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Gearhouse Splitbeam invests in Ayrton Rivale Profile for South African production of “Mamma Mia!”

Theatre and professional rental specialist Gearhouse Splitbeam of Johannesburg, has made its first investment in Ayrton, purchasing a consignment of new Ayrton Rivale Profile fixtures from Ayrton’s South African distribution partner Planetworld.

The decision came after a concerted post-pandemic fact-finding mission to secure new LED moving lights with which to update Splitbeam’s aging lighting stock, spurred on by the requirements of Showtime Management’s production of “Mamma Mia!” later in the year and a need to increase its stock of LED moving lights. Departing from its traditional manufacturers, Splitbeam decided in favour of Ayrton Rivale Profile following a shoot-out between major manufacturers’ products and a visit to the Ayrton factory just ahead of the launch of Rivale Profile.

“We are essentially a theatre and long-term lease company working only on theatre productions, and therefore concerned with the finer details of moving lights”, explains Splitbeam’s managing director Alistair Kilbee. “Previously we’d experienced problems with colour mixing in LED moving heads, but Michael Althaus (Ayrton’s Global Sales Director) promised me Rivale would solve these problems. And he was right.” Kilbee placed his first Rivale Profile order with Mike Summerfield of Planetworld for 36 units, which were turned around quickly and immediately went out on tour with “Mamma Mia!”.

“Mamma Mia!” features a full South African cast, crew, and band, and is headed by an award-winning South African creative team. The production’s lighting and set designer is Denis Hutchinson. The tour kicked off on 6 March 2024 at the Artscape Opera House, Cape Town, playing to full houses before transferring to Teatro, Montecasino, Johannesburg, on 12 April where it will run until 9 June.

(Photos: Christiaan Kotze/Alistair Kilbee)

www.ayrton.eu

www.planetworld.co.za

www.splitbeam.co.za

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