At Port Lighting, we love a challenge. When Michael P. Wasserman, Inc. hired us to design and install lighting, provide technical direction, and manage production (overseeing lighting, video, rigging, audio, staging, power, and aerialists) for the evening events for the 86th Annual Meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors hosted by Boston Mayor Marty Walsh June 8-11, 2018, we knew we were signing on to tackle creative, logistical, and technical challenges—and we loved every minute of it.
For four consecutive days, while 250 of the nation’s mayors convened at the Marriott Copley Place to discuss the priorities of America’s cities, Port’s Event Lighting & Production Services team perfected four separate indoor and outdoor locations for the four consecutive nights of events designed to showcase the best of Boston—including a mobile stage with full lighting rig for a Pointer Sisters concert in Copley Square.
The evening celebrations kicked off with a clam bake at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. In the venue’s Museum Pavilion, our lighting featured themed, patterned color washes, while in Smith Hall, projection mapping on the walls displayed inspirational quotes from historic Bostonians.
Along the outdoor Boulevard of Flags at Boston’s Seaport World Trade Center, we built massive truss arches with waterproof lighting fixtures (just in case), leading to the concert stage hosting eight separate bands throughout the night. For the finale, our greatest technical challenge: devising safe, innovative rigging solutions to allow a collaborative, otherworldly performance featuring the Earth Harp (which transformed the venue into a string instrument through our created rigging points), a tap dance troupe, and the death-defying Bandaloop aerial performers—whose flight we carefully calculated through further inventive rigging. Without fixed rigging points, spectacles like these are tricky, but we are dedicated to safety and finding a way.
That 3D projection mapping on the BPL’s façade became the backdrop for the grand finale in the event series: the aforementioned Grammy-winning Pointer Sisters concert in Copley Square—free, to allow Bostonians share in the excitement surrounding the conference.
Key Equipment:
1 - GrandMA 2 Full
2 - GrandMA 2 Light
2 - Hog 4 Full
1 - ETC Gio @5
14 - Elation Paladin
21 - Robe Megapointe
4 - Robe Pointe
82 - Martin Mac Aura
30 - Alpha Spot QWO 800
28 - SGM G1 Beam
60 - Elation Level Q7
16 - Robe 1000 LED Beam
16 - Robe BMFL Spot
10 - SGM G-Spot
19 - Mac Viper Profile
22 - Clay Paky B-Eye K20
16 - Martin Mac Quantum Profile
10 - Solaframe 750
40 - ETC Color Source
20 - Chroma Q Color Force II
310 - Eternal Lighting Cube Echo
4 - Christie Boxer 30k Projector
8 - Christie 14k Projector
Project Team:
Kyle Stetson
Lee Mulder
Graham Edmondson
Mariana Maranhao
Tyler Trofatter
Kyle Kurkjian
Steve Bearse