Theatre Projects Consultants is putting final touches on two unparalleled performing arts spaces: the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre and the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, as last-minute preparations continue for the October 15 grand opening of the AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas.

Theatre Projects celebrates over two decades of involvement in the planning and building of one of the country’s most ambitious new centers for the arts. The new AT&T Performing Arts Center is the final piece to complete the Dallas Arts District, a unique, 68-acre, 19-block neighborhood for the arts in Dallas which includes the Dallas Museum of Art, the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, the Nasher Sculpture Center, the Trammell and Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art, and the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.

In downtown Richmond, Virginia Theatre Projects teamed up with Wilson Butler Architects and acoustician Jaffe Holden on Richmond CenterStage performing arts complex. The work includes the restoration and renovation of the Carpenter Theatre for large-scale productions and the adaptive reuse of a local icon, Thalhimer’s department store, into Dorothy Pauley Square, a home for local artists.

Theatre Projects is an international team of theatre designers and planners creating extraordinary performance spaces around the world. The team is based in Connecticut and London, with regional offices in Düsseldorf and Shanghai. For more information, visit theatreprojects.com.

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Creative Stage Lighting will hold its final Open House series December 7 at North Coast Theatrical in Akron, Ohio. Open houses are free for attendees.

Hosted with CSL Dealer Members, CSL Open Houses bring the latest lighting and entertainment technology direct to CSL's Dealer Network, providing an opportunity for Dealer Members to demonstrate new products to their clients.

New products and technology shown during the Open Houses includes Wireless Solutions W-DMX, Color Kinetics LED fixtures, Compulite consoles, and JB-lighting's JBLED A7. For more information, visit the open house website.

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Since 2003, when Rosco introduced number 313 Light Relief Yellow to its Supergel range, the company has contributed thousands of dollars to the United Kingdom charity Light Relief, and at PLASA/09 one of the charity’s trustees, John Simpson, accepted a donation for over $4,100.

Making the presentation, Mark Engel, president of Rosco, said: “This is the largest check we have presented to Light Relief since the program began, with total contributions now in excess of $19,000, funded totally by purchases of number 313 Supergel.”

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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 United States equivalent, Behind the Scenes. At PLASA/09, Mr. Delwiche was delighted to present a check for £1,800 (almost $3,000 U.S.) to Light Relief.

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.

New York’s famed Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA) has new exhibit lighting as part of its renovated American Wing courtyard. The lighting system is sophisticated in its design and effect, yet simple to operate, maintain, and remotely control from 60 feet below. At the helm of the control is an ETC Ion lighting console.

For more information on ETC and its products, visit www.etcconnect.com.

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Following a highly successful European leg, the U2 360-degree Tour has landed in America, breaking stadium attendance records. It features a production design unlike any seen before.

PRG’s Concert Touring group supplied the entire lighting package for the tour, which also included the PRG Series 400 Power and Data Distribution System.

For more information on PRG, visit www.prg.com.

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The decision to buy an automated rigging system was easy for the TEMPO theatre in Portimao, Portugal. Selecting the right manufacturer posed a greater challenge. TEMPO’s technical staff came to the United States to visit installations, talk to users, and get hands-on experience with the equipment. Their experiences led them to choose PowerLifts automated hoists and a SceneControl 500 control system, both manufactured by J. R. Clancy, Inc.

More information about J. R. Clancy is available at www.jrclancy.com, or by calling 800-836-1885.

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GAMPRODUCTS, Inc. has introduced the PRISMO variable speed prism rotator. PRISMO joins a family of GAMPRODUCTS accessories designed to work with ellipsoidal spotlights in order to create motion and special effects. PRISMO is available with either a three or five element prism.

The PRISMO is one of several accessories, like GAM’s original TwinSpin, Film/FX and the SX4, designed to interface with a standard ellipsoidal spotlight. To learn more about the PRISMO and other GAM products, check out www.gamonline.com. Contact GAMPRODUCTS, Inc. by phone 323-935-4975 or mail at 4975 West Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90019.

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Vortek, a division of Daktronics, Inc., announced that Edward A. (Ted) Paget assumed the responsibilities of sales manager. He replaced Mike Cooper, who led the transition of Vortek since its acquisition by Daktronics in October 2006. Mr. Paget will continue his responsibilities as regional sales manager (North Central Region and Canada).

His leadership brings experience to the New York-based division of Daktronics. After 30 years of designing theatres and other public assembly facilities in Canada and the United States, Mr. Paget joined the Vortek sales team in 2007. A graduate of York University’s Glendon College located in Toronto, Ontario, he spent 10 years as a Toronto-based theatrical designer and consultant. Prior to joining Vortek, he was vice president and senior associate with Jones & Phillips Associates, Inc., an international theatrical consulting and architectural lighting firm out of Lafayette, Indiana. Mr. Paget is a member of the Associated Designers of Canada, USITT, and CITT and a former member of the American Society of Theatre Consultants.

For additional information on Vortek and its rigging systems, visit the company’s website, e-mail sales@vortekrigging.com, or call 1-866-4VORTEK.

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