GLP started its U.S. operations in 2009

German Light Products is now a Sustaining Member of USITT. As part of their plan to expand their footprint in the U.S. the company has joined with USITT to advance their mission to connect performing arts technology communities.

The renovations at the Public Theater were finished in the fall of 2012.

The Public Theater in New York City has successfully completed its Going Public Capital Campaign, having raised $42 million. The campaign paid for the renovation of its downtown home at Astor Place. The renovation was finished in the fall of 2012, and opened up the building to the street and transformed the lobby into a public “piazza.” Several of the larger gifts are being honored with named spaces, including the Ford Foundation Lobby ($2 million), the Whitton-Spector Library ($1 million), the Taub Box Office ($1 million), the Levin Mezzanine ($1 million). Other large donors include the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust ($1 million), Meryl Streep ($1 million, in honor of Nora Ephron and Joseph Papp), Bernard and Anne Spitzer Charitable Trust ($4 million), and the Susan Stein Shiva Foundation ($750,000). The largest donor, though, was the city of New York itself, with gave $28.5 million through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York City Council and the Manhattan Borough President.

The Sundance Theatre Lab will provide seven playwrights three weeks to develop their work.

Sundance has announced the seven playwrights selected for its 2013 Theatre Lab. The seven playwrights are: Adam Bock (The Colby Sisters of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), Jackie Sibblies Drury (Really Really Really Really Really), Taylor Mac (The Fre), Mona Monsour (The Vagrant), Qui Nguyen (War is F**king Awesome). Mfoniso Udufia (Sojourners), and Paula Vogel (The Vengeance Project).  Seven East African theatre makers will join the Lab community as well. The Theatre Lab pairs plauywrights with directors and provides rehearsal space and creative support for playwrights in a day-on, day-off structure. Its three-week residency culminates in a closed presentation of each project for Lab participants, followed by a feedback session.

The Broadway League tracks trends in road audiences as distinct from Broadway theatregoers.

The Broadway League has released its latest biennial report of audience demographics for touring Broadway shows, covering the 2011-2012 season. The report tracks the profiles of road audiences as distinct from Broadway theatregoers. Important trends in this years report include the fact that Tony Awards are more important than ever for audiences choosing to see a show (21% said it was important, as compared to only 8% in 2005-2006); Internet ticket-buying continues to grow, with 47% of people now buying a ticket online; and 75% of respondents said they’d prefer to receive info about shows electronically as opposed to via postal mail. Full copies of the report are available for purchase on the Broadway League’s website.

The Soundcraft Vi4 at FOH, and an unfamiliar site at Shakespeare’s Globe: A line array hung from the rafters.

The Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre is a recreation of the original Elizabethan playhouse on London’s South Bank. Made of wood, a full-loaded audio reinforcement system has never been allowed in the space, thanks to weight and structural concerns. But for a recent celebration of Shakespeare’s birthday, that all changed. ARC Sound supplied two symmetrical hangs of six JBL VerTec VT4887A compact line array elements, with two pairs of JBL VT4880A subs recessed under the stage apron, for the celebration, and a Soundcraft Vi series digital mixing console at FOH. ARC was careful to ensure that the line array elements didn’t put more than a quarter-ton of weight on the oak beams in the ceiling, and that they were all aimed in such a way as to not direct any sound directly out of the Globe’s thatched roof.

A moment from Hello Dolly! At Ford’s Theatre. Lighting design by Colin K. Bills. 4Wall D.C. supplied the gear.

Colin K. Bills was tapped by D.C.’s Ford Theatre and Virginia’s Signature Theatre to design lights for a co-production of Hello Dolly. Bills, in turn, tapped 4Wall D.C. to supply the gear to fulfill his vision. The opening number needed a number of specials for solos, and Bills’ design called for those specials to be tightly focused, but soft and sepia-toned. Bills decided on Martin MAC Auras and Vari*Lite VL3500 fixtures (along with some conventionals) to make it happen, and 4Wall D.C. supplied the fixtures he needed.

PLASA has brought two draft standards regarding arena rigging into public review.

PLASA has two more draft standards pertaining to arena rigging available for public review through July 7. are BSR E1.6-4, Portable Control of Fixed-Speed Electric Chain Hoists in the Entertainment Industry, and BSR E1.39, Entertainment Technology – Selection and Use of Personal Fall Arrest Systems on Portable Structures Used in the Entertainment Industry.

Nilo Cruz’s Anna and the Tropics is now available in Scene Partner

Scene Partner has added eight new e-Scripts from Nilo Cruz to its library. The scripts, licensed by Dramatists Play Service are Anna in the Tropics, Two Sisters and a Piano, Life is a Dream, A Bicycle Country, Beauty of the Father, Doña Rosita The Spinster, Hortensia and the Museum of Dreams and Night Train to Bolina. These scripts are currently available for purchase with Scene Partner, the line-memorization app, and cost $9.99 each.

The Cunningham Performance Hall has many possible configurations, with sound in each handled by a Meyer Sound Constellation system.

Meyer Sound’s Constellation acoustic system allows the Cunningham Performance Hall at Mansfield ISD Center in Mansfield, Texas, to sound good no matter what configuration the room is in, from its full 5,500 seat configuration all the way down to 1,800 seats with the side walls moved to create side rooms and an acoustic banner blocking off the balcony. The Huckabee architectural firm of Fort Worth designed the Center, and Infinity Sound of Grand Prairie handled system integration for the AV systems, including Constellation.

Hosts Sheridan Smith and Hugh Bonneville in front of video gear supplied by XL Video at the 2013 Olivier awards

XL Video supplied the video equipment for the 2013 Olivier Awards (the U.K. awards that honor the best of British theatre) and sponsored the Olivier Award for Best Set Design. XL supplied the center-stage LED screen, built from 84 Pixled FX-11 tiles, two side screens made up of 5 x 6 tiles and 5 x 8 Pixled panels in portrait mode. XL Video also supplied scenic LED for the band risers in the form of Barco MiStrips as well as video for the live outside broadcast site in Covent Garden Piazza. Full details about the kit and the video set up after the jump.