Stage Directions

Signify announced its successful collaboration with the National Theatre’s River Stage Festival. The River Stage, which provides a diverse range of free entertainment over a five-week summer season, once again benefitted from an array of the latest stage lighting products from the Philips Vari-Lite brand, including the new VL800 BeamLine.

This September sees the launch of Evolutionary Arts Hackney (EartH), a new cultural venue in Dalston in the heart of East London. This multifaceted project, which has initiatives to serve the local community at its heart, will feature the first permanent installation of L-Acoustics’ L-ISA Hyperreal Sound technology in a European live music venue. Here’s a video introduction of the L-ISA system at this year’s ProLight + Sound: {youtube}v=ntrp5Aos4Lk{/youtube}

Tallinn’s Nuku (Puppet) Theatre is world renowned for its inventive and creative programming and staging of around 250 performances a year across three venues, which will typically including eight new productions during each season. Located right in the heart of the charismatic Estonian capital’s Old Town area, the Theatre underwent extensive renovations in 2015/16, which resulted in the new 400 capacity main Ferdinand Theatre being created. This is run together with the Small Stage with which can accommodate 200 and the Oval Hall with 80.

At the beginning of August, Atenlaser, a specialist company in laser module development and focus on laser optics, joined the Laserworld Group. Atenlaser will join forces with the product development team at Ray Technologies (RTI) to form an expert team of laser specialists.

The American Repertory Theater at Harvard University (A.R.T.) recently produced the world premiere of the rock musical, Jagged Little Pill. Renowned sound designer Jonathan Deans and A.R.T selected the Shure Axient® Digital wireless microphone system and ADX series transmitters to provide clear and precise audio support for the high-energy musical is inspired by Alanis Morissette’s GRAMMY®-winning 1995 album of the same name.

In November 2017, A. Crawford Mosley High School, in Northwest Florida, opened its beautiful, new, state-of-the-art Gretchen Nelson Scott Performing Arts Center, enabling students and community members to enjoy performances by the school's choir, Sound of the Southland band, and drama department, as well as lectures, community theater productions, and other civic programs. In addition, the performing arts center can be rented out for special events and productions.

The 2018 North American Hog Trade Up program has been extended through the month of September. High End Systems is accepting trade-ins of older Hog consoles AND competitor’s consoles. With the upcoming release of Hog OS v.3.9, High End Systems will no longer support new fixture profiles for the Hog 3, so there’s never been a better time to upgrade.

Founded in 2012, Opera NEO hosts 30-35 aspiring young performers each summer, providing intensive operatic training, mentorship, and invaluable performance experience. The 2018 Opera NEO Summer Opera Festival included performances of Franz Lehár’s The Merry Widow and Mozart’s Idomeneo, each presented with a live orchestra in a unique open-air amphitheater in the hills of San Diego, CA.

Located on St-Denis Street in the heart of Montreal’s famous Latin Quarter, the St-Denis Theatre is one of the most modern and prestigious cultural arts venues in the city. A major downtown Montreal landmark, the theatre boasts two halls with a seating capacity of 933 and 2,219 respectively. Equipped with all the latest sound and lighting technologies needed to keep up with today’s sophisticated and demanding audiences, the 2,219-seat Saint Denis Theatre recently had the opportunity to use a Yamaha RIVAGE PM7 Digital Audio Console for a production of the Broadway-inspired musical, FAME. Solotech of Montreal provided the console.

Sight & Sound Theatres, producer of a dazzling series of live, Bible-themed stage shows, has adopted Riedel Communications’ Bolero wireless intercom for its 2,000-seat auditorium in Branson, MO. Bolero leverages an existing Riedel Artist digital matrix intercom system to deliver comprehensive, integrated, and crystal-clear communications for the entire production team. Here's a video preview of Sight & Sound Theatres' Samson: {youtube}v=B66asntU26E{/youtube}