SAN JUAN ARGENTINA – Since its debut in Saint Petersburg on Sunday, December 18, 1892, The Nutcracker has warmed hearts on cold winter nights, even when that “winter” is in the Southern Hemisphere and comes between June and August. Such was the case recently in San Juan, a cosmopolitan provincial capital in western Argentina, where […]
LOWELL, MA – Every time Tim Messina sat down at his computer to work on a design for the 2017 Steubenville East Conference, he felt “less than completely satisfied” with the end result. The owner of Events United, Messina has been creating the lighting, audio, video, and stage design for the large Catholic youth conference […]
TEMPE, AZ – On the eve of the “first” Fourth of July in 1776, John Adams wrote to his wife that he hoped the day would “be commemorated with illuminations forever more.” Fast forward 241 years, and the good citizens of Tempe, Arizona, (along with the rest of the US) have taken the second president’s […]
PHOENIX – It’s been said that “experience is what you get when you were expecting something else.” John Garberson, owner of Creative BackStage, picked up some valuable experience recently when he worked a Hello Arizona-produced show by the legendary Niles Rodgers. Garberson had created a design for the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer that […]
WASHINGTON, DC– Awe-struck. That sums up the feeling that visitors experience when they step into The National Building Museum. Located a short distance from the U.S. Capitol, the stately Italian Renaissance Revival structure that was built in 1887 is breathtaking in its scope and elegance. Its vast central hall has housed presidential inaugural balls from […]
BALTIMORE, MD – For seven days in April, the night sky over the city that gave birth to “The Star-Spangled Banner,” glowed in a rainbow of colors, as Baltimore celebrated its Light City Festival. Over 400,000 visitors crowded the city’s downtown streets to enjoy hundreds of illuminated sculptures, building projections and interactive exhibits. At the […]
WATERVILLE VALLEY, NH – The six-campus Granite United Church has never rested when it comes to spreading its message and touching lives. By 2014, its three day Warrior Conference for men had already established itself as one of the largest religious gatherings in the Northeast, but the church was looking to make the event even […]
CHANDLER, AZ – Lighting designers all have their own individual styles, and they go about the business of reflecting their clients’ music in slightly different ways. As a designer himself, John Garberson fully appreciates that, which is why “flexibility” was one of his primary goals when he put together the West Stage lighting rig for […]
LUBBOCK, TX – Country music revolves around storytelling, so it isn’t surprising that many of the genre’s stars have unique backstories behind the starts of their careers. Take Cody Johnson. At 18, the future singer was a corrections officer at the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville, when he left the prison at the urging of […]
ST. CHARLES, IL – Theaters of one kind or another have long played a role in the growth of Christ Community Church. Just before Christmas 1984, the suburban Chicago church, which was founded by four couples, held its first service in a rented movie theater. Christ Community has since grown into a thriving four-campus house […]
NEW PROVIDENCE, THE BAHAMAS – This year’s Hero World Challenge at the world-famous Albany Resort generated considerable media attention since it marked the return of Tiger Woods to competitive golf after a 15-month hiatus. All the buzz wasn’t limited to the greens, though. Glitzy dinners and parties associated with the tournament, which benefits Woods’ namesake […]
CHANDLER, AZ – There’s a reason Smash Mouth’s hit single “All Star” has been described as the “voice of the internet generation.” Aside from becoming the unofficial theme song of the Shrek series of films, the catchy cheerful tune has reappeared in a seemingly endless variety of covers since its 1999 release, including mash-up, subreddit […]