AVW Controls Ltd

As we look back on the year, it’s been another busy and rewarding chapter for AVW, with projects spanning education, engineering, broadcast, and live performance, often all at once.

Over the past 12 months, we’ve delivered bespoke lifting and control solutions for schools, universities, television studios, theatres, and specialist manufacturers. From a hoist control system for Glantre Engineering and a custom pool table lift using Serapid lifting chain technology, to an orchestra elevator installation at Sunway University, our work continues to balance precision engineering with practical creativity.

Live entertainment has been a major focus this year. We’ve supported high-profile television productions including The Wheel, Gladiators, and Squid Game: The Challenge, alongside large-scale theatrical productions such as Just For One Day, A Christmas Carol at The Old Vic, and Sleeping Beauty at the London Palladium.

Whether it’s a one-off installation or a long-term collaboration, every project benefits from the same hands-on approach, technical expertise, and problem-solving mindset.

We’re proud of what we’ve delivered this year, and excited about what’s coming next.

AVW have had another busy year during 2024 with control system projects for new venues, refurbished venues, new shows and re-imagined shows.

Control systems for new venues include The Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities at Oxford University with state of the art academic, exhibition and performance spaces. AVW have supplied five stage automation control systems for three venues in this new building. Other new control systems for new venues include The Richard Cairns Building at Brighton College and Rockwell PAC in the Philippines. All these new projects were sub-contract to J & C Joel Ltd.

Refurbished venues include a hydraulic orchestra lift control system at the Hawth Theatre in Crawley for Unusual Rigging, an orchestra lift and hoists control systems for the BEAM Theatre and studio in Hertford and a hoist control system at Grammar School for Leeds both for Glantre Engineering and a Liberty Switch control system that transforms between a sprung dance floor and a rigid theatre floor at the touch of a button for the Dutch National Opera and Ballet for Harlequin Floors PLC.

Show projects this year includes ‘Awful Aunties’ for Scena, ‘Lord of the Rings Musical’ (world tour), ‘The Real Thing’ and ‘Just for One Day’ at the Old Vic, ‘Roots’ at the Almeida, ‘Chicago’ (UK tour and world tour), ‘Six the Musical’ (UK tour) and ‘The Producers’ at the Menier Chocolate Factory. Most of the show projects uses our QAxis stage automation control system.

So, we go into 2025 looking forward to working on more new venues and shows!

AVW are delighted to be providing the overstage automation for the brand new production of THE WIZARD OF OZ at the London Palladium using our QAxis stage automation system.

Featuring the iconic original score from the Oscar-winning MGM film including, Over The Rainbow, Follow The Yellow Brick Road and We’re Off To See The Wizard with additional songs from Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, this spectacular production will be a magical experience for all the family.

Join Dorothy and Toto on an unforgettable adventure as they are swept over the rainbow to the merry old land of Oz.

The Korean production of the musical “The Phantom of the Opera” is returning to South Korea for the first time in 13 years.

AVW have previously provided the stage automation for this production in Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Madrid, Hamburg and Oberhausen; so we very pleased to be providing a QAxis stage automation control system for this iconic production once again.

The latest production is set to premiere in Busan and will feature headlining actor Cho Seung-woo, musical actor Jeon Dong-suk and baritone Julian Kim as the Phantom. Sohn Ji-soo and Song Eun-hye will take the role of Christine.

The Busan performances will kick off at Dream Theatre, a venue dedicated to musicals, on March 30 after a preview from March 25 to 29.

After wrapping up in Korea’s second-largest city on June 18, “The Phantom of the Opera” will take the stage in Seoul from July 14 to Nov. 17 2023.

https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20230109000613

AVW are delighted to be providing our QAxis stage automation for this new musical being staged at the Almeida Theatre in London.

Tammy Faye is a new musical from legendary songwriter Elton John, Scissor Sisters’ Jake Shears and award-winning writer James Graham (Ink, BBC’s Sherwood) and features Olivier Award-winner Katie Brayben (Beautiful) as Tammy Faye and Tony Award-nominee Andrew Rannells (The Book of Mormon, Girls) as Jim.

This true story, directed by Almeida Artistic Director Rupert Goold (Spring Awakening), is a testament of faith, resilience and the temptations of success.

AVW Controls started as a sole trader business in November 1996 and was incorporated in 1998 so we have now reached 25 years in the stage engineering business. A lot has happened in that time, we have worked on projects, shows and venues all over the world. We have made friends all over the world and we are very proud of the contribution that we have made to the art of stage automation.

Our mission was to provide affordable stage automation to venues and shows and we believe that we have delivered on that mission and will continue to do so. First with Impressario and more latterly with QAxis we have strived to provide stage automation control systems that get the job done safely, reliably, and affordably.

It’s been a blast and we hope to be around for a while longer yet!

At last the West End is picking up again and AVW are busy building QAxis stage automation systems for new shows for 2021 as well as resurrecting shows that have been closed since March 2020. Recently we have supplied a QAxis system for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat that has just opened at the London Palladium after waiting for a year from its intended opening date. This week we are loading in a QAxis stage automation sytem for Jersey Boys at the recently refurbished Trafalgar Theatre.

Later this year we will be supplying more QAxis systems for Get Up Stand Up the new Bob Marley inspired musical at the Lyric Theatre and for The Drifters Girl at the Garrick Theatre. We are also delighted that &Juliet will be returning to the Shaftesbury Theatre and Only Fools and Horses will be returning to the Haymarket. In addition Everybody’s Talking About Jamie will be returning to The Apollo with an older Impressario system. This will take the AVW tally of stage automation systems in the West End to a creditable seven systems.

AVW are excited to be providing the revolve control system for a new BBC television show called ‘The Wheel’.

Hosted by the Bafta award-winning Michael McIntyre, each episode sees a mixture of great contestants, celebrity guests and laugh out loud moments as The Wheel brings a brand new spin to Saturday nights on BBC One.

Working with Steel The Scene; AVW designed and manufactured a control system to power a three and a half ton 14 meter diameter ring revolve. The revolve control system accepts position, speed, acceleration and deceleration OSC commands from the Kinetic Pixel show control system and also returns real-time position and speed information for the syncronisation of graphics to the revolve as it spins.

The control system is based around our established QAxis control system and will form the basis of an innovative new dedicated revolve control system called Revolver.

AVW have been busy adding lots of useful new features to our stage automation software QAxis. The list of new features include:

• Fast (FINS) Ethernet communications added.
• DMX over sACN output for LX integration
• PosiStageNet output for AV integration.
• OSC input for external triggering of cues.
• MTC input for timecode sync to external systems.
• Named Presets (deads/trims) added.
• Time/distance display added to complete each move.
• Weight readout added.
• Improved speed calculator function.
• Improved setting up page.
• Improved High and Low soft limits reporting.
• Improved Help including links to ‘How to’ YouTube videos.
• Show Log added that logs user input and system error codes.
• Running show clock.
• Maximum speed indicator for when Master/group speed sliders have altered the programmed speed
• Loop function added.

We look forward to working with you again soon!

The winners of the 20th WhatsOnStage Awards have been revealed and AVW are delighted that the new musical & Juliet, which features the songs of music maker legend Max Martin, won the most awards on the night – six – including one for Best Actress in a Musical for star Miriam-Teak Lee.

Lolita Chakrabarti’s adaptation of the seminal novel Life of Pi, which premiered at Sheffield Theatres last year, won the Best New Play award: audiences in London will be treated to the piece when it transfers to the West End in the summer.

Both of these shows had the AVW QAxis automation system as did Best New Musical runner up Only Fools and Horses the Musical.

For more infomation about the WhatsOnStage Awards 2020 click here.

For more infomation about QAxis click here!