ABTT

July / August 2008

The ABTT Theatre Show celebrated its 30th anniversary this year with another successful show at London’s Royal Horticultural Halls on the 11th-12th June. The three halls housed more than 100 exhibitors and the number of visitors beat last year’s total.  
Interestingly it appeared the visitors arrived earlier and stayed longer, which highlights the Theatre Show’s unique position as providing expert industry advice to Theatre Technicians, Architects, Consultants and Building Services Managers and all those involved with equipping, refurbishing or up-grading their drama studio, theatre, auditoria or multi-purpose performance spaces.
Theatre Show Director, Roger Fox, who has led the event from the very beginning, commented: “There are not many exhibitions around that can boast the history of the ABTT Theatre Show which from a promising start has grown year on year to be considered now as a leading showcase for technical theatre.  The Theatre Show is special in that it has managed to retain its informal atmosphere while developing as a commercial event.”
Many of the exhibitors chose the ABTT to showcase their latest products. Allen & Heath presented a selection of their digital and analogue mixers, including the new iDR0 2U rack processing unit, which provides all the processing features of the company’s flagship iLive digital mixing system for networked audio. Also on the stand were the ZED range of compact USB-equipped mixers and the GL2400 multi purpose console.
Avolites highlighted the Pearl Tiger console this year. The Tiger provides all the power of the Pearl, but in a smaller package.  Also on display were the Diamond 4 - the console of choice for Kylie’s latest world tour, KylieX2008 and from Avolites’ extensive dimming range the Art2000 Install dimmer. Avolites’ Koy Neminathan said; “With more theatrical software features being implemented on our range of consoles we have found that the integration of moving lights and media servers have lead theatres to attain a console where they can control generics and all the above!”
Out Board launched the TiMax2 SoundHub. In its ShowHub guise, TiMax2 (“T2”) incorporates a scaleable multi-channel audio matrix and mixer to handle multiple sources and multiple zones in a variety of projects ranging from theatre and corporate or special events through to AV installations, museums, boardrooms, hotels and nightclubs.
Zero 88 had Leap Frog 48 & 96 consoles on show, alongside the Jester ML series of lighting consoles. The Jester ML24 & ML48 offer direct control of 24 or 48 dimmer channels. Playback is either via 24 submasters or through a traditional theatrical cue stack. They also previewed their brand new theatre console, the Orb. The Orb is designed to bring Theatrical Control into the 21st century. With a combination of theatrical control philosophy and an adaptable hardware platform, Orb provides intuitive control of both generics and moving lights.
New to the show was Le Maitre. “As a first time exhibitor I was very pleased with the amount and certainly the quality of the visitors...Le Maitre’s new G300 MK3 and our MVS received lots of interest...we will be exhibiting again next year,” commented Elaine Peake.
Also new to ABTT were HD Pro Audio who exhibited products from Optocore, Yamaha, Digidesign and Bose all of which had a positive response.  “As the new Optocore distributor, it was animportant opportunity to raise the profile of the brand” explained Andy Huffer who was on the stand. “A good mix of end users, venue owners, sound designers and consultants makes the show excellent value for money as an exhibitor.”
The Annual ABTT Awards were staged at Church House in Westminster. All winners were awarded the coveted ‘Hook Clamp’ trophies. Best Sound Product went to  d&b audiotechnic for its new E-series loudspeakers with their rotatable high frequency horns. GDS won Best Lighting Product for the second year running, this year, for its revolutionary Socapex cable tester. The award for Best Widget was snapped up by  J&C Joel for its Serge Tape, designed for the emergency repair of black theatre drapes. The Best Engineering & Rigging product was taken by Steeldeck for its innovative Apack retractable seating system, while Stand of the Year was presented to Lighting Effects Distribution. Technician of the Year was Simon Stone of Unusual Rigging, who is recognised as a leading figure in the rigging of complex theatre productions. Additionally, Honorary Membership of the ABTT was awarded to Steve Tyrrell in recognition of his services to the Theatre Show over 25 years.
There was also a new “special section” to the awards this year; the Knight of Illuminations Awards. Clay Paky supported and promoted the awards and also had the pleasure of presenting the trophies to the winners. These awards celebrate and recognise achievements in Lighting Design by UK based Lighting Designers.
The ABTT Theatre Show has confirmed dates for next year’s show as June 10th and 11th 2009 when it will again return to London’s Horticultural Halls.