UK - HSL supplied lighting equipment to Rita Ora's first full production tour which blasted its way round the country, with lighting design by Andy Iliffe.

The critically acclaimed chart topping singer-songwriter's show features an impressive array of props and stunning costumes in addition to her vibrant performance.

HSL's Mike Oates project managed and comments, "Rita Ora is one of the hottest emerging talents in the UK, and Andy's light show was every bit as original and exciting as her stage presence. We are extremely proud to be involved."

Iliffe's dynamic touring r

Sweden / USA - Wireless Solution Sweden AB, manufacturer of the W-DMX wireless DMX technology, reports that it has been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to Interlite AB (mother company and patent owner) an invention patent in regards to their new technology for wireless communicating using adaptive frequency hopping (US 8,340,157).

In accordance with the granted patent, it is possible to in a more precise way handle an adaptive wireless environment including a plurality of wireless devices competing for the available bandwidth. Accordingly, this new tec

Nigeria - The Money Drop (Nigeria) is a new version of Endemol's high-tension TV games show and the first such series to be aired on the African continent.

It was recorded in Kew Studios in Johannesburg with lighting supplied by leading SA rental company, Blond Productions.

Robe moving lights - including new Robin LEDBeam 100s, MMX Spots and 600E Beams plus ColorSpot 250E ATs, ColorSpot 700E ATs and 575 XT Scans - were used extensively. The fixtures were a major element of an impressive lighting design by Peter Reick, while Anolis ArcLink optic 4 LED strips were used to illum

USA - Multi Grammy Award-winner Barry Manilow returns to Broadway for the first time in more than two decades and this time he's accompanied by grandMA2 consoles. Bandit Lites supplied the grandMA2 ultra-light consoles to the St. James Theatre for the entertainer's limited-run engagement featuring a catalogue of his hits.

Production designer Seth Jackson began using grandMA2 consoles during the programming process. "We did a lot of the programming while the band was on the road, then we had a lot of stuff to re-program and no window to do it all at once," he recalls. "S

South Africa - In the Pretoria CBD, the South African State Theatre is doing phenomenal work as it produces successful shows which play to full houses. It can be described as a theatre that keeps up with the times. In 2012, it not only appointed a new and passionate CEO, but it was also the start of implementing LED technology to the venue.

When DR Quinton W Simpson was assigned CEO in May 2012, he was open to new ideas to further enhance the theatre including the request to transform the theatre to LED. "I asked if we could start changing to LED due to the power, gel and weight

World - Bloc Party are currently in the midst of their biggest, most ambitious tour to date. The Four tour completed 2012 in Mexico and, so far, 2013 has taken them across the USA then on to Europe, via Japan. The end of February will see the band playing to a 19,000 strong audience at Earls Court before March escorts the tour down to Australia and the Far East.

The lighting design reflects the band's persona; direct, clean, sharp and uncompromising. Rob Sinclair, designer of both set and design sums it up succinctly, "Set, light and lasers exist as a whole, unified visual

Czech Republic - Registration is now open for Showlight 2013, the event organised for lighting designers by lighting designers, that takes place only once every four years. This year's event, say the organisers, exceeds all previous expectations as we invite you to join us at a beautiful fairy-tale castle in the Czech Republic, home to our sponsors Robe, on Saturday 18 - Tuesday 21 May 2013.

Three days of papers from renowned international lighting designers, an afternoon of visits, which includes the castle's very own baroque theatre, and discussion with manufacturers of the highest

USA - Super Bowl XLVII was a memorable game, but the full Super Bowl experience started well before kickoff with a pair of live pre-game concerts broadcast on VH-1 and CMT where Clay Paky Alpha Spot QWO 800s and grandMA2 light consoles played key roles.

VH-1 and the NFL joined forces to celebrate the Super Bowl with Train headlining on Friday night. CMT and the NFL partnered the following evening on a Crossroads special starring superstar country band Rascal Flatts and iconic rock band Journey. Both concerts were held at The Sugar Mill in New Orleans, which seats 4,000-5,000 fans.

A

UK - Richard Martin Lighting has added the Chromlech Jarag-L to its already extensive inventory and they are available for hire here now.

The Jarag-L provides the performance of a conventional lighting array with the ability to create unlimited lighting effects. All the electronics required (dimmers and controls systems) are built in, making it simple and easy to use.

It provides a complete range of originally shaped lighting instruments and accessories specially conceived to give a broad spectrum of visual effects with unlimited scope for setting up designs. The system is modular a

UK - Colour Sound Experiment (CSE) supplied a ground support system, lighting equipment, production design and crew for the first ever Jazz FM Awards, which celebrated the work of jazz musicians, composers and contributors from across the globe.

Staged at One Marylebone in London, CSE was working in conjunction with Insight Lighting and production company Swim Productions.

CSE's Project Manager Fletch collaborated with creative director Brendan Clarke from Insight Lighting to create the lighting and production design for the much anticipated event, which saw several live performance

South Africa - The upgrade and installation of a Philips Strand dimming system at The Baxter Theatre in Cape Town, is now complete.

The Baxter Theatre at the University of Cape Town purchased their new Philips Strand Wallrack Dimmer units from DWR Distribution. "As time allowed and as the venue became available, the old dimmers were steadily replaced," commented Dave Whitehouse from DWR.

"We chose Strand because it is a trusted name in theatre lighting," said Patrick Curtis from The Baxter. "The linkage to Philips is a positive development, but mostly we cho

UK - The first Robe Robin MMX WashBeams fixtures to tour the UK went out on Strictly Come Dancing - The Live Tour, which played a month of UK arenas following the latest of the BBC's popular hit TV series. The glittering 2013 tour line up included reigning Strictly champion and Olympic gymnast, Louis Smith, dancing with Ola Jordan.

Lighting was designed by Richard G Jones, who was asked on-board by show director (and judge) Craig Revel Horwood last year.

Jones ensured that no-one was disappointed, creating a show awash with colour, movement, drama and pizzazz to match all the

USA / Denmark - Harman reports that it has completed its acquisition of Martin Professional A/S of Denmark.

Blake Augsburger, Harman executive vice-president and president Harman Professional Division, said: "As we move forward together and institute Martin Professional as a business unit within Harman Professional, our customers from both the lighting and AV disciplines will soon be able to capitalize on joint innovations, efficiencies and access to our systems portfolios. In doing so, I am confident we'll also drive growth into emerging markets and vertical markets where digita

UK - Charcoalblue's lighting designer Alex Wardle has used Philips Selecon PLCycs as part of his minimalist lighting rig for the well-received touring production of Birdsong.

With a number of very different scenes to evoke in a single environment set, designed by Victoria Spearing, Wardle had his work cut out. Lighting works with the set and direction to seamlessly shift the mood from the claustrophobic world of the tunnels under no man's land to bright outdoor scenes and the house where main protagonist, Stephen Wraysford, falls in love.

Wardle uses the PLCycs to deliver an

UAE - Mandylights lighting designers Richard Neville and Alex Grierson spent a month in Dubai as lighting designers for Dubai's New Year's Eve celebrations. The 25- minute show took place around the centre of Dubai in front of the Burj Khalifa - the world's tallest building. Using some 350 intelligent fixtures, the pair illuminated the Burj, lake and surrounding precinct which played host to 15 individual performer stages and a massive 210m long seamless projection screen.

The show's narrative was based on the important natural and cultural elements of the world and how they all come

USA - Bandit Lites recently redesigned the lighting at the Bayou Music Centre in Houston, Texas. The space, which opened in 1997, has hosted talent ranging from Etta James and James Brown to Fall Out Boy and The Killers.

The venue's existing house grid did not lend itself to many lighting or house ambiance options, as it held mercury vapour fixtures with gel attached and was both too big and heavy to articulate. Additionally, the stage system was a modest 120k rig and in need of an update. Bandit gutted the entire stage and house lighting systems from rigging down, and in five days, i

UK - Richard Martin Lighting (RML) has confirmed that they are officially LAMDA's principle lighting partner.

''RML understand that LAMDA students are the future of our Industry and so it is imperative that they are given the tools to develop to the best of their abilities and shown the best and most recent in moving light technology. It is also a great privilege to be involved with such a prestigious institution such as LAMDA,'' says Steve Wells, operations manager, RML.

As part of this partnership RML will provide lights for their performances/productions, donate equipment for tra

USA - San Diego State University's School of Theatre, TV & Film has acquired three Robert Juliat Lucy followspots for the Don Powell Theatre on campus. The fixtures were purchased from Acey Decy Lighting in San Fernando, California.

An intimate venue with a relatively large stage, the Don Powell Theatre will deploy the new followspots on the last production of the school's 2012-2013 season, the Stephen Sondheim musical A Little Night Music which opens in April. SDSU has a reputation for excellence in theatre arts offering undergraduate and graduate degrees.

"We just inst

China - Hong Kong's leading TV Station, Television Broadcast Limited (TVB), has recently made a major investment in GLP's impression Spot One for its studios.

TVB's headquarters, which is also the largest commercial television production centre in Asia, houses 22 production studios, collectively known as TVB City.

Under a new management initiative to reduce the carbon footprint of the company, TVB's engineering department, headed by Mr. Ko Cheuk Wai, had the challenging task of finding an LED solution to replace their existing discharge lamp automated lighting system.

Their resear

The Netherlands - Shrek The Musical, which has enjoyed an extended three-month run at the Amsterdam RAI Theatre, has been playing regularly to full houses in the 1750-capacity venue.

Giving increased realism to the friendly green ogre has been SGM's new P-5 Washlight, from the inventory of lighting rental company, Focus Amsterdam.

The technical production specialists were invited by theatre producers Albert Verlinde Entertainment to provide lighting equipment - and just as they have for one of the promoters' other musicals, Annie, found the P-5 to provide a compelling

Australia - Canberra Theatre Centre is Canberra's premier performing arts venue, providing world class performing arts and entertainment to the people of Canberra and surrounding regions. The main venue is the 1,244 seat Canberra Theatre which up until late last year was home to over 120 rather ancient Strand Patt. 23 - last manufactured in 1983!

"I believe it may have been the largest operational rig of Patt. 23's in the country," said Andrew Tweedie, head of lighting at Canberra Theatre Centre. "But they were getting harder and harder to maintain, especially as you co

UK - Lighting in a lift is usually fairly unforgiving, but a new show proves that it can be so much better - provided the lift is as big as a stage.

Lighting designer Andrew Voller used ETC Source Four LED Lustr+ luminaires to light Lift at the Soho Theatre, a musical by Craig Adams and Ian Watson, which explores the feelings and thoughts of eight strangers who happen to be in a lift together.

Voller was first introduced to the Source Four LED by the Layers of Light demonstration at the ETC PLASA stand in September. During the presentation, ETC's Tom Littrell explained how di

South Africa - The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has made its first ever moving light purchase - investing in Robe Robin 300 and 600 LEDWashes plus 300E and 600E Spots - a total of 41 units.

The sale was co-ordinated by Johannesburg based TV lighting rental and design specialist Blackmotion, with the Robe units all delivered by South African distributor DWR as part of a major technical upgrade by SABC's lighting department.

Blackmotion's MD Kagiso Tiro Daystar Moima (KG) explains that they were approached in 2012 through a tendered process when the SABC's in-house li

UK / USA - By Design Day, the annual fundraising day for Light Relief in the UK and Behind the Scenes in the US and Canada, takes place this year on Wednesday 24 April on both sides of the Atlantic.

One of the main fundraising events for these charities, By Design Day focuses attention on the various ways that individuals can support these two organisations which are dedicated solely to assisting entertainment technology professionals in need. Fundraising can be a personal donation or through an organised collection. Many designers support the day by voluntarily giving a day's royalti

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