New rigging company chooses Electro Kabuki.

Steve Chapman August 17, 2021 Comments Off EK Community

We have a new direct Electro Kabuki customer in Erlend Webb, director of newly formed business Webb’s Rigging Ltd and a highly regarded professional in the rigging sector.

While Webb’s Rigging may be a new business in the events industry, Erlend is not. In fact, he’s a veteran with more than 20 years of experience in TV productions, theatre, film and live events including rock & roll tours and Olympic ceremonies – and he is acutely familiar with Electro Kabuki.

Erlend set up his business in March 2020, which unfortunately coincided with the arrival of the first coronavirus lockdown. Despite the difficulties imposed by Covid on the events sector, Erlend’s reputation and expertise have kept him busy over the past 18 months.

He has used Electro Kabuki many times over the years, predominantly with his work in TV using rented EK systems or EK kits belonging to studios or venues. That’s why the dependable system became his kabuki drop solution of choice for any rigging project that required curtains, drapes or props to be released with precision timing.

Are those green shoots we see?

Steve Chapman March 5, 2021 Comments Off EK Community

Some of the glimmers of hope we saw at Electro Kabuki HQ over the first couple of months of this year have turned into a reassuring resurgence of interest.

In the past weeks, we have received EK enquiries from companies in Norway, the United Arab Emirates and in the US. We know that the customer in Norway has rented Electro Kabuki systems in the past and is now looking to purchase its own system for tours planned later this year. We look forward to that order.

This week, we are packaging up a full Electro Kabuki demonstration system and sending it off to the Dutch National Opera & Ballet in Amsterdam.

Joy as Japan’s Kabuki-za Theatre Reopens after Coronavirus.

Steve Chapman August 3, 2020 Comments Off EK Community

As purveyors of the world’s most dependable kabuki drop system, it would be rude and disrespectful of us not to mention the good news from Japan this past weekend (Saturday 1^st August 2020).

After five months of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, the BBC reports that Tokyo’s famous Kabuki-za Theatre has reopened, to the palpable joy of many. The Kabuki-za is the city’s main theatre for performances of Japanese kabuki dance-drama.

Watch the BBC Online News coverage (courtesy of bbc.co.uk/news)

Rigging Jump reveals new Ford Ranger Raptor Off-road Pickup in Chile

Steve Chapman July 8, 2020 Comments Off EK Community

During a challenging time of coronavirus lockdown here in the UK and across many parts of the world, it’s reassuring to see some events teams continuing to operate and provide great staged reveals. None more so than our friends and Electro Kabuki enthusiasts Rigging Jump in Chile.

Rigging Jump shared images and video of setting up an Electro Kabuki drop for a reveal of the new Ford Ranger Raptor, billed as the ultimate off-road pickup experience. It was a launch event for the rugged new vehicle that was also aired on TV in Chile. Well done, guys!

Our thanks to Mauricio at Rigging Jump for allowing us to use the video from their Instagram feed (@rigging_jump).

With Covid-19 continuing to impact many aspects of daily life for many people, we’d like to let you know that we are still manufacturing and shipping Electro Kabuki systems and spares to our customers across the world. And yes, we are doing so while adhering to the British government’s strict social distancing and personal safety guidelines. Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you need information or support from us.

Stay safe wherever you are.

EK drops flower heads at RADA production

Earnest RADA students drop flowers on stunning production.

Steve Chapman March 30, 2020 Comments Off EK Community

In one of the last events we were able to attend before coronavirus forced us all to stay at home, we were invited to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art’s impressive theatre complex in Chenies Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1, to see a performance of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. As you’d rightly expect, the entire production was staged, performed, produced and directed by RADA Acting and Theatre Production students. And what a professional show it was!

For one of the highly imaginative scene changes, the production called for hundreds of flower heads to be dropped to the stage. That signalled the transition of the play from Algernon Moncrieff’s rooms in Piccadilly to the garden of the Manor House, Woolton, where the actress Harmony Rose-Bremner playing ‘Miss Prism’ was sat at a garden table – protected from the falling blooms by the butler (RADA graduate Jack Flammiger) holding a parasol.

Does what it says on the tin!

Steve Chapman February 20, 2020 Comments Off EK Community

Wonderful feedback from John Plews, director of the recent revival of ‘42nd Street’ staged at Upstairs at the Gatehouse – an award-winning London Fringe Theatre situated at the top of Highgate Hill.

Asked why he opted for Electro Kabuki for the show, John simply said: “We chose the model because it does what it says on the tin.” For us, that sums up Electro Kabuki perfectly.

John explains that Upstairs at the Gatehouse is a small theatre, and they needed to stage a small kabuki drop to open ‘42nd Street’. “It worked really well and was a great effect at the beginning of our musical. I was very happy with it,” he reports.

Performances of ‘42nd Street’ played to packed houses through December and January.

Paul Alexander of AMPS wins the PLASA GoPro

Steve Chapman October 15, 2019 Comments Off EK Community

The prize draw has been made. It was a curiously exciting process of selecting a name at random from all the visitors at PLASA last month who took the time to come to our Electro Kabuki stand and witness one of our many, many Flop & Drop demonstrations. These demonstrations proved to be highly popular and engaging and remain the source of many continuing conversations.

Anyway, to the business of the lucky winner of the GoPro Hero 7 White action-cam…

Our first time back at PLASA was exciting!

Steve Chapman September 23, 2019 Comments Off EK Community

Our timely return to PLASA as exhibitors proved to be a rewarding experience. Even on the first day, a Sunday, we flopped & dropped too many times to count. And Monday and Tuesday were even busier.

Our live Electro Kabuki demo was exceptionally well received. In all, we estimate that several hundred people watched the EK system flop & drop flawlessly. It certainly attracted a great deal of interest, as did our prize draw for a GoPro camera. We are delighted with the number of leads we acquired – well into three figures.

You can win a GoPro Action Cam from us at PLASA.

Steve Chapman September 13, 2019 Comments Off EK Community

Next week, we’re attending PLASA for the first time in a few years. And we’re running live demonstrations of our now-famous Electro Kabuki Flop & Drop on the show floor. You can find us on Stand No. N20.

But that’s not all…

As you can tell by this blog headline and the image above, we’re planning to give away a smart GoPro Hero 7 White action-cam. Visitors to our stand who watch our short but impressive Flop & Drop demo will be automatically entered into a prize draw. If you’re attending PLASA, be sure to pop along to our stand to be in with a chance of winning this smart new GoPro.

Like Electro Kabuki, GoPro cameras are the leaders in their field. And again, just like Electro Kabuki, they are beautifully engineered to perform flawlessly. And they’re easy to use. And they’re waterproof. And…

Okay, enough of the parallels between GoPro cameras and Electro Kabuki; suffice to say that we look forward to seeing you at PLASA. The show takes place at London’s Olympia from 15^th to 17^th September. The Electro Kabuki team ins on Stand N20.

One last thing: free visitor registration for PLASA is now closed – but you can still register for free with our compliments by using this link. Enjoy your visit.

RADA Production uses Electro Kabuki reveal.

Steve Chapman August 28, 2019 Comments Off EK Community

Here at Electro Kabuki, we’re enthusiastic when anyone expresses an interest in our kabuki drop system. And we’re keen to encourage the next generation of inspirational and creative people into the staging and theatre industry.

That’s why we immediately agreed to a very polite request from the students at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London for the loan of an Electro Kabuki system. RADA was to stage one of its biggest musical shows of the year – Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods.

The entire production was down to the students – actors, stage crew, producer, director, musicians, the whole lot. The staging in the second act called for a kabuki drop of a painted backcloth drape the full width of the stage; an effect made all the more dramatic by strobe lighting and powerful audio to represent a storm, during which the rear of the stage was revealed.

Category: EK Community