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Sixth Annual Parnelli Winners Revealed at Gala

Sixth Annual Parnelli Winners Revealed at Gala

On a perfect Las Vegas evening, a recordbreaking audience gathered in a Venetian Hotel Ballroom to pay tribute to the very best of the year in our annual “Oscars of the Live Event Industry” affair.

“When you think about it, it’s against our very nature to attend an event like this,” observed master of ceremonies and president of Timeless Communications Terry Lowe during the ceremony’s opening moments. “We tend to be the kind that shuns the spotlight. We’d rather be pointing it. We’d rather EQ than speak into a mic.”

Capturing the Magic of the Grinch

Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch Who Stole Christmas is a classic children’s book that was adapted into an animated television program, and in recent years has also become a hit movie with Jim Carrey and a popular musical theatre production in San Diego for eight years running. Now Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical is tantalizing Broadway in its first limited holiday run.

Back To the Future

A Historic Clock Tower Is Lit Using Modern Methods.

Dr. Emmet Brown: Don’t worry! As long as you hit that wire with the connecting hook at precisely eighty-eight miles per hour the instant the lightning strikes the tower, everything will be fine!

In the climax of the movie Back to the Future, Doc Brown and Marty McFly attach a steel cable to the town’s clock tower in order to harness the electricity of a pre-destined lightning strike. They then proceed to mispronounce the word “gigawatt,” and send Martyback to the future.

In a neighborhood near to Chicago’s Wrigley Field, another clock tower is lit up — without the need for a time machine or a guy named Biff. 

Curvy and Sexy, and That’s Just Her Lighting Rig

LD Daunte Kenner captures the essence of Mary J. Blige in design.

She’s the soulful queen of hip-hop, an embattled figure who has recently emerged victoriously from bouts against alcohol and drug abuse to become a successful and happily-married entertainer. Her concert sounds like a battle cry for troubled women everywhere, leading the charge against the emotional distress of everyday life in the trenches. She is Mary J. Blige. And the responsibility for lighting her shows falls squarely on the shoulders of Daunte Kenner. And if MJB has gone through a series of changes, Kenner can certainly relate. Talk to him about the show and the constant theme that emerges is one of change. Take, for example, the design process.
“Nineteen,” says Kenner with a smile. 

A Flurry of Improv

The cues come as fast as flakes in a blizzard for Slava’s Snowshow.

Slava’s Snowshow is a theatrical free-for-all unlike anything else you’ve experienced. Russian clowns play tricks on each other, parody famous cinematic moments, wander through a winter wonderland and even invade the audience and heckle the crowd during intermission. For two years now the comedic and semi-improvisational show has delighted audiences at the Union Square Theatre near Greenwich Village, and lighting director Derek Brashears has been there since day one, from unloading the truck to learning the lighting design to manning the boards. He’s learned to weather a storm of surprises that can happen on a dayto- day basis, so much so that the connection is somewhat telepathic. 

A.C.T Lighting

Who:
A.C.T Lighting

What:
Wholesale distributor whose business includes being the exclusive North America
distributor for MA Lighting, Zero 88 and the U.S. distributor of MDG smoke, fog and
haze machines.

Art on Demand: the Path and the Nirvana

Among the working lighting designers of the world, few names carry the cachet as the name Jules Fisher. His 18 Tony Award nominations have netted him eight shiny statues dating back to 1973. His work extends beyond Broadway and into the realm of film (School of Rock, Chicago, A Star is Born), ballet, opera, television and concert lighting (Rolling Stones, KISS, David Bowie, Whitney Houston). But to speak to the self-effacing man you might never guess that he has met with any success, as he is quick to praise his design partner, Peggy Eisenhauer. Ironically, it is Fisher whom Eisenhauer credits with inspiring her early in her career. Together, they form the design firm Third Eye Studios. Our interview started in their offices in New York and culminated over the phone, as it is quite challenging to pin them down.