ColorSource PAR jr is the newest addition to the affordable line of ETC fixtures that has become a staple in venues around the world. A perfect complement to Spot jr, PAR jr boasts a similar feature set and includes a four-color red, green, blue and lime array.

If you’re looking for a flicker-free fixture for broadcast, concert venues, worship services, or live TV, look no further than PAR jr. The fan-free, convection cooled design makes this luminaire ultra-quiet. And at nearly half the weight and half the price of a full-sized ColorSource PAR, PAR jr is ideal for venues of every size.
Offering stunning colors and precise dimming, this wash light is available in two array options. The Original array provides subtle pastels and beautiful white light to enhance skin tones. While the Deep Blue array is for anyone needing more saturated, dramatic colors.

Like all ColorSource fixtures, PAR jr includes ETC’s color integrity technologies so you can be sure the colors you set in rehearsal are the same colors you see during the show. This includes thermal droop compensation and comprehensive factory color calibration.

ETC offers an industry-leading 5-year warranty on the entire fixture, and an astonishing 10-year warranty on the LED array. Pair that with the unmatched 24/7/365 phone support and you’ll be glad you chose ETC.
With almost 2300 lumens of brightness ColorSource PAR jr gives you more of what you love at a fraction of the cost AND a fraction of the size. Download the MyETC: Photometrics app for full photometric and color information on this, and all other ETC fixtures.

Learn more about PAR jr and request a demo at etcconnect.com

As the cornerstone of its 50th Anniversary Season, the Orlando Ballet commissioned a spectacular new production of The Nutcracker, one of the world’s most popular and most performed ballets, which debuted last December.

Billed as “bigger, brighter, and full of surprises” as well as the largest ballet ever created by an Orlando-based performing arts organization, the production was staged in Steinmetz Hall at the Dr. Phillips Center for Performing Arts.

New choreography, all new sets, costumes, and an updated storyline by Jorden Morris, who also serves as the ballet’s artistic director, brought an exciting edge to a timeless classic, combined with a host of interesting and innovative staging elements including a lighting design by Joseph R. Walls.

Robe Forte

Joseph incorporated Robe Forte moving lights and Footsie Led foot lights into his lighting scheme to bring extra vibrance and flair as the onstage action unfolded.

Joseph’s brief from Jorden was to create a fresh and invigorating contemporary look for the show as they presented an extravaganza of color, drama, and emotion to thrill Orlando and mid-Florida ballet lovers now … and for some years to come, as it is scheduled to run for the next 19 years over the festive holiday period.

The 26 x Fortes and 26 x Footsie1s were part of an additional lighting rental package supplied to the Orlando Ballet by Main Light from Delaware and were used in conjunction with the substantial house generic lighting rig.

Footsie1

Additionally, 6 x Anolis Calumma S multi-chip RGBA luminaires were purchased by the Ballet for this show and used for lighting within various scenic elements, proving ideal for offsetting the naturalistic interiors of scenes like the toy shop, pastry shop, and snow globe.

Joseph worked closely with Jorden and set designer Robert Perdziola to craft the show aesthetic. The set combined classic elegant touches with some high-impact operatic elements. The trim heights for productions in the venue are often around 30 feet, but for this one they were 48 feet, accentuating the scale of the scenography and requiring powerful lighting to work from that additional height.

Joseph consulted Main Light account executive Patrick Bellino who first suggested he look at Robe’s Forte as a solution, particularly as a good zoom and excellent dimming were top of the wish list. A demonstration followed which confirmed to Joseph that Forte was the “right fixture for the job.” “I needed a high CRI, a good range of whites, to be able to change colors and gobos, as well as a light source that was essentially clean and soft,” he explained, which is where Partick mentioned that units could be fitted with a heavy frost filter.

Of the 26 x Fortes supplied by Main Light, eight were fitted with the heavy frost, and two of the standard Fortes were run as follow spots, linked to a RoboSpot system operated via two base stations. Five Fortes were positioned on five of the overhead house bars (25 total) effectively replacing a whole ‘traditional’ top lighting system, while the rest were distributed on booms and additional ladders specified for “The Nutcracker”. They were used together with other luminaires from the Main Light rental package and the house rig.

Fortes saved valuable time and enabled Joseph to work quickly during the tech period. “I could not have lit the show with as much detail and complexity in the time without using moving lights,” he noted, also praising the talents and calm demeanor of his programmer, Bridget Chervenka, who worked purposefully and tirelessly through all the surrounding production hustle and pressure.

The 26 x Footsie1s in variable white were positioned along the front of the substantial stage in the standard footlights position. Lighting from these positions, especially for a ballet, has always been problematic as any lighting fixtures will obscure front sightlines, and specifically for those sitting in premium front stalls seats! “For years we have struggled to find fixtures that could be fitted in these positions and work effectively,” he commented, and now Footsie offers a practical solution.

Barely the same height as a standard sprung dancefloor, Footsie can blend seamlessly with the surrounding stage space. For The Nutcracker, Joseph used them to create spooky shadows for puppetry and various other sections of the show, utilizing the fixture’s individual zone control.

Zone control also enabled fluid ripples of light to flicker across the whole stage. The Footsies were used during the battle and other special magical moments when the stage was filled with color, either to denote specific locations, or to balance out shadows with an extra push from that position.
“They were invaluable in so many ways,” he commented, ‘The color, intensity and dimming from that angle were exactly what we needed,” and they were also ideal for highlighting Robert Perdziola’s striking costumes.

The show was a contrast between two worlds, reality, which was more naturalistically lit, and fantasy as the narrative followed a young girl’s love for a favorite Christmas gift from her town’s toymaker. The fantasy environments were energized with an enchanted aura including crispy, white, snowy wonderlands with twinkling lights which the Robe fixtures helped create.

The Fortes and the Footsies were also used to fine-focus on the protagonists onstage, while visual effects, color and textures were layered on and swirled around them.
Joseph appreciated the great teamwork and camaraderie of putting the show together. “It was a massive collaboration and hugely enjoyable,” he concluded.

Also on his lighting design team were associate Matt Taylor and assistant lighting designer Abi Farnsworth, production LX Lizz Pittsely and head LX Mike Boyle, all working alongside a great crew from IATSE 631. The show premiered in December 2023 and ran for 3 weeks and will return in December 2024.

For more info about Robe Lighting, you can visit the Robe Lighting website

‘Raffa in the Sky’ is a tribute opera to the iconic figure of Raffaella Carrà, a prominent Italian TV personality also renowned internationally. It is the story of an artistic career that not only evolved with the changes in Italian society over the last half a century but occasionally inspired them.
Through Carrà’s extraordinary experience, the work also aims to reflect on the artist’s role in society, the value and use of art, and the role of television and other media, not forgetting the songs she performed. The narrative transcends into the surreal and paradoxical to strike a chord with us all.

Show lighting designer Alessandro Anderoli told us: “As soon as I was appointed as LD for ‘Raffa in the Sky’, I started thinking about the kind of light and therefore which units to use for this rig. There are two main reasons why I preferred Claypaky. First, because of the quality.
Through my experience of working on four operas directed by Francesco Micheli, I’ve come to understand his need for frequent shifts in lighting to vary lighting conditions and create different directorial strata. His productions are highly dynamic.
Right from the first scenic sketches, it was clear that the two to three main alternating stage scenes would require different approaches. Hence, the decision to use Claypaky lights which allowed me to exploit nearly all the features of each fixture to their full extent.

Second, my choice was influenced by emotional and practical reasons: I have known Claypaky for over twenty years and used their lights for various events like theatre productions, summer shows and ceremonies. I have always found the right light in their catalogue, along with utmost reliability.

The Fondazione del Teatro Donizetti has been working with Claypaky for over a year, and there was a mutual desire for a Bergamo-based partnership. Moreover, the Claypaky technical team have always solved our problems promptly when needed. This is an absolute linchpin for me.

Alessandro Andreoli then elaborated on the role of the Claypaky Sinfonya Profile during the show: “Its unique value in this opera lies in its main feature, the ability to vary the colour temperature of the LED engine, along with the light’s extraordinary technical performance across all parameters.

From the beginning, it was clear that the Italian national broadcasting company (RAI) was going to film the opera, and the Sinfonya Profiles enabled me to confidently program the fixtures during rehearsals, knowing that I could later optimize the effects without drastically altering them once we were joined by the technicians for the shoot. They had specific colour temperature requirements for balanced in-camera images.
In addition to the Sinfonya Profiles, the lighting rig also included 10 Claypaky Xtylos units, 6 Claypaky Sharpy-X-Frames, 16 Tambora Flash fixtures, 4 B-EYE K25s and 12 Midi-B WWs.

Referring to the Xtylos units, Andreoli told us that “the director was looking for a lighting effect that could both emulate a ‘heavenly ray’ for Raffa’s entrance and simultaneously represent a ‘cage’ as the narrative unfolded.

We tried various options including the use of fibre optics and LED strips on frameworks, but it was when we saw the Xtylos in action that we immediately realized we had the solution. It was the perfect fit for us with its powerful, concentrated beam, zoom capabilities and gobos.

Sharpy X Frames were used as backlighting on the backing singers’ podiums, and one was placed upfront to create a spotlight effect. “I placed five of them to backlight the backing singers because we needed a different light for when the podiums appeared, since they were on a different physical and directorial level.
Discharge lights served this purpose well. The potential to shape them led to that part of the stage being illuminated in its own unique way. One final X Frame was tentatively used as a followspot and, as the rehearsals progressed, it turned out to be a brilliant choice.”

The use of the powerful, hybrid Tambora Flash units, which can operate simultaneously as strobe lights, washlights and blinders, was very distinctive. Andreoli continued: ‘These lights were a real gamble. I was looking for a fixture that physically resembled a 1960s/70s/80s TV studio ceiling light, which was what set designer Edoardo Sanchi envisioned for the stage space.

Obviously, I needed a fixture that also had colour changing capabilities to adjust the tone of the fixed units and that provided enough light to support the scenes.
We slightly angled the Tambora Flash beams for backlighting so that the four lamps were clearly visible, which turned out to be the right choice.
I spoke of a gamble because this unit was designed as a blinder, as its name implies. However, I wanted to use it in a non-conventional way, and I must say it surprised me. The two strips of strobe lights left us awe-struck by the amount of light they produced.”

The Midi-Bs were used as space-filling washlights. Eight were mounted on the battens on stage, two in the auditorium to support the front-lighting, and the last two as sidelights in front of the curtain, one on each side. The latter are essential in supporting all proscenium scenes with the frame folded down due to the compact size of the light itself.

Lastly, there is an interesting story behind the use of the four K25 B-Eyes. During rehearsals, it was decided to perform the second scene of Act II in the stalls with all the soloists wandering around the audience. Andreoli revealed that ‘having already installed all the available units on the battens and brackets, there was a clear need for something extra and special.
Claypaky came to our rescue by providing us with these additional lights which, thanks to their power and zoom range combined with their capability to project videos on the curtain, created a magical, cinematic spectacle. The K25 was the right light for the purpose.”

Andreoli concluded: “I would like to thank the entire Claypaky team, and especially Alberico, Daniele, Giulia and Sandro for the support I have received from the very beginning of the project, which goes back several months before the staging.”

Massimo Boffelli, General Director of the Fondazione del Teatro Donizetti, emphasized that “the Fondazione del Teatro Donizetti is very proud to work with Claypaky. Our partnership brings together two internationally acclaimed Bergamo-based organizations and allows directors and lighting designers to express their creative ideas fully, even in the case of unique and experimental projects like ‘Raffa in the Sky’. We are confident that our alliance will continue in the coming years, touching new aspects of the Fondazione del Teatro Donizetti’s programme and events.”

Claypaky Sales Director Alberico D’Amato said: “We are proud to provide our most advanced technology to the Teatro Donizetti, which has always been an institution for the people of Bergamo and a global benchmark in the theatre world. Our company has provided top-ranking lighting products for a large number of entertainment sectors worldwide for nearly fifty years but has always had strong roots in the Bergamo area with which it shares the proverbial industriousness and attention to quality craftsmanship.

We would like to thank the General Director of the Teatro Donizetti, Massimo Boffelli, the President of the Fondazione, Giorgio Berta, and the head of stage set design, Sergio De Giorgi for making the partnership between our two renowned Bergamo-based organizations possible”.

For more information about Claypaky lighting fixture, you can visit the Claypaky website

Throughout February 2024, German Rap artist, Luciano, worked his way across Germany, Switzerland and Austria on his Seductive tour. One of the first German-speaking rappers in the UK Drill style, Luciano was Germany’s most streamed artist on Spotify in 2022 and deserves nothing but the best for his music and outstanding live shows.

80 Ayrton Cobra fixtures were duly supplied by TDA CLAIR GmbH for this year’s tour and they proved to be a brilliant success for the show.

Cobra is Ayrton’s first IP65 laser-sourced fixture. Designed for rendering a D65 white point that allows perfect colour reproduction, Cobra has an incredible output of 386,000 lux at 20m, an unprecedented 38x zoom ratio and an incredible zoom range of 0.6° to 23°. It also sports a highly innovative colour section, unrivalled graphics capability and continuous pan and tilt.

The Cobra fixtures were specified by Stop Making Sense’s Timo Martens who created the lighting design for the tour with great support and cooperation from Bertil Mark (also from Stop Making Sense), and Raphael Demonthy.

The Stop Making Sense design collective was responsible for the entire realization of the stage, the lighting, the content production, as well as the programming and supervision of the project.

Martens explains why the Cobras were chosen for this tour. “In order to create the greatest possible impact with the lamps, so that we could practically make backdrops out of light, we needed a moving light that would provide maximum output with a low weight and a great CMY colour mixing. We compared a lot of moving lights and finally decided on the Ayrton Cobra, which we have not regretted.”

48 Cobra units were rigged around a specially made 10m circular truss upstage and 16 Cobra fixtures lined the catwalk. “The Cobras in the circle were primarily there to draw shapes and lines in space,” explains Martens.

“The basic idea was to create backdrops of light that extend across the entire width of the venue, or to be able to create a tunnel of light that extends through the whole venue, no matter how large it is.
We placed the remaining Cobras on the stage to use as floor lamps to provide additional options that gave the show even more variety.”

The technical team and lighting designers were extremely pleased with the overall performance and versatility of their choice of light. “In the end, it was a very good decision to put our trust in the Cobras, because the concept worked out perfectly,” confirms Martens. “We didn’t have a single breakdown on the entire tour. The Cobra light beams looked sensational and we have never regretted our decision.”

There was praise too for the service and back-up from both supplier and manufacturer: “We have always received friendly, excellent support from Ayrton and are very happy with such good cooperation. However, because the Cobras were so reliable, we didn’t have to put too much strain on customer support! TDA Clair always had an open ear for us and left nothing to be desired. We felt well looked after and supported at all times. Special thanks also to Captured Live for their trust in us, as they were responsible for production management and implementation.”

For more information on Ayrton Cobra and Ayrton’s full range of LED and laser-sourced lighting fixtures, visit www.ayrton.eu

Bogotá’s Movistar Arena staged the 2023 Red Bull Batalla World Final, celebrating the creativity, importance, and popularity of freestyle rap culture in Spanish-speaking communities. The event was fully loaded with energy and excitement and lit by Madrid, Spain-based lighting designer Edu Valverde from design studio Experiencias Visuales.

Venue of the Red Bull Batalla World Final 2023 in Bogota, Colombia, on December 2 2023. // Gianfranco Tripodo / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202312030011 // Usage for editorial use only //

Edu utilized over 200 Robe moving lights to realise an eye-catching show design for the tournament which was attended live by a lively 14,000-capacity audience and streamed worldwide. On Edu’s lighting plot were 105 x Robe MegaPointes, 66 x Spiiders and 53 x BMFL WashBeams, all delivered by Bogota-based rental company, Linea Estratégica, who also take care of all things technical for the venue and were picked to deliver specific results for this spectacular show.

Edu has previously lit Red Bull Batalla tournament finals in Spain, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and the previous one in Madrid, in addition to several national finals in Spain, so he knows the brief, and was very excited to be working with a great team in Colombia on this one.
The 2022 event featured an LED screen and video heavy design, so in 2023, he wanted to turn this around and produce an equally dazzling environment but this time with “light being the main protagonist”.

The set design was similar to 2022, a collaboration between producers Babbla Studio, the Redbull Batalla team and Experiencias Visuales. A long and slightly quirky shaped runway stage allowed contestants to strut their stuff and connect with fans in the audience.

The objective was to create an atmosphere that reflected the intensity and energy of freestyle rap, explained Edu, and one of his methods was to have different lighting zones, some which were high contrast areas reinforcing the drama of stage entrances, others where the battles took place which were perfectly illuminated.”

Apart from the demands of live show lighting, the multicamera shoot, directed by Paulí Subirá and global telecast meant he had to light efficiently and effectively for camera, all the time not losing that critical connection with the audience that is so fundamental to rap shows and live broadcasts.
The distinctive runway design was fundamental to Edu’s lighting strategy. His aesthetic involved two types of ‘base’ light, one covering access to the runways filled with harder, more dramatic key light, achieved using overhead BMFLs cutting across the runway, working in conjunction with the second, a perimeter of MegaPointes creating a ‘beam corridor’ matching the movement of artists as they entered the battle arena.

Robe MegaPointe

The 105 MegaPointes were located around the stage and the runway, and used for a myriad of dynamic effects and to emphasize key moments. In beam mode, some defined the outline of the runway, both on the deck and from the overhead trusses creating those special kinetic effects in unison with the artists.
The balance of the MegaPointes were rigged on the perimeter trusses running in spot mode, utilized to create beams with gobos and aerial movements.

The 66 Spiiders were used to enhance ambience across the bleacher seating areas and on the arena floor as well as providing general room lighting, while the BMFL WashBeams were the event’s primary key lighting.
They were positioned perfectly to light the front section of the battleground and also cover the talent waiting area in addition to the runway overhead lighitng.

Robe Spiider

BMFL WashBeam

Edu wanted these three different types of Robe fixtures for multiple reasons. He likes BMFLs for their “uniform output and shutter system”. MegaPointes he selected for their sheer versatility, adaptability, and effectiveness as both beam and spot fixtures for creating effects and textures. The high performance of the Spiiders in saturated colors and their zoom capabilities were ideal for illuminating the audience. Before drawing up the design, he ensured that all these fixtures would be available for the show.

Linea Estratégica is well known for its quality and service for the Balatta. They supplied all the lights plus trussing / rigging, audio and a full show video package. Also being technical supplier at the Movistar Arena and very familiar with all its nuances, “everything went wonderfully smoothly,” noted Edu. Robe is one of Edu’s go-to brands that he regularly requests “for its innovation, reliability, and the exceptional quality of the optics and light coming out of the fixtures, all aspects that are crucial in live events.”

Fat N and Chuty perform during the Red Bull Batalla World Final 2023 in Bogota, Colombia, on December 2 2023. // Maximiliano Blanco / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202312030013 // Usage for editorial use only //

Among the biggest challenges of lighting this event was adapting the rig to the unique design of the stage and synchronizing with all the fully improvised performances which kept everyone on the edge, proving a great test of their imaginative agility, rhythmic and technical skills!
On top of that, creating an atmosphere suitable for both broadcast and live performance was a “significant challenge,” recalls Edu.

The get-in and set up time was tight, with only two overnight onsite programming sessions which were intense. However, good advance planning and the magic and convenience of visualization using WYSIWYG and Depence3 enabled Edu to leave Madrid with the building blocks already programmed, so on site in Bogota, the focus was on tidying up and finessing.

For him, the most interesting part of the project was creating a unique atmosphere to complement the vibe, vibrance and spontaneity of freestyle, keeping the focus on the artists.
“You use both organization and flexibility to tune in to the performances unfolding onstage in front of you,” said Edu, adding that a “harmony and understanding of freestyle culture also helps this process.”
Audience LED wristbands were also integral to the overall illuminated effects, providing a very homogeneous yet dynamic and constantly changing background.

Chuty wins the Red Bull Batalla World Final 2023 in Bogota, Colombia, on December 2 2023. // Maximiliano Blanco / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202312030014 // Usage for editorial use only //

Edu worked alongside a highly talented team including three production managers, Javier Svietozar (Red Bull), Enrique Garcia (Babbla Studio) and Yalesa Echevarría from local company Duir, plus Fabio Cuellar from Linea Estratégica; lighting operator David Carrasquillas, lighting programmer Juan Manuel Lazaro, sound engineer Felipe Lara and video content director Jaime Dusan from Nativo.

“The team was amazing! The local production and technical crews worked tirelessly and were super professional, throughout all the months planning and leading up to the setup and show. AND, the passion and enthusiasm of the Colombian audience added another fantastic and very memorable dimension to the event.”

The Batalla World Final 2023 was enjoyed by peak audiences of over 850,000 people tuning in to the livestream broadcast to share the action-packed series of thrills happening in the Movistar Arena. The tournament’s many highs included a rap-off between the then reining, and only three times, champion Aczino and popular challenger Chuty who emerged as the eventual Red Bull Batalla 2023 winner after a final battle with Fat N that saw both artists delivering incendiary performances!

For more info about robe Lighting, you can visit www.robe.cz

Ayrton lighting performs for John Summit and Metro Boomin at LIV Las Vegas

With its expansion to the famed Strip, Fontainebleau Las Vegas has launched LIV Las Vegas, the city’s newest nightlife destination, which Lighting Designer Stephen Lieberman has illuminated with an array of Ayrton fixtures controlled by a grandMA3 light console. ACT Entertainment is the exclusive distributor of Ayrton and MA Lighting products in North America.

Fontainebleau Las Vegas brings a new era of luxury hospitality to the Strip and promises a night like no other at its LIV Las Vegas nightclub. The LIV brand from Groot Hospitality was born at the iconic Fontainebleau Miami in 2008. Now, its 50,000 square-foot counterpart in Las Vegas delivers high-energy, A-list entertainment to that city’s clubgoers making its 2,000 guests feel in the middle of the EDM action.

Lieberman, who is President of LA-area SJ Lighting, which specializes in production systems for nightlife and hospitality, already had designed the lighting for LIV Miami when his firm was hired to design and develop the theatrical system for LIV Las Vegas.
His team worked in collaboration with BWA Architects, Rockwell Group interior designers and Sound Investment AV audio designers.

“One of the challenges was having all the designers come together from different cities and make everything look coordinated, that’s as daunting a task as the actual design work,” Lieberman explains. “The theatrical lighting needed to include hybrid fixtures, wash lights to balance the look, strobes, LED strip lights, lasers and LED video panels with a high level of automation.

“The space is very fluid with a very clean layout and great sight lines: You’re able to do a lap around the first floor and second-level mezzanine and not get stuck in a dead end,” he says.
“Whether you are at a table or a bar, you’re an active participant in the show, and we did our best to make the experience as immersive as possible.”

The interior has soft, curved radial lines with an hourglass-shaped ceiling feature composed of two connected ellipses that move up and down. Another ellipse encloses six-part LED video panels, which also move up and down.
“There’s a lot of motion over the dance floor for a very animated environment,” Lieberman notes. Tables surround the dance floor and the mezzanine with bars left and right. The central DJ booth has enough counter space in front to serve as a performance stage, while coveted VIP tables are inside the booth.

Having had “good success with Ayrton Diablos in the past” Lieberman decided to use them at LIV Las Vegas. “We love their clean optics and nice aesthetic, and they have the right feature set,” he reports.

Ayrton Diablo

Forty-four Diablos do the heavy lifting throughout the space providing clean, even coverage from positions in the automated ellipses and under the mezzanine where they create layers of light.
The Diablos are supported by 48 Ayrton MagicDot SX luminaires. “We wanted to stay with the same manufacturer for the moving lights for ease of coordination,” says Lieberman.

“The MagicDots are compact, bright washes with zoom capabilities. Their 360º pan and tilt is an added feature for the rig.”

Six Ayrton Levantes are mounted near the stage for special looks and key lighting for the DJs and performers. “The Levantes were new to us, but when you build spaces like this having the right equipment for specials is critical.
Sometimes you have to allocate fixtures that are already part of the show. But here we didn’t have to sacrifice part of the big rig to light other positions. The Levantes have enough firepower, even when they’re throttled back, to cut through video and other lighting. They do exactly what we need them to do.”

He notes that his company’s close relationship with ACT Entertainment was a big factor in his use of Ayrton fixtures for LIV Las Vegas. “It’s important to us to not only choose quality equipment but also to have people who stand behind it supporting the gear. Having ACT behind the Ayrton line meant a lot to us.”

A grandMA3 light console controls lighting from a position in the DJ booth. It is interconnected with the video and automation control systems. “I’ve been using grandMA since the original version back in 2001, and we’re running grandMA3 in clubs now,” Lieberman reports.

“The light’s smaller footprint is key where space is at a premium. We programmed the system and trained the staff. We like to think we have a good philosophy of how to lay out the console intuitively in terms of what’s important to the operator. Within 48 hours the in-house operators felt very comfortable with the system.”

“Everything is performing fantastically,” he says. “The support we got from ACT was paramount to the success of the venue.”

More information on the full portfolio of innovative Ayrton LED and laser-sourced products can be found at www.ayrton.eu

Sixty82 is excited to welcome Avenion GmbH to its growing network of resellers in Germany. This addition aims to strengthen Sixty82’s presence in the German market and ensures that customers have wider access to its innovative products.

Avenion GmbH is making waves in the AV solutions sector with its fresh approach. Under the guidance of Matthias Matthes, Avenion has quickly become known for its innovative ideas and commitment to quality. Furthermore, the team has extensive experience in the areas of rigging and trussing.
As they continue to develop, Avenion is evolving into a full-service provider, broadening its range of offerings to meet the diverse needs of their clients. This collaboration between Sixty82 and Avenion GmbH is not just a business partnership; it’s a meeting of minds that share the same enthusiasm for the future of entertainment technology.

“We’re really excited to have Avenion GmbH join our team,” said Fokko Smeding, CEO of Sixty82. “Matthias Matthes and his crew are exactly what we look for in partners, they’re young, they’re innovative, and they’re all about pushing the limits of what’s possible.
We’re not just adding a reseller; we’re gaining a partner that shares our vision and energy. This is going to bring some great things to the German market, and we can’t wait to see where this partnership will lead.”

Matthias Matthes, leader of Avenion GmbH, shared his excitement about the collaboration, “Joining Sixty82’s reseller network is a big deal for us. It’s recognition of the hard work the Avenion team has put in and a chance to bring something new to the German entertainment scene. We’re all about innovation and pushing boundaries, so pairing up with Sixty82, a company that values those same things, is perfect for us. We’re ready to roll up our sleeves and get started.”

This partnership is more than just business, it’s a commitment to innovation and quality in the German market. Avenion GmbH will now be part of the extended family of Sixty82 resellers, ensuring that customers in Germany have access to the latest and greatest in trussing and staging solutions.

For more information about:

• Avenion
• Sixty82

Lighting designer Mikael Kratt was super happy to be among the first visiting creatives to use the Royal Danish Opera’s new Robe Forte moving lights in a recent production at the Copenhagen Opera House.
This was for Som I Himlen (As It Is in Heaven) a lively and heartwarming musical adaptation directed by Edward af Sillén of a 2004 Swedish movie telling the story of a famous conductor who returns to his small Swedish hometown in the North of the country to retire … and is asked to help with mentoring the school choir.

It was Mikael’s first time using Fortes, 80 of which arrived at the Copenhagen Opera House in summer via Robe’s Danish distributor Light Partner. The package features 32 x Forte Profiles, 34 x Forte Fresnels, 4 x Forte FSs (follow spots) and 10 x iFortes, all part of a technical upgrade that was installed just in time for the restart of the high-profile venue’s winter programme.

Som I Himlen is a co-production with Malmo Opera and was first produced there in 2021. Mikael has worked with the director Edward before and was asked to collaborate on this production by him. There were no Robe moving lights involved in that production as Mikael utilised Malmo Opera’s repertory rig. The entire creative team from the popular Malmo show helped to deliver the production in Copenhagen.

When the first discussions started with the Copenhagen Opera House chief LX Sune Schou, he mentioned that the move to having LED fixtures in the rig was imminent, and Mikael was also delighted to see Robe LEDBeam 150s on the kit list, which he has used before together with several other Robe products on his various projects.

With many intimate moments in the show, the set, designed by Kim Witzel, was pushed as far downstage and as close to the audience possible, where there were fewer rigging points for lights, and the orchestra, who figures prominently in the narrative, was upstage on a podium.

This was slightly tricky to manage in terms of lighting coverage, but with the Fortes in the rig, Mikael was able to light the action both efficiently and elegantly using both the profile and fresnel versions of Forte which he thinks are “brilliant!”

“The punch is great as is the quality of light,” he confirmed, explaining that the show is a pacey mix of classic musical production numbers and operatic drama for which the general style of lighting is realistic and lifelike.

“We wanted to present a series of relatable scenarios for the audience, as the story is about everyday people dealing with normal situations that can have a dramatic impact on their lives,” he explained. Much of the set was woody in colour and texture, so he also wanted to retain this natural warmth and emphasise the subtleties of different seasons and times of the day with lighting.

He loved working with the Forte fresnels which replaced the 5K HMIs he had used for the same roles in Malmo, commenting that he didn’t need to go above 60% most of the time due to the brightness. With approximately 10 metres of trim height, and some older hard-edged moving lights to augment, he noted “they are extremely powerful!”

Robe Forte

Fifty-seven Fortes are used in total for Som I Himlen, all rigged on house bars in the top rig lighting above the stage and the orchestra, with a couple more behind the scrim in front of the orchestra riser, which flies out to reveal the orchestra, and the full lighting rig in a spectacular moment, towards the conclusion of the story.
Other features he likes include the zoom range, which he says is “amazing” enabling wide shots to even be covered with one fixture in some cases, and no loss of output when zoomed out.

“Overall working with these Fortes made a massive difference to the scope and latitude I had to light the show and the detail that could be added,” he stated, saying that the colour rendition is “beautiful” all the way from the subtle pastels and intricate cold areas of the spectrum to the deep, rich blues and reds which were “gorgeous”.

The density and texture of the reds really surprised him, as LED luminaires can strain in these areas, but the Fortes retained their power and punch even in the darker colours.

For contrast, there was just one number “Fråga Arne” (“Ring til Arne” in Danish) in the show that broke from the realistic lighting aesthetic into a more traditional all-singing-all-dancing musical showstopper, and Mikael was even wondering at one point if the impact of a FORTE colour chasing might have been a bit over-the-top for this, but the treatment worked out perfectly. The Fortes also assisted in creating different rooms onstage.

The shutters were really helpful here, and some scenes were quite short and rapidly flipped to different places, so he was able to go from the naturalistic looks to harsher more abstract environments just with nuances in the light.

Mikael had initially been worried about the ‘banana effect’, light beam edge aberrations when zoomed in or out, as all his pools of light needed to be super sharp, “but even with fixtures zoomed out 100%, the edges are clean precise which is very impressive”.
He also appreciated the dimming curve which he describes as “excellent” for some of the very long and slow fade ins/ outs and crosses.

Four of the Opera House’s LEDBeam 150s were used for side fill light, rigged at low FOH positions, and these were cloned from Source Fours on the Malmo plot. Mikael has used LEDBeam 150s as side lighting before as the dimming, zoom and colours are “all great”, and has 8 on another show, Änglagård”(House of Angels), which is also based on a Swedish cult movie and is running to sold-out houses in Stockholm, and he spec’d 16 for Tootsie last year running at the same theatre, Oscarsteatern, where they were used as front and effects lights.

Mikael concluded, “It was great coming to the Royal Opera in Copenhagen, I had a terrific time. It was a delight working with Sune and his team of skilled lighting technicians and also my lead programmer Mikkel Bedsted who did a fantastic job. I had a total blast revisiting this musical once again and everything fell into place enabling us to create a production of which we are all very proud.”

For more info about Robe Lighting, you can visit www.robe.cz