Round and round

It's been hugely busy for all of us in the last couple of months... I've spent September in Johannesburg as LD for the country's new production of Cats, which came after a great few weeks in South Korea as associate LD on the new touring production of Jekyll and Hyde, which also gave our ESP vision system a good workout.

Most recently, however, the entire Mandylights team has been in the USA for a series of corporate events. I'm sitting in Las Vegas' Palazzo hotel this week lighting everything from showgirls to magic shows and corporate presentations. Tonight, we're off to one of my favourite clubs in the city for the Club Night. Sometimes my job is pretty hard...

Back in Sydney next week and looking forward to a busy festive season

rich

Been a while

Bit of a case of 'no news is good news' recently at Mandylights... I think we've all been so busy that nobody's had time to even think about the website, but I promise we'll get some updates done in the next little while.

The boys are still chugging along with Starlight Express in New Zealand and about to finish what has been a highly successful run of around 40 shows in arenas around the country. Closer to home, it's been great for us to be a part of the English touring production of Cats as it returns home for a brief run at QPAC in Brisbane before it heads off into China for the rest of the year.

In my little corner of the world, I've been traveling a fair bit and Monday sees me off to Seoul to program a new production of Jekyll and Hyde - The Musical for designer Nigel Levings. This begins my regular annual disappearing act around the world which will see me in South Africa and US as well before the year is out.

We've lit a bunch of great smaller shows in the last few weeks and are frantically planning for some really exciting upcoming projects.... business is booming!

rich

Full steam ahead!

Sorry for the lame title, but we're all having a heap of fun in Wellington, New Zealand this week for the first bump in of Starlight Express, which Mandylights is supplying lighting direction, crewing and equipment for as the show tours for the next few months.

The show has a spectacular lighting design by Howard Eaton and we're working with the associate designer, Stu Stacy here in New Zealand to get the show up and running. With over 100 moving lights and 120 scrollers, the show has more than enough toys to keep our four man crew busy.

We'll put some photos up soon....

rich

More traveling

Howdy all from the tiny islands of Fiji - where I've been working on a couple of events for the last week. I can honestly say the Fijians we've been working and staying with have been some of the most dedicated, caring and fun people to work with anywhere in the world. Big thanks to Adam and Staging Connections this week as well who provided gear for us... those in the industry will appreciate how much easier a job becomes when everyone is on the same side and working together. It's been an absolute pleasure to be involved with the events and I really can't wait to get back on holiday or on business soon.

I'm now going to enjoy a whopping 48hrs back in Sydney before heading off to New Zealand for a week on Tuesday.

Hopefully I get a chance to catch up with some friends and colleagues in the next little while when all this calms down!

Rich

Mandy's All Shook Up

Hello Mandy followers over the past two weeks i have been Lighting the Knox Grammar School musical All Shook Up. Its a great show directed by Mr Charles Hambling. Lighting wise i tried to highlight the huge set elements designed by Tom Bannerman. The set was inspired by the 1950's vinal Record and encorporates this huge archway resembling a Jukebox that i have filled with LED. I havent taken any photos as yet but I will post some on the website in the next week!

Almost three

Mandylights (as a concept) turns three in a fortnight... it's pretty cool how much we've accomplished in the first three years and we're looking forward to many more ahead of us. Might add a bit more to that later on this month.

Dan and I have had a great time experimenting on a new play Picasso at the Lapin Agile which we've been lighting in Sydney. We created a design based around heaps of hanging lamp shades and the play opened last night with everyone loving it. I'll put some photos up soon.

The second half of the year is almost upon us and with it comes the prospect of more travel than we can handle.... in the coming weeks you'll find us in Brisbane, all over New Zealand, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Johannesburg, London, Shanghai, Beijing and more... and that's just the stuff we know about!

See you soon.... somewhere!

rich

A Busy Week

This week's been flat out for all of us - when I haven't been really sick I've been lighting the massive Presence Conference at Sydney's Convention and Exhibition Centre and also making sure the launch of Australia's Next Top Model looked as hot as the models did on the catwalk. Dan's been lighting the Australian Children's Choir and the continuing Peace Train tour which went through Sydney last weekend.

Mike's been over at the Vogue Magazine Fashion week launch, setting the scene for a week of fashion-week related events for us next week. There'll be lots of clothes, lots of beautiful people and lots of champagne. Looking forward to it!

rich

Singapore Sling

  With Mardi Gras barely over I jumped on a plane on Tuesday bound for Singapore where I'm currently lighting a couple of big events at the Raffles Hotel. We've got a great crew from Perfectus in Singapore who are providing the gear along with Hamid and the events are shaping up to look great. While the 95% chance of rain is not looking good for our big outdoor gala, it's still refreshing to be up here for a few days.

  Last week was a blur - on Tuesday and Wednesday Mike and I braved the elements on top of Centrepoint Tower in Sydney for an awesome launch event, and then I spent the rest of it holed up in the RHI at Fox Studios programming the Mardi Gras party which was a tremendous success - watch the main page for pictures of the party which I'll get up in the next couple of days.

  The next few weeks are incredibly busy for all of us (I should stop saying that in blogs because I think it's just a given that we're always busy now). There's a lot of television coming up, some exciting corporate work and of course Greg will be at the theatre just down the road from me here in Singapore at the beginning of April as we continue touring with Cats around South East Asia.

  Anyway, it's off to bed for me ready for the conference to begin tomorrow morning.

rich

Busy busy busy

The pace has definitely picked up throughout the Mandylights team in the past few weeks. I've been from one job to the next (quite literally) with the Korean Production of Cats, a regional NSW tour of Peace Train and a car launch in Canberra. The coming weeks see a Tasmanian tour of Peace Train, Mardi Gras Party, jobs at Sydney Uni and Sydney Ent Cent before more touring of AUS and the rest of the world... Does anyone want to rent my appartment???

Peace Train starring Darren Coggan

Down to Canberra

  So far this year we've racked up frequent flyer points traveling to London, New York, Tokyo, Seoul and Hong Kong. It seemed only natural to head to Canberra after getting all of the exciting cities out of the way!

  Dan, Mike and myself spent the weekend with Volvo for the launch of their awesome new XC60 which I secretly want to own. We designed the lighting for the conference sessions, spectacular car reveal sequence and a nightly gala dinner hidden amongst the sculptures in the National Gallery's gardens.

  We've been battling boiling temperatures, strong winds, freezing nights and torrential rain - well at least Mike and Dan have after I cam back to Sydney a few days ago!

  With all the elements against us it's nice to know the local wildlife like us - pictured is a brush-tailed possum that we found huddled up in our control area during bump in.

rich

Cats - Changwon Load In

We've just finished the first load in day of the Korean production of Cats. The first venue on the tour is in Changwon and is a pretty amazing theatre. It's definitely looking like being a very successful show and it's very exciting to be a part of.

..And then to New York

  I'm staying in the centre of the world for a few days for the American leg of our Awakening conference. Was great to arrive in the middle of a mild blizzard earlier this week and have spent the week seeing the sights and catching up with friends and a few colleagues too. The photo above was taken in Central Park just near the theatre we're in later this week.

  I had the pleasure of seeing Equus last night which was an oustanding piece of theatre... and as usual David Hersey's design was inspiring, refined and supported the action below perfectly. It closes in a fortnight so I was really lucky to get in.

  This weekend's conference at the Kaye Playhouse is going to be huge - it's already nearly sold out with the organisers expecting hundreds of walk-ups. On Monday though I'm only slightly looking forward to swapping the -8 degree temperatures here for Sydney's 35 degree heat.

  It's been great traveling so much already this year and I'm looking forward to doing lots more.

Rich

Peace Train News

This year the Peace Train journey continues and will tour through Tasmania, Regional NSW, Sydney and Adelaide. This dynamic show tells the story of Cat Stevens life and his rise to fame and spiritual journey. 

As recently appointed Production Manager as well as Lighting Designer I'm spending alot of time in January preparing for the tours ahead. Look out for updates as the year goes on.

Awake in London

  I'm in London this week for the Awakening Conference at the Mermaid Theatre. After a weekend of sessions in the Mermaid Theatre the conference team and I are off to New York on Monday morning ready for next weekend's events there.

  We're touring twenty custom-made LED hearts that work in with the conference's logo that have been hung randomly around the theatre.

  It's not ridiculously cold but I've got a feeling all that will change in Manhattan next week!

rich

It's Cold

The year is just starting to heat up ...well for some of us. This week sees Richard in London and then New York in near freezing conditions. Luckily he has a warm heart (or many) to keep him warm. Watch out for the news article about his trip. Look for the hearts. I am heading off to Seoul next week to snuggle up to Cats for a bit as they start their Korean tour. It has been snowing in Seoul. Just snow in a weeks time too. Once winter ends in the Northern Hemisphere it's full on with projects in many parts of Asia and the region, plus Australia ofcourse. Maybe I will have my own endless summer.... or do I prefer Winter/Summer/Winter/Summer/etc all in the space of a month? Ah the sun has come out here....how nice. Till later GY