Spectacle of Lights - PLSN.com

NEWS
Folger Theatre Back Up with Industry Help
MIDDLETON, WI —When a fire recently resulted
in water damage to the theatre in the
Folger Shakespeare Library, ETC and dealer
Barbizon Capitol, as well as the stage community
at large, went into high gear to make sure
that the theatre would not be dark for long.
Fabric ignited in a third-floor costume storage
area above the theatre on Saturday, October
14. The fire was swiftly extinguished and
contained, but the theatre’s dimming systems
were only 20 feet away from of the fire and
were directly affected by the downpour from
the sprinkler system. The 13-year-old dimmers
had also been on at the time, in preparation for
a tech run-through of the upcoming production
of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and would
have to be immediately replaced.
Barbizon Capitol technician Blair Van Oot
inspected the damaged dimmers that day. On
Monday, Barbizon Systems division manager
Barry Gawinski surveyed the damage and
contacted ETC. Phil Sens and Ted Ozimek at
ETC quoted new dimmers, secured owners’
approvals on Tuesday, and set in motion the
air shipment of two ETC Sensor+ racks populated
with 72 modules, with another 24 modules
to arrive later by ground. The new ETC
racks were installed on Friday by contractors
from Cooper Electric and were ready that afternoon
for a new tech run-through.
Eric Grims, Folger production manager
and technical director, voiced gratitude to
those who rallied around the Theatre: “There
was never any doubt about whether or not
they would be able to get us back up and running
in what seemed like a nearly impossible
amount of time.”
Van Oot adds that the response of the
local stage community was also extraordinary
and laudable: “Theatre techs from
almost every theatre in the area showed
up to help out with the damage and to get
the show up – Kennedy Center, Arena, Lincoln,
Woolly Mammoth, Shakespeare, Signature,
Center Stage of Baltimore – just to
mention a few.”
The rescheduled first preview of Folger
Theatre’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream took
place on Tuesday, October 24. Folger is confident
that no lasting damage remains to
the landmark.
Erik Magnuson Dies
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A memorial service took place Sunday,
December 10 at the Atlanta Botanical
Garden.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers
donations be made to the new industry
charity Behind the Scenes (http://
www.estafoundation.org/bts.htm), or to
the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.
ESTA issued a statement saying that
Magnuson “will be greatly missed by all
of us. Our thoughts and prayers are with
his wife Linda, his son Todd and daughter
Ingrid, and with the staff of The Magnum
Companies.”
Public Proposed
Standards
NEW YORK — ESTA has extended the
public review period for a standards proposal,
and has announced another’s deadline.
The deadline for the review period for
both BSR E1.27-2, Entertainment Technology-Standard
for Permanently Installed
Control Cables for Use with ANSI E1.11
(DMX512-A) and USITT DMX512/1990
Products, and BSR E1.6-1, Entertainment
Technology–Powered Winch Hoist Systems,
is now December 25.
The BSR E1.27-2 draft standard describes
the types of cable to be used to
interconnect products that comply with
ANSI E1.11-2004 (DMX512-A) or with USITT
DMX512/1990 in permanent installations.
The description includes definitions of acceptable
cable and connector types and
the ways in which they may be used. The
draft standard and its supporting public
review materials are available at http://
www.esta.org/tsp/documents/public_review_docs.php.
The next meeting at which the public
comments will be considered, is scheduled
for Saturday, January 20, at the Dallas/Ft.
Worth Airport Marriott South in Ft. Worth,
Texas.
The draft standard, BSR E1.6-1 deals with
powered winch systems that do not use
serially manufactured electric chain hoists,
and is intended to establish requirements
for the design, manufacture, inspection
and maintenance of powered winch hoist
systems for lifting and suspending loads
in theatres and other places of public assembly.
The public review materials are
available on the ESTA website at http://
www.esta.org/tsp/documents/public_review_docs.php.
For more information, please contact
Karl G. Ruling, Technical Standards Manager,
ESTA, 875 Sixth Avenue, Suite 1005, New
York, NY 10001, standards@esta.org
TOMCAT Aquired
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TOMCAT USA, Inc., TOMCAT UK, Ltd., TOM-
CAT de Mexico and TOMCAT’s sister company,
Brilliant Stages, in Hitchen, Herts, United
Kingdom, acquired in 1998. The company
also has two distribution hubs: one in Las Vegas,
Nev. and one in Nashville, Tenn., where
the company plans to expand its manufacturing
capabilities.
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