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INTERNATIONAL NEWS
PROJECTION LIGHTS & STAGING NEWS
“Out of the Wings and Into the Wind:” First Night Riders Get Ready to Roll
LONDON — Inspired by the Long
Reach Long Riders, a group of theatricallyinclined
bikers has formed in the U.K. to
raise money for The Theatrical Guild, which
offers support to those working backstage
and in front of house.
The event, set for June 5-12, 2010, is
being organized by David and Brenda
Edelstein of Triple E Ltd., which makes theatrical
track systems. David has taken part
in four of the six Long Reach Long Riders
events. The ride will tour the U.K., visiting
theatrical venues of interest along the
way.
The group’s launch at PLASA09 was supported
by Brian Conley and Liz Robertson
(both currently starring in Hairspray), Issy van
Randwyck of Fascinating Aida and actress
Fiona Mollison.
Although the exact route and list of riders
is subject to change, John Barnes, Richard
Bullimore, Steve Colley, Neil Collins, David
Edelstein, George Ellerington, Ric Green, Darrell
Hewitt, Simon Le Bon, Simon Nichols, Michael
Powell and Bill Sapsis from the U.S. have
all expressed interest in taking part. Stephen
Pennington, Brenda Edelstein, Robert Hamilton
and Scott Miller from Canada have offered
chase car support.
The ride will finish on Saturday
June 12, in time for the
2010 Theatre Engineering and
Architecture Conference, which
opens the following day.
Among the associations
and companies that have already
pledged sponsorship are
ABTT, Blitz Sound, Cameron
Mackintosh, ETC, Hall Stage,
Harmer PR, Howard Eaton, J&C
Joel, PLASA, Prompt Side and
Triple E Ltd.
From left, Fiona Mollision, Brian Conley, Liz Robertson, Brenda and David Edelstein
and Issy van Randwyck at the PLASA09 launch.
Harmer PR
iPhone App Raises $2,800 for Light Relief
Luke Delwiche presents Light Relief trustee Lesley Harmer
with the proceeds from ETC’s iRFR app
LONDON — When ETC introduced its
iRFR (Radio Focus Remote for iPhone
and iPod Touch) four months ago, Luke
Delwiche from ETC Tech Services in
London suggested that the profits be
shared between Light Relief and its U.S.
equivalent, Behind the Scenes.
At PLASA/09, Luke was able to
present a check for £1,800 (more than
$2,800) to Light Relief trustee Lesley
Harmer. In thanking Luke for the money,
Lesley said: “This is an incredible
amount of money to raise in just four
months. We thank Luke and everyone
at ETC for their generosity and for a
brilliant idea which will continue to
raise money for this worthwhile cause
year after year.”
When users purchase the iRFR application
from the iTunes store, they designate
the charity of their choice. The
Light Relief or Behind the Scenes logo
then appears as the iRFR start screen.
ETC software engineer Chris Mizerak
developed the application with a view
to making it as user-friendly and direct
as any Apple application, with full security
controls to lock out all unauthorized
users.
Because the iRFR application is purchased
through iTunes for iPhones and
iPod Touches that people already own,
they install it and have it immediately
— no hardware or special factory-coding
required. And an added benefit: if
you misplace your lighting-system remote
— just call your phone and find
it!
Finland’s Battle of the Choirs Gets Elaborate
Stage and Lighting Design
LAHTI, Finland — Called Kuorosota, or Battle
of the Choirs, this Finnish singing contest
is a choir-meets-rock ‘n’ roll showdown that
forgoes the stoic formalities of a traditionally
robed choir. As such, it warranted an elaborate
staging and lighting setup that included Clay
Paky’s Alpha Beam 300.
The format is similar to a singing contest,
but with amateur choir participants selected
by the top choral leaders in Finland. These
choirs then compete with popular songs during
a six-week live television broadcast.
TV viewers vote, and the list of contenders
gets trimmed by one choir a week. The winning
group gets to decide which hometown charity
is most worthy of receiving the top prize,
which is 40,000 Euros, or mort than $56,000.
Some 500,000 viewers — about one-tenth the
population of Finland — tune in each week.
The live television broadcasts were held at
Lahti Hall on TV channel Nelonen Finland, produced
by Heidi Karsikko of Metronome Film &
Television and directed by Niko Nykänen.
The stage, lighting, sound and rigging for
the 2009 broadcasts were done by Mikki Kunttu
Oy, who also served as production designer.
The lighting rig included 24 Clay Paky Alpha
Beam 300 fixtures, controlled by a grandMA
full size console and a grandMA NSP. The lighting
operator was Pasi Saari.
“The Alpha Beams brought in a very important
dimension to the lighting. They added a lot
of needed depth into the backgrounds in a lot
of camera shots. I really like the simplicity of the
fixture and the
punch it delivers,”
said Kunttu.
The final
votes put Timo
Kotipelto and
his choir on top,
making them
the 2009 Kuorosota
Champs.
Timo decided
the charity
money should
go for music
education and
band rehearsal
spaces in Lappajärvi.
The six-week contest was lit with
Alpha Beam 300s from Clay Paky.
Mikki Kunttu
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PLSN OCTOBER 2009