TriMet’s Tilikum Crossing Bridge showcases fireworks for Orange line party
TriMet threw a picnic party for friends of the new MAX Portland-Milwaukie Orange line and used the Tilikum Crossing Bridge as the launching pad for a fireworks finale over the Willamette River Saturday night.
The theme of the party was orange: beer with orange in it, ice cream with orange in and a fireball sunset that turned the sky orange before the fireworks display took command just after dark.
The pyrotechnic display took full advantage of the mass transit and pedestrian bridge's architecture, at time mimicking the pattern of the white support cables or cross-weaving patterns against them.
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The newest light rail line opens to the public on Sept. 12.
--Randy L. Rasmussen
rrasmussen@oregonian.com
503 896 9181
@randyras01
TriMet throws party, fireworks show to celebrate Orange Line
Original Posting -- http://goo.gl/eD8RwW
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Weeks before its official opening, TriMet unleased a spectacular fireworks display over the Tilikum Crossing bridge Saturday night.
The bridge — the first new bridge over the Willamette in more than 40 years — will be a transit and bike bridge used as the Orange Line when it opens September 12.
Despite the skies over Portland being filled by smoke from Oregon wildfires, the fireworks lit up the sky and brought thousands downtown.
Fireworks add zing to Tilikum Crossing celebration
Orginal Article -- http://goo.gl/0erGLh
Smoky skies and breezy weather didn’t deter thousands from heading to the South Waterfront for TriMet’s Orange Line Fireworks Spectacular Saturday evening.
It was expected to be the one and only time that fireworks are launched from the Portland’s newest bridge.
Portlander Rich Bader envisioned the show more than a year and a half ago.
“This bridge is iconic of the 21st century of Portland,” Bader says. The show was designed to create memories for Portland, he says, “the memories that they will carry forever.”
Kiewit, the construction company responsible for building the Tilikum Crossing, sponsored the event.
Tasked with converting Bader’s vision into the 12-minute show was the responsibility of Pyro Spectaculars of Rialto, Calif. It wasn’t the company's first show on a bridge, having been responsible for the 50th anniversary shows on both the Golden Gate and the Oakland Bay bridges.
Thousands of explosive devices were used in the computer-controlled show. It was timed to music broadcast around the show site by All Classical Portland (FM 89.9). Fireworks ranged “from classical aerial up to 500 feet above the bridge deck to theatrical, instantaneous devices that can create movement across the bridge,” says Ian Gilifillan, Pyro Spectaculars executive vice president.
More than 1,300 firing commands drove the show, each firing between one and 100 devices.
The show was broken up into five scenes, according to Bader. It opened with an homage to native Americans, followed by images of movement to symbolize transportation. The history of the MAX light-rail systems was shown in a series of different color themes, starting with the Blue line.
Introduction of the Orange line put a crescendo on the MAX scene, but it was topped by a spectacular finale, synchronized to celebratory western music.
Different kind of light show
Fireworks were only one part of the evening’s festivities. An orange-themed picnic at Zidell Yards started off the hazy night on the waterfront, with Tilikum Crossing-themed beer from Bridgeport Brewing and Salt & Straw’s special edition ice cream on hand.
The TriMet Orange Line and Portland Streetcar Loop open on Sept. 12. Orange Line MAX follows a 7.3-mile alignment through SE Portland and downtown Milwaukie to north Clackamas County. The $1.49 billion project was built on time and under budget, according to the agency.
All transit throughout the region, including MAX, bus, streetcar and the Portland Aerial Tram will be free on the opening weekend.
If you missed the fireworks, you can see a different light show on the bridge starting Sept. 10. The Tilikum Crossing’s aesthetic lighting system will be switched on for the first time that night. Lighting patterns and colors will be based on the height, speed and temperature of the Willamette River below.
TriMet touts that the fireworks show was one of the largest ever staged in Portland, and it will be once in a lifetime due to the 24/7 operations of the bridge starting Sept. 12. However, Gilifillan says not to talk too soon.
“We love anniversaries,” he says.
Spectacular View of the 2015 Special Olympics Opening Ceremony
Check out this spectacular view of the 2015 Special Olympics Opening Ceremony! On Saturday, July 25th, Pyro Spectaculars by Souza participated in the opening ceremonies of the Special Olympics World Games. The ceremony took place at the Los Angeles Memorial Colosseum. The ceremony was attended by thousands of athletes, dignitaries and fans from all around the world. The ceremony concluded with a spectacular fireworks show that lit up the sky to the delight of all the spectators.
Photography by Jim Souza
Founding-Father Fireworks at the Broadway Opening of ‘Hamilton’
Orginial Article -- https://goo.gl/jWHHqr
Written By -- Gordon Cox | Legit Editor
How do you celebrate a Founding Father? With fireworks, of course. And the producers of ultrahot Broadway musical “Hamilton” obliged, capping the show’s opening night party Aug. 6 with a fireworks display over the Hudson River.
The mood was already pretty explosive at that point. The opening performance of the show — which has been an intelligentsia buzzmagnet since it bowed Off Broadway last spring, and has logged huge sales since it started performances on Broadway — attracted an enthusiastic, starry crowd that included everyone from Jake Gyllenhaal to Anna Wintour to Questlove. At the curtain call, the show’s star and creator Lin-Manuel Miranda (pictured above) called everyone up onstage — not just the cast, but the designers and the crew and the band and all the other people who make the musical happen each night.
And even with rave reviews in the bag and a hefty advance in the bank, Miranda and his team have made it a point to thank the show’s fans, too. The cast and creatives have regularly gone out onto the sidewalk to entertain the people that line up for the 20 super-cheap tickets that are handed out by lottery to each performance.
L’International des Feux Loto-Québec 2015
Pyro Spectaculars by Souza was selected to present the finale at what is acclaimed to be the most prestigious and largest fireworks […]
Opening Ceremonies of the 2015 Special Olympics World Games
On Saturday, July 25th, Pyro Spectaculars by Souza participated in the opening ceremonies of the Special Olympics World Games. The ceremony took place at the Los Angeles Memorial Colosseum. The ceremony was attended by thousands of athletes, dignitaries and fans from all around the world. The ceremony concluded with a spectacular fireworks show that lit up the sky to the delight of all the spectators. Check out the highlights of the event below.
Best wishes and good luck to all the athletes as they compete in this year's games!
Exciting and Spectacular Photos from the Opening Ceremonies:
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Missed the show? Watch the show right here!
Pyro Wins First Place at International Fireworks Competition
Pyro Spectaculars by Souza took the Cup of the Gods (First Place) at the recent North American Pyromusical Competition. The competition […]
July Fourth fireworks chief sees himself as an artist in the sky
When talking about his work as a pyrotechnician, Jeff Thomas is quick to address the misconceptions.
"Still have all my parts," he chuckled, holding up his hands as evidence.
Having spent the past 41 years launching fireworks over the Bay Area, Thomas is just as quick when it comes to talking about the explosive craft he describes as an art form. As he and his crew with Pyro Spectaculars by Souza prepared Friday for their biggest show of the year — the Fourth of July spectacular over San Francisco — Thomas spoke of an artist's process of lighting up the sky and an entertainer's vision for dazzling millions.
"We're painting the sky with color and effects and pyrotechnic devices," he said, as crews loaded the explosive shells and mortars onto a barge at Pier 50 in San Francisco. "The way you send it up in the air to match the feel of the music, the different sequences you choose, it's very much an art form, and you try to outdo yourself every year."
Planning for next year
The 25-minute show, set to begin along the Embarcadero at 9:30 p.m. Saturday, culminates a year of planning and testing, Thomas said.
"We pretty much begin planning this show the day after," he said. "All throughout this year, we'll get the orders placed, they start getting shipped over, we do testing of the products, see what they look like, get a feel for them — and that fills our palette of paint for the next year."
Saturday's show will feature 10,000 effects, with "every color you can think of and every shape you can imagine," he said.
Much has changed in the industry during the time that Thomas has been putting together the fireworks shows. What used to be just random effects fired here and there into the sky is now charted on computer software, with technicians taking into consideration how high to shoot them, whether to compensate for the fog line and when to bring out the big guns.
With fireworks, "it's easy to entertain," Thomas said. "They're great on their own. But this just allows us to take the art form to a higher level. It's not just about making noise."
'Hurry up, let's go'
Many of the dozens of people sweating in the sun as they loaded the barge Friday said they shared Thomas' passion for the craft.
"I was always the kid saying, 'Hurry up, let's go, I can hear them!'" said Lisa Conley, an operator for the show. "I always wanted to participate in making this experience for people."
Saturday's show will be 27-year-old Alex Jessup's first foray into the pyrotechnics industry.
"I'm nervous because it's my first show, but I'm excited," he said. "My mom is nervous, but I told her I'd take pictures."
Though he never expected to participate in a show, he said he is happy for the experience.
"As a kid, you say, 'I want to do that,' but you don't really expect that it's going to happen," Jessup said. "I've always been the one watching, and now I get to see what goes into it."
Thomas said viewers should expect some surprises in Saturday's show, which he is dedicating to his mentor, Al Souza, who died this year.
'We are entertainers'
"There are a whole lot of people besides myself that are working on this stuff, and there's a sense of accomplishment," Thomas said. "We are entertainers for that 25 minutes and although we're behind the scenes, not the ones up in the sky doing the dancing, it's a good feeling knowing people are enjoying what we're doing."
They won't have much time to celebrate once their work is done Saturday — Thomas says as soon as the show is over, the crew is focused on cleanup. And then the next day, the planning begins again.
And he wouldn't have it any other way.
"I can't sing, I can't dance, but I'm able to entertain," Thomas said. "Each show is different and unique. I get to change it up and put some of my style into it. I enjoy it and I can do it, so I will keep doing it."
Vivian Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: vho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @VivianHo
Attention fireworks lovers: This is your dream job
Original Article -- http://goo.gl/Lz9Vvb
Attention fireworks lovers: This is your dream job. Fireworks may be your family's tradition on July Fourth, but dazzling explosives are in Jim Souza's blood.
He's a fourth-generation fireworks master and CEO of his family's business, Pyro Spectaculars. You've seen the company's displays at Super Bowls, Olympic ceremonies, Disney World, Kiss concerts, the Statue of Liberty, presidential inaugurations and, of course, Macy's Fourth of July show in New York City, the country's biggest. It is set to conduct 400 major fireworks shows this holiday weekend.
Basically Souza gets paid to create colorful explosions. Sound like fun?
"It's like producing a movie. You try to evoke emotions, drama, pride," he said.
The art form's history can be traced back thousands of years to the Han dynasty. The Souzas' fireworks legacy began more than 100 years ago with Jim's great-grandfather, "Papagaio." The Souza family's imprint on the industry is a big one.
Jim Souza started working on shows with his father as a teenager. After graduating from the University of Portland with a business degree, Souza set to work on one of the family's biggest achievements.
"In 1975 when the nation was preparing for its bicentennial celebrations, we were preparing for the fireworks show at the Statue of Liberty. That's when fireworks really began being recognized as entertainment," Souza said.
Another of the industry's crowning achievements came in 1986 at the Statue of Liberty's 100th anniversary celebration and, of course, the Souza family was involved. According to the American Pyrotechnics Association, the show included 22,000 aerial fireworks, 30 barges, 22 miles of wires and 777,000 pounds of mortar tubes.
Much of Souza's time is spent traveling the world in search of the best fireworks. He buys much more than he needs for a show because everything is tested, and tested, and tested again near the company's headquarters in the California desert.
"During the tests, we log color, hue, shape, effect, pattern, launch time, burst and effect duration all down to a split second. Then I head to my computer to choreograph the whole thing and decide how I want my fireworks to perform in the sky," Souza said.
Next he creates a simulation, which used to be a sketch before the technology developed. Then it's on to the operations side where the plan is put into motion. It takes Souza and his teams about a year to plan a big show.
The fireworks business is booming. Last year total revenue was more than $1 billion, up from 2000 revenue of $610 million, according to the American Pyrotechnics Association.
So, how do you get in on the action? Julie Heckman, the association's executive director, said she sees a pattern among the greatest talents in the fireworks industry: They're artists. Souza happens to be a painter and photographer.
"Jim has that creative gene that helps him visualize how he wants to paint the sky," Heckman said.
Pyro Spectaculars has 50 full-time employees and about 2,000 operators and crew members on July Fourth weekend alone. It offers training at the trademarked Pyro University.
"Just send me an email and we'll talk," Souza said in his familial tone. "There's lots of opportunity. This is show business!"
The big payoff for Souza is hearing the "ooohs" and "aaahs" during a show.
His favorite effect of all time?
"The 'Golden Camaro' has been my favorite since I was a kid. The entire sky lights up with gold weeping willow and twinkles that come down and just touch the water," Souza said.
Keep an eye on the sky this weekend during Macy's Fourth of July fireworks to see the "Golden Camaro" and maybe even some new tricks.
89th Annual ‘Americafest’ 4th of July Spectacular
Original Article -- http://goo.gl/cZsvSA
Rose Bowl Hosts Largest 4th of July Fireworks Show in Southern California
Recognized as one of the nation's largest and longest running 4th of July fireworks shows, the Rose Bowl presents its 89th annual AmericaFest™ celebration on Saturday, July 4th with a spectacular nighttime display of more than one ton of fireworks.
Thousands of special effects fireworks will be launched from the stadium as part of the Rose Bowl's daylong family-friendly entertainment extravaganza featuring live motorcycle stunts, a musical performance by the Grammy-nominated "Liverpool Legends," the ultimate Beatles experience that was hand-picked by Louise Harrison, sister of Beatle George Harrison. Also joining the musical entertainment will be Brandon Bennet as Elvis Presley. He stars as Elvis Presley in the Tony Award winning musical, "The Million Dollar Quartet."
To celebrate the golden anniversary of when The Beatles met Elvis, both Elvis tribute artist Brandon Bennet and Liverpool Legends as The Beatles will perform their biggest hits from the mid '60s to the early '70s including an epic grand finale which will showcase both Elvis and The Beatles performing together. Following the fireworks extravaganza, a screening of Despicable Me 2 presented by Universal Pictures will be shown.
AmericaFest™, presented by Honda, is a Rose Bowl tradition celebrating its 89th year as the longest running 4th of July show in California. The Rialto-California based company Pyro Spectaculars by Souza will once again produce the Southland's largest fireworks show at the Rose Bowl.
"AmericaFest™ has been a family-themed 4th of July tradition and celebration for southern Californians for nearly nine decades," said Darryl Dunn, general manager of the Rose Bowl. "Each year the Rose Bowl strives to provide families with the best fireworks show in the West, and this year we will surpass anything we've ever produced for our Independence Day celebration."
Pyro Spectaculars by Souza has been family operated for five generations and has provided fireworks entertainment at the Rose Bowl Stadium for more than 35 years. Known worldwide for extraordinary firework displays, Pyro Spectaculars produces shows for the NFL Super Bowls, the Olympic Games and major events throughout the world.
"You really get to be part of a larger-than-life show that transforms the evening sky into a shower of explosive lights and colors," said Paul Souza, Pyro Spectaculars' Rose Bowl show producer. "This year we have some surprises that will deliver many 'oohs and ahs'."
This year's celebration will take place on Saturday, July 4, with opening ceremonies, including the Presentation of Colors and the National Anthem, starting at 7 p.m. AmericaFest™ will feature live motorcycle stunts by TNT before the Liverpool Legends and Brandon Bennet as Elvis perform.
A Family Fun Zone outside the stadium will open at 2 p.m. and offers food vendors, entertainment, crafts, exhibits and inflatable rides for the kids.
Tickets for AmericaFest™, presented by Honda, are on sale now at Ticketmaster (800) 745-3000 or at www.ticketmaster.com and are priced at $13 for general admission and $25 for reserved. Children 5 years and under are admitted free. Event parking is $25 per car vehicle at all lots. Veterans who present a valid Military ID will gain free admittance; those tickets can be obtained from the ticket booth near Gate B beginning at 3:00pm on July 4th only.
For more information on AmericaFest™, presented by Honda, visit: www.rosebowlstadium.com.