An American Movie Palace Gets a Lighting Makeover
The Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor is one America’s original movie palaces. Built in 1928 during the silent movie era, the theatre also hosted vaudeville stage shows — it is still home to a 1927 Barton Theater Pipe Organ — before giving way to talkies and live musical performances.
From Junkyard Theft to Living the Dream
Petty theft doesn’t pay, but it can lead to a dream job in the entertainment lighting industry. In this month’s PLSN interview, we speak with Robb Jibson, who explains how his deviant behavior led him to the lighting industry and why he’s living the dream.
KORTRIJK, Belgium — Barco announced that Stephan Paridaen, president of the company’s Media & Entertainment Division, is leaving the company, effective Jan. 1, 2009. Barco, which thanked Paridaen for his contribution to the company and wished him future success, said it will be announcing his successor soon.
MIAMISBURG, OH — SouthBrook Christian Church, busy with two campuses and six services each weekend, consolidated to one location in March 2008. The staff was also looking for a way to create an “edgier” feel to its services. They opted for a lighting system with moving lights and ETC controls.
NEW YORK — It may not have attracted as much national attention as Barack Obama’s election victory a week earlier. But when President George W. Bush received the Intrepid Freedom Award at the Veterans’ Day reopening of the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, there was still plenty of fanfare and media exposure. See Factor was responsible for keeping a tight ship with the stage roof system and lighting package.
LAS VEGAS — After a $25 million facelift, MGM’s Mirage casino relaunched its Volcano attraction, which features a choreographed dance of flames, lighting, fountains and fireballs comparable to WET Design’s other big Strip attraction, the Fountains of Bellagio.
MIAMI BEACH, FL — Energy-guzzling conventional fixtures would have clashed with the shade of green that prevailed at Green Art Fair Miami, part of Art Basel 08 held recently at the Miami Beach Convention Center. So Nick Assunto, CEO of Visual Formula, lit the fair using 82 solar- and biodiesel-powered Chauvet LED wash fixtures instead. The gear included ColoRado 1, ColoRado 3, LEDsplash-2 and Q-Wash LED fixtures.
LONDON — Outdoor lighting installations in London’s parks need to deal with anything from inclement weather to large flocks of pigeons. But a wireless system using City Theatrical’s ShoW DMX helped Storm Lighting brave the elements for the annual tree-lighting ceremony at Trafalgar Square, which averted the need to run cables from the control station at the park’s terrace level to the dimmer location situated under the tree.
LONDON — The U.K. electro-pop band Hot Chip has been using Robe moving lights on the latest U.K. leg of their 2008 Made In The Dark world tour. LD Neil Carson specified the gear, which was supplied by GLS.
PITTSBURGH — “Rock ‘n’ Roll Train” is the first track on AC/DC’s Black Ice album, and the set for the band’s first world tour in eight years was designed with a locomotive theme in mind. “The five curved trusses represent the roof beams of a railway station,” said Dave Hill, co-lighting designer, of the 100-foot-wide arches custom made for the tour, used to form a curved array of gear including Coemar Infinity Wash XLs.
It’s a shame that we even have to bring up this subject. But lately it’s becoming more and more necessary to lock up your gear on site, especially when you leave it overnight at a venue.
WESTLAKE, TX — The ESTA Control Protocols Working Group is hosting an RDM Interoperability Plugfest in conjunction with ESTA’s Technical Standards Program meetings Jan. 23-25 at the Dallas/Fort Worth Solana hotel in Westlake, Tex. This free event is geared towards the numerous manufacturers that are adopting ANSI E1.20 Remote Device Management (RDM) technology in their products.