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TSO’s Night Castle: Anything but Silent

When founder Paul O'Neill and tour director Elliot Saltzman first put Trans Siberian Orchestra on the road 11 years ago, the entire production fit in a single truck. Today's TSO holiday shows, which give Christmas-themed orchestral music a heavy metal edge, are visually animated with massive video displays, moving truss, lasers and pyro, and it takes 20 trucks of gear, including one generator truck, to make the East and West Coast shows happen.

Yapping About Money

There's a small island in the Pacific Ocean called Yap, where very large discs carved out of stone represent a form of currency. Some are six or eight feet across and weigh several thousand pounds. You should see the size of the wallets on Yap.

Matthew West: The Story of Your Life Tour

Matthew West's Grammy nomination in 2009 was the culmination of several years writing songs and scoring number one hits in the contemporary Christian market and the country scene. Most of his songs reflect his own life experiences, but in 2010 he decided to turn the mic around. He reached out to his fans and asked them to share their life stories. In return, he would write songs that were inspired by those stories.

Rain: Beatlemania Reborn

Rock operas, jukebox musicals and tribute shows have been bringing the rock to the Great White Way over the last few years, and one of the most striking productions in recent memory is Rain: a Tribute To the Beatles, a tour that has landed on Broadway for a three-month run extended until Jan. 9, 2011.

Performance Truss Takes It To the Limit

Trusses are best neither seen nor heard. They float in the theatrical limbo behind the high scrim curtains, the orchard for lighting and sound and video nodes. As far as people are concerned, the truss is a way station, a place you go to work with or on one of those nodes and scamper back down as soon as you're done. The truss is a stop on the theatrical technology train, not a destination.

Countdowns & Confetti: Prepping Media for New Year’s Eve

I'm currently prepping for another New Year's Eve event here in Las Vegas, and this year I am up to my eyeballs in video content. I've been plotting the lighting design, attending meetings and making budget refinements, but the most creative part of the preparation so far has been selecting video content for the party. Sounds easy, right? Well, it is, for the most part, but there are a few items on my checklist that help make the process flow smoother, so I thought I'd share them with you.

Tax Code Changes Coming for Freelancers

This is the time of year when business columns turn their attention to tax strategies for the coming year. The lighting, projection and staging businesses are heavy with freelance professionals and that's a topic that's right in their wheelhouse. However, 2011 is going to be a wild ride for freelancers when it comes to both taxes and healthcare legislation. For starters, we nearly started the New Year with a lot of uncertainty about what the actual tax rates are going to be.

Eleven 2011 New Years Resolutions

As we enter each New Year, many resolutions are made that center around losing weight, breaking bad habits, finding love, etc. I thought it would be much better to provide a list of resolutions aimed at the Automated Lighting Programmer. So here are eleven resolutions to help you with your craft.

Fusology

Thomas Edison invented the fuse more than a hundred years ago. Three days later, it blew and was subsequently bypassed with an aluminum-coated gum wrapper.

 

That last sentence is pure conjecture and has no basis in fact. Some might say it's an outright lie but I prefer to think of it as poetic license. That's when a writer is allowed to tell blatant lies with impunity. So please don't impugn my poetry.