USA - In Lewis Carroll's classic Through The Looking Glass, Alice steps into a mirror to enter an incredible world where flowers talk, chess pieces come to life and characters like the Red Queen tickle the imagination with enchanting feats. The 257 guests at the JCC New York's White Hot Night Through The Looking Glass fundraiser didn't have to do anything nearly as dramatic as Alice to be treated to a magical evening.

They simply walked into a gym-turned-ballroom on Manhattan's upper West Side and were dazzled by a menagerie of ornamental zebras, lions and fanciful creat

UK - Thorpe Park, one of the UK's largest theme parks, has decided to use White Light's services to upgrade its audio infrastructure. The entertainment production supplier was approached by Thorpe Park to provide both advice and ultimately the equipment required to ensure that their sound system was not only cost effective, but helped to achieve maximum impact.

Further to a long standing relationship with White Light, Thorpe Park has now invested in audio equipment that can be tailored to their specific future event needs. Thorpe Park's entertainments technical coordinator Martin Swai

UK - Lighting manufacturer GDS has re-structured its UK distribution network to widen access to market for its products.

Existing partners, Hawthorn, Stage Electrics, and White Light have become GDS's stock-holding, main distributors, supplying the GDS range on a large scale across the board.

Alongside the distributors, GDS continues to work with installation partners LSI Projects and Push the Button.

As part of the review of its distribution network, the company has appointed Black Light, Enlightened, National Stage Technologies (formerly Northern Stage Services and Lancelyn Thea

UK - West London rental specialist Colour Sound Experiment supplied lighting and video for the latest leg of Glasgow alt rockers Twin Atlantic's ongoing Great Divide album tour, working with lighting and visuals designer Paul McAdams who has evolved an edgy and vibrant show to match the band's massive energy.

This latest run of gigs - which included London's Brixton Academy and their largest headline show to date at hometown Glasgow's Hydro Arena - saw Paul build on the design he had created for the autumn 2014 tour - also supplied by Colour Sound.

The concept evolved around

USA - When working in the world of live television production, the lighting rig stands at the forefront called upon to provide a wide variety of creative looks. Nowhere is this more important than on two of television's most-watched events, the Grammy and Academy Awards, where both productions showcase a number of artists with individual lighting needs. As a veteran of both productions, lighting director and programmer Andy O'Reilly knows exactly what it takes to bring all these performances to life, and this year, he and his team got to do so with the assistance of VL4000 Spot luminair

Germany - ETC is getting ready for its first appearance at Berlin's Stage Set Scenery show, 9-11 June, in Berlin. The company is set to make a big splash, giving Europe its first ever look at ETC Rigging, on stand number 208 in Hall 2.2. ETC will also have a second stand at the show - number 210 in Hall 1.2 - to demo its popular lighting products, giving show visitors a lot of new gear to experience.

Introduced in the US in 2009, ETC Rigging has made a deep impression on the industry, with some of the best quality and most versatile equipment available. ETC designed its rigging family

Belgium - Event organisers VTM Television and the Ethias Arena in Hasselt, Belgium asked the Painting With Light team to add some extra special visual flair to the 10th annual edition of the Schlagerfestival, a live show highlighting some of the best Flemish and Dutch 'schlager' genre of pop music.

The Genk based creative practice led by Luc Peumans as show designer, designed lighting, video and set for the event which featured five sold-out shows playing to over 60,000 fans over the course of a week as people flocked to hear Laura Lynn, Tom Waes, The Lynn Sisters, Matthias Lens, The

Mexico - They may be on a smaller scale than the Olympic Games but the 22nd Central American and Caribbean Games packed just as much glitz and glamour into their opening ceremonies in Veracruz, Mexico last November. Lighting designer David Grill, of David Grill and Associates, Inc. (DGA) in Mahwah, New Jersey, used Clay Paky Sharpys and A.leda B-EYE K20s to illuminate the festivities.

The Central American and Caribbean Games are held every four years with athletes from the region competing in a variety of sports, some of which qualify them for the Pan American Games. The 2014 Games we

UK - Ben Howard recently closed out his most recent UK tour, which included three consecutive nights at London's Alexandra Palace, with lighting designer Andy Rowe controlling a Nitelites rig using an Avolites Expert Pro running the latest Titan V9 software.

Devon singer songwriter Howard toured 11 dates around the UK and Ireland, in support of his latest album I Forget Where We Were.

"When I first started lighting for Ben Howard, Avolites was an easy choice," says Rowe. "I know the console inside out, it's easy to busk on, and it goes straight into festivals. It real

Italy - In the year UNESCO has decided to devote to light, Clay Paky has inaugurated MoMS - the Museum of Modern Show Lighting. MoMS is housed on the company's premises in Seriate, Italy, and is the first Museum in Europe specifically devoted to light, not regarded merely as a useful natural phenomenon, but seen as a means to arouse emotions. The exhibition aims to reveal and let visitors discover the playful, theatrical and evocative nature of this important aspect of the physical world.

MoMS officially opened its doors on Friday 15 May, as part of the ARTDATE artistic and cultural s

Israel - Since 1938, the Habima Theatre has officially been considered the national theatre of Israel. Among the first Hebrew language theatres, it is located in Habima Square, central Tel Aviv in an impressive building reopened in 2012 after four years of renovations, with architect Ram Karmi harmoniously integrating historic and modern in a complete redesign of the old building. The enormous project included the total rebuilding of Habima's four auditoriums - each of which is a different size and colour.

This was accompanied by a complete technical upgrade, at which point Habima hea

USA - PLASA's inaugural Kansas City Focus Show opened its doors this week showcasing the very latest live entertainment technology products, attracting major buyers and hosting truly inspirational industry speakers who shared their knowledge and expertise.

The seminar programme and training sessions saw a diverse range of topics with highlights including: Rocky Paulson - a master of rigging, sharing his expertise on the art of rigging safely with the right components; Daunte Kenner - a veteran in both lighting and video, enlightening the audience on the craft and workflow that goes be

Germany - Fritz Kalkbrenner, the younger brother of musician and techno music producer Paul Kalkbrenner, is also a music producer and singer. In his solo projects, he combines techno rhythms and melodic elements. Kalkbrenner broke through with his second album Sick Travellin' and is now on tour to promote his third album Ways Over Water.

The production director Bastian Weinert and operator Thomas Dossman are in charge of the tour. The lighting was designed by Cue Design Gmbh. Among the lights used for the shows are 24 Clay Paky Mythos, together with a grandMA2 light console and

Edinburgh Rocked - Edinburgh's position as the world's pre-eminent festival city faces challenges from the digital revolution, public investment and city infrastructure, according to a new report. Thundering Hooves 2.0 is a £50,000 report commissioned by the city's festivals forum, the umbrella body for public organisations that have a vested interest in the success of the city's 12 key festivals. It builds on an original 2006 report when it was feared that the "thundering hooves" of other cities could be heard overtaking Edinburgh's status as the UK's preeminent

UK - In order to upgrade their existing theatrical lighting equipment for the new season, The Point Theatre in Eastleigh approached White Light to help them find the right solution. The Point became an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation in April 2015 and is known as a regional powerhouse for contemporary dance, theatre and combined arts.

Determined to make their theatre spaces more environmentally friendly, The Point wanted to reduce their overall power consumption and saw the use of LED lighting as a natural way to do so. They were also eager to maintain the best po

UK - Lighting designer Matt Button used an array of Clay Paky Mythos and Sharpys for the launch event of the Adidas x Pharrell Williams Superstars Supercolor range.

Button teamed up with long-time collaborator Marshmellow Laser Feast for the event, which took place at the Hackney reservoir. Sixty Mythos fixtures, supplied by HDO Productions, lined the venue where they projected stunningly pure beams into the night sky. The light show was interactive with guests able to choose the colours of the beams through Twitter and took place in time to a live performance from dubstep artist Kore

USA - Water and electrics usually don't mix unless you were at Wet Electric in Tempe, Arizona, in April for America's largest waterpark music festival where Creative BackStage of Phoenix lived up to its name by creating an extraordinary stage visually brought to life using Elation Platinum Beam 5Rs and Opti Tri PAR lights with Elation EVLED LED video panels used for a high-impact backdrop LED video screen.

On 25-26 April, Wet Electric took over Big Surf Waterpark with headliners Tiesto and Dillon Francis providing the party beats for the biggest pool party in the country. What separat

UK - Showmagic has confirmed PCM Distribution Ltd as a new distributor for its ShowMagic Control Software. Peter Maddison from PCM Distribution comments: "This product will make a great addition to the ever growing portfolio of products we distribute".

ShowMagic is an integrated lighting, audio, video, digital signage and device controller, with built-in scheduling and triggering features. It gives users complete control of their lighting and AV, controlling, combining and synchronising all the elements of a live show or fixed installation, the company says.

Its power and

UK - AV equipment supply and integration company SSE has completed an audio and video installation project for Phillips, the internationally renowned auction house, at the new European Phillips HQ in London's Berkeley Square.

As part of the construction of the new six-floor complex, which incorporates auction rooms, client presentation and hospitality areas and offices. SSE installed a Q-Sys audio routing and management system, based around a Core 250i processor, to distribute and control networked audio and video throughout the building. Several channels of Shure's ULX-D wireless mic

Puerto Rico - Pop singer, composer and actor Chayanne is currently touring with a lighting design by Belgian-based designers Alain Corthout and Ignace D'Haese, who have many top Latin stars in their current portfolio, and the skill of lighting this lively and demanding genre honed to a fine art.

They designed the lighting - including 59 Robe Pointe moving lights - set and video for the tour, his first for the artist, based on an integrated package that is ultimately flexible and can be set up in multiple formats according to the available stage space. He also wanted to create multiple

Austria - The city of Schärding on the Inn River on the border with Germany, had the whole city illuminated with a multimedia spectacular over the winter season. The bridge crossing the Inn was illuminated as well as the monastery and the water front.

However, it was not only conventional illumination effects that lit up Schärding. The whole city centre was covered with a multimedia projection, the facades of the buildings were covered with video mapping and video projections and the orchard was covered with laser projections.

Additionally, multiple information projections were di

UK / India - Lighting and video control specialist Avolites has appointed Integrated Entertainment Solutions (IES) as its sole distributor for the Indian market. The announcement comes ahead of the two companies combining their efforts to exhibit the latest from Avolites at the PALM Expo at the end of May.

IES is an 18-year-old distribution & trading company based in Mumbai, pioneering in the fields of intelligent lighting, pro-sound & control systems. Their expertise stretches beyond distribution to encompass solutions from entertainment-related venues such as nightclubs to architect

South Africa - SABC TV Outside Broadcasts has invested in an Avolites Quartz console, part of the Titan Mobile Family, and a Lumen Radio CRMX Nova FX RDM transmitter and receiver, their second LumenRadio acquisition. South African based DWR Distribution supplied the equipment.

Andre Rossouw, the specialist production lighting electrician for the SABC TV Outside Broadcasts, was introduced to LumenRadio a couple of years ago when Peter Kirkup visited South Africa for a LumenRadio Roadshow. "The system is rock solid," said Andre. He used LumenRadio for the second time at the So

USA - In many educational theatre environments, students are often confronted with the challenges of learning their craft on outdated equipment, but every so often, a school district gets the opportunity to create a performance space filled with all the latest technologies available. At Denison High School, the newly created Smith Auditorium is one such case as Batts AVL was given the chance to install a completely new lighting system filled with lighting, dimming and control from Philips Strand Lighting.

"In the design of the new space, we were very fortunate to not only get wha

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