The Week in Review

Record Number of Attendees for InfoComm: It was another big year for InfoComm, the trade show for the audio-visual market. The show, held in Orlando, last week, drew 35,126 attendees from 110 countries. According to InfoComm, this represents a 2.5% increase in attendance. A total of 937 exhibitors covered more than 470,000 sq. ft. of space. (Your LSA team, having walked itself to death across the endless trade show floor, will testify to the size.) Look for a report on the show as a web bonus to the July issue.

Gel Services, Inc. Opens for Business: That didn't take long. Just one week after we reported the sad closing of Wybron, the Colorado Springs-based manufacturer of color-changers and other products, comes the news that former Wybron employees are starting a company of their own. Gel Services, Inc. is opening on July 1. The company will focus on gelstring production and color-changer service and repair. This must be a relief to all those users of Wybron products, which is to say everyone in the industry. For the full story, go to: http://plasa.me/crhih.

Foreclosure to Schermerhorn Symphony Center: About seven years ago, we ran a feature story on the new Schermerhorn Symphony Center, the new home of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. A grand-scaled old-school piece of architecture, it was a bellwether of the orchestra's rising fortunes and a symbol of Nashville's increasing cultural prominence. That was then; this is now. Thanks to stalled negotiations over an $82 million loan, it looks like the Bank of America may foreclose on the building. The New York Times has the whole sad story at: http://plasa.me/rcqlw.

Post-Tony Box Office Surge: Never let it be said that a Tony Award doesn't bring material benefits. According to the Times, Kinky Boots, winner of the best musical award, "had its single-best day of ticket sales" the day after the Tony broadcast, taking in $1.25 million in sales. (The figure came from a spokesman for the show.) Matilda, Kinky Boots' main awards rival, has a $21 million advance sale, which is awfully good, too. Meanwhile, the producers of Pippin, winner of the best musical revival award, have let the public know that the show broke the house record at the Music Box theatre last week, grossing $1,010,082.50. Whenever a musical enters the million-dollar club it is good news, but to do so at the smaller Music Box is especially impressive.