Bringing TV Show Aesthetics to Arena Scale – with Pandoras Box by twoloox

With the Let’s Dance Live Tour 2025, Semmel Concerts Entertainment GmbH once again brings one of Germany’s most successful TV formats live to arenas across Germany and Switzerland. The objective of the tour was clear: to deliver an uncompromising visual experience that mirrors the television broadcast exactly – high-end, dynamic, and at the same time fully tour-ready.

Florian Schmitt from Showtime Design was once again responsible for the lighting and video design of the production, relying heavily on powerful media technology from twoloox, with Pandoras Box serving as the core of the video control system.

Project Overview

• Production: Let’s Dance Live Tour 2025

• Client: Semmel Concerts Entertainment GmbH

• Tour Schedule:

• Programming start: early October 2025

• 10 days lighting programming

• 5 days video programming

• Build-up: October 27, 2025 in Riesa

• Rehearsals start: October 28, 2025

• First show: November 1, 2025

• Last show: December 5, 2025

• Locations: Germany and Switzerland

The Brief: Television Meets Arena

Showtime Design has been part of the Let’s Dance tour since 2019 and has continuously supported the visual development of the production. For the 2025 tour, the existing design was once again adapted to match the current TV studio design.

The main challenge was to create a lighting and video concept that is both broadcast-ready and arena-ready. At the same time, the video portion of the show has increased significantly year after year – both in scale and technical complexity.

After working with various media servers, the decision was deliberately made to use Pandoras Box from twoloox. Key reasons included:

• timeline-based programming

• independence from the lighting console,

• a much clearer and more structured workflow,

• and significantly easier and more reliable timecode handling compared to other media servers.

Special Requirements: Flexibility and Speed

One of the key challenges of the 2025 tour was content flexibility. Each city featured customized content that often needed to be updated or exchanged at very short notice.

Additionally, LED wall dimensions varied depending on venue size. As a result, output configurations had to be adjusted quickly and efficiently.

Pandoras Box proved to be the ideal solution in this environment. Content could be imported, modified, scaled, or replaced with just a few mouse clicks and automatically by the widget designer– independently of the lighting console and without complex reprogramming.

Why Pandoras Box by twoloox?

In previous years, the tour was successfully programmed using ArKaos MediaMaster in combination with grandMA3. However, as video content became increasingly complex, this setup began to reach its limits.

Through earlier productions, including work on cruise ships, Showtime Design had already gained experience with Pandoras Box. The timeline-based structure immediately stood out as a major advantage:

• fast content workflows

• easy adjustments and repositioning

• excellent overview

• clear separation between lighting and video workflows

A key success factor was the preparation of the show by Mike Mengen and Andre Maier, who configured the Pandoras Box system in a way that allowed extremely fast reactions on site.

By additionally linking the media server to the lighting console, the entire show flow could be integrated into the lighting programming – while still allowing lighting and video to operate independently.

This proved invaluable during rehearsals and throughout the tour:

• the lighting operator could focus on focusing and looks

• the video operator could work autonomously

• changes could be implemented in parallel

For the design team, this resulted in a significantly more relaxed and efficient working environment.

Equipment Used

• 2 × Pandoras Box 19" servers (main / backup)

• 1 × 4K60 HDMI matrix

• 1 × 12G SDI matrix

• 2 × Reimer Media game technology media computers

Partners and Key Personnel

Design & Creative

• Lighting and video design: Showtime Design GmbH

Technical Service Providers

• Lighting and audio services: satis&fy AG, Werne

• Video services: Video Bär GmbH

• Content creation: Lupixx GmbH

On-site Team

• Lighting & video design, lighting programming, tour operator:
  Florian Schmitt (Showtime Design GmbH)

• Media server programming:
  Mike Mengen

• Tour lighting operator:
  Fabian Nallinger

• Content creation:
  Saskia Olma, Vlad Befus, Amy Haghebaert

Conclusion

The Let’s Dance Live Tour 2025 clearly demonstrates how modern TV aesthetics can be successfully translated to large-scale arena productions. With Pandoras Box by twoloox, Showtime Design implemented a highly flexible, stable, and future-proof video system that fully meets the demands of contemporary live entertainment.

A setup that combines creative freedom, technical reliability, and efficient workflows – providing the perfect foundation for one of the most successful live tours of the year.