BOSTON — Scharff Weisberg helped LD Marc Brickman and assistant LD David Marcucci light two performances held at Symphony Hall Boston by Columbia Records’ jazz artist Chris Botti, performing with Keith Lockhart and The Boston Pops in shows that also featured Sting and Steven Tyler from Aerosmith. The design needed to work for DVD, Blu-ray and a subsequent PBS broadcast as well as for the live audience — with no time to spare.
Lighting designer Kevin Adams always wanted to put a Hitchcock film on stage, particularly Psycho with its infamous shower sequence. So when he was told that The 39 Steps, which began life in London a few years ago, was being brought to the Great White Way nearly scene for scene, he was ecstatic. Of course, the catch was that this was not a straight-on rendition of that famous thriller from the master of suspense, but rather a low-budget parody of the film. Or more specifically, it’s a parody whose premise was that a tiny theatre company with a cast of four was attempting to play out the whole film onstage without the proper resources.
By the time the Stone Temple Pilots disbanded in 2003, they had sold close to 40 million albums worldwide, which had produced six number one singles among the 15 songs that made the Billboard top 10. To Alastair Bramall-Watson, the band was iconic, particularly in the U.K., where he grew up. When the band reunited in 2008 for a tour and to record a new album, Bramall-Watson got the gig as the tour lighting and video designer.
There’s a new player on the Las Vegas Strip: The Palazzo — “palace” in Italian — is a AAA five-diamond luxury hotel and casino resort offering the height of sophistication and elegance. But the $1.9 billion Palazzo is also the largest LEED-certified building in the world, having been awarded Silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) status by the U.S. Green Building Council in recognition of the property’s commitment to “green” technology and construction across categories of sustainable sites, water efficiency, indoor environmental quality, materials and resources, and energy and atmosphere.
SYCAMORE, IL — There’s nothing unusual about Upstaging Lighting flying their touring light systems while prepping them. But Upstaging recently flew ACDC’s current touring structure in their warehouse. This required 71 motors to lift five 100-foot-wide arched trusses that formed a curved array of lights using custom hinges and 59 sections of Upstaging’s Hud Truss, each 10 feet long, where most of the moving lights are permanently mounted.
BROOKINGS, SD — Daktronics announced an expansion of the testing facility at its corporate headquarters, which is intended to help provide customers with more reliable products and also to bring new product designs to market more quickly.
TAVULLIA, Italy — SGM appointed Marco Galli as area manager for markets beyond Italy. Galli, 38, has 10 years experience as a marketing and business development manager for a major European distributor. He also has a university degree in socio-classical studies.
We don’t mean to be cavalier about this, but compare and contrast the recently-held LDI 2008 in the Las Vegas Convention Center to the one held immediately after September 11, 2001 in Orlando and you can come to only one conclusion: What recession?
For Parnelli video clips, CLICK HERE!
If there was any doubt before, it’s officially squelched: The Parnellis have arrived. The show, which featured rocker Alice Cooper and guest comic Michael Wilson among many surprises, was a big hit. The 8th Annual Parnelli Awards ceremony, the “Oscars” of the live event industry, was held on Oct. 24 at the Rio Las Vegas Resort and Casino. The event was sold out, and, in fact, additional tables and chairs had to be brought out to accommodate the surge of last minute arrivals who wanted to be a part of it all.
When the Red Bull International Freestyle Motocross competition came to the Stockyards in Fort Worth, Texas, lighting designer Eric Cathcart was there to make sure the lighting was up to par for the hi-def acquisition.
LONDON — Steam locomotives from the Victorian era weren’t designed to run very well in reverse, so railroads would have turntables at the end of the line. One of these old train-turning sheds, now called the Roundhouse, has itself reversed course, serving as a theatrical and music venue since the late 1960s.
LARGO, MD — The ESTA Foundation and USITT announced Vectorworks Spotlight, theatrical rigging and electrical training sessions will be held at Prince George’s Community College over a six-day span from Jan. 26 through Jan. 31, 2009. The training event will be hosted and co-produced by that school and by IATSE Local 22.