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.