickets sold out, Michael and Emily Eavis posted a joint statement on Twitter saying: "We're genuinely humbled by the sheer number of people who would like to come to the festival and we dearly wish we could have you all along. Sadly, that just isn't possible, which means a significant number of people have missed out. Demand simply outstripped supply."

Live Advice - The Musici

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14 March 2016

TheatreCraft is open to anyone between the ages of 17 and 25 and provides a unique glimpse into the behind the scenes world of theatre - from stage management to wig-making, lighting to marketing and writing to designing.

PLASA Skills will be present at the event to give young people advice about getting the skills and experience they need to give them a head start towards an enjoyable career in theatre.

PLASA Members are welcome to promote their own work experience initiatives through the PLASA Skills stand. Anyone interested in this opportunity should email Michele Enright with details.

(Claire Beeson)

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14 March 2016

Reports of a possible tour to mark The Stones's 50th anniversary had been circulating for a number of years. Making the announcement in a video on YouTube, the band said, "You must have guessed this was coming."

"Surely you didn't think we weren't going to do this? Soon we will be back on stage playing for you in two cities that know how to rock and roll." Mick Jagger suggested there could be some special guests at the shows, saying there would be "maybe a few friends joining us".

The Rolling Stones' last world tour, A Bigger Bang, played to 4.5m people in 32 countries over two years before it finished

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14 March 2016

TheatreCraft, which is now in its seventh year, is the essential free event for anyone aged 17 to 25 looking for a non-performance career in theatre. Participants can explore topics including producing, stage management, wig-making, lighting, marketing, theatre journalism, sound, directing, costume design, playwriting and designing.

The event on Friday 30 November at the Royal Opera House will welcome more than 1,000 young people from across the UK and runs from 9am - 3.30pm. Participants will have the chance to take part in a choice of over 60 workshops delivered by skilled theatre professionals from, meet more than 40 exhibitors in the bustling marketplace and visit the 'Ask the Experts' zone which offers one-to-one advic

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14 March 2016

Le Maitre's HazeMaster has been engineered to withstand the rigours of the road when on tour.

Le Maitre have taken all their experience from HazeMaster's predecessors, the renowned Stadium Hazer and the MVS Hazer, and designed a completely new machine with a host of new features and benefits. Le Maitre's acquired knowledge and original investments have enabled them to produce a much more competitively priced unit, despite using higher quality, longer lasting parts, says the company.

The combination of an industrial grade air-pump, a two-stage heating process and a microprocessor controller, produce an output so powerful that the HazeMaster can convert up to 500cc of fluid per hour. Despite the huge output, the high efficiency design results in the power consumption of the HazeMaster being just 800W - less than hal

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14 March 2016

The fifth annual event looks set to continue its success story with over 91% of exhibition space already taken and only 15 stands available to book between now and December. PLASA members and previous exhibitors receive discounts on stand space, but exhibitors are advised to move quickly to secure a spot.

Long-standing exhibitors who will be returning to the show include Shure Distribution, Elation, AC Entertainment Technologies, Adam Hall, Hall Stage, Electro-Voice, Sound Technology, Batmink, Chauvet, J&C Joel, Polar Audio, Avolite

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14 March 2016

During a "particularly strong" 2011, UK songwriters and composers earned £187.7m globally - up 10% on 2010. Income earned abroad has doubled in the last decade, the PRS added. Royalties are generated any time a song is played - whether it is on TV, radio, online or at a live event - and distributed between composers and performers.

PRS said that revenues had jumped from £88m in 2002 for two reasons: The popularity of British music abroad and "improved licensing". Live music incomes saw substantial growth from £2.2m to £21m since 2002, due to sel

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14 March 2016

Mojo Barriers Australia officially opened doors on 2 October, and the operation is already in full swing for the start of the Australian event season. The main office and storage premises are based in Sydney and will house over 1,500m of stock, with additional barriers located across other major cities to allow for the most efficient and cost effective service.

Since the crowd safety product was first introduced to Australia in 2002, Mojo Barriers has firmly established a leading positioning the market, supplying events including Big Day Out, Soundwave and Future Music Festival via local partners. Now, in response to client demand, Mojo Barriers has b

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14 March 2016

Atkinson will primarily be carrying out energy and sustainability audits and delivering Display Energy Certificates and Advisory Reports for theatres, performing arts venues and entertainment industry suppliers and distributors from January 2013, under the name: Entertaining Sustainability.

The accompanying website aims to offer a mini social network for those interested in entertainment and sustainability to stay in touch and share news, ideas and experiences. The website launched this week for two months of 'public beta', before becoming fully-fledged in January 2013.

Atkinson comments: "I am keen that it

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14 March 2016

Hosted by Today show presenter Matt Lauer, the concert will be recorded from NBC's New York studios at Rockefeller Plaza. It will be broadcast live across NBC's other cable networks including Bravo, CNBC, E!, Syfy and USA at 20:00 EST (00:00 GMT) and tape-delayed on the west coast. The commercial-free telethon will also be streamed live on NBC's website. NBC organised a similar benefit after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 which raised $50

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14 March 2016

PLASA Focus: Stamford will also host the popular PLASA Professional Development Programme, a two-day programme of free seminars and events running alongside the exhibition - including a Keynote Session presented by legendary lighting designer and one of the world's preeminent theatre consultants, Richard Pilbrow. Richard will also be taking part in a book signing before the seminar, coinciding with a cocktail and hors d'oeuvres reception. This free to attend event takes place on Monday, 12 November from 5pm onwards. To book this session, and to see the full line u