Entertainment Design

, the magazine dedicated to the working theatre design professional, has announced this year’s Lighting Product of the Year honorees. The five winners, picked by a panel of lighting designers and technicians, will be honored at this year’s EDDY Awards, to be held Friday, June 27 at John Jay College Theatre in New York.

The winners, which will be featured in the March issue of ED, are:

Wireless Dimmer: The City Theatrical WDS Wireless Dimming System
One of the first dimming systems to add a 15A dimmer, the WDS System is compact, durable, flexible, economical, and simple to use. The judges felt that the WDS adds a very useful tool to the lighting designer’s burgeoning toolbox by allowing users to add a controllable light wherever you need it.

Dimming System: The Entertainment Technology IPS Intelligent Raceway
With the Intelligent Raceway dimming system, you can now have what looks like a standard connector strip, up to 100’ in length with up to 96 2.4kW dimmers. The judges were very favorably impressed with the design and layout.

Console: The Electronic Theatre Controls Emphasis Control System
ETC’s Emphasis control system is a paradigm shift in lighting control. By combining its very popular Expression/Express console range with a computer that houses Cast Lighting’s WYSIWYG, you can now previsualize your lighting design, design, patch, program, run, edit, and control your lighting from one control system.

Moving Light I: The Martin Professional MAC 2000 Performance
The Performance is a welcome addition to the MAC 2000 line, opening up niches in the theatre and television markets. With its framing shutters and animation effects, the Performance is, in one judge’s words, “damn bright, bulletproof, and the pattern animation is stupid simple.”

Moving Light II: The Vari*Lite VL1000 Automated Ellipsoidal Spotlight
The VL1000 ERS luminaire combines the functionality of one of the most popular conventional lighting tools--the ellipsoidal reflector spotlight--with the versatility of an automated luminaire. The first truly bright luminaire with a tungsten source that's still quiet enough for theatrical uses.

The EDDY awards, which honor the best in design and technology, are part of the weeklong Broadway Master Classes, a two-part series of professional level training in lighting and sound by the masters of Broadway design. The Broadway Lighting Master Classes, headed up by Jules Fisher, will be held June 26-28; the Broadway Sound Master Classes, headed up by Abe Jacob, will be held June 28-29.

For more information on the classes, call Deanna Andrews at 212-204-1806, or email at dandrews@primediabusiness.com

For more information on the EDDY Awards, call David Johnson at 212-204-1811, or email at djohnson@primediabusiness.com