Friday, December 28, 2007

Today was the last day of business in 2007 for all of us at The Gary Musick Company. We had a year filled with exciting projects, wonderful adventures, and great new friends! Our team had the privilege of creating and producing nearly 300 projects for our clients around the world. That represented over 3600 actual shows, special events, and video projects. Congratulations to our staff for doing an awesome job of handling all of these projects with tireless grace and conviction. Of course we had a lot of help from our talented vendors and associates who became part of our extended GMC family. Thanks to everyone who shared our dreams this past year. We look forward to our upcoming 27th year in business with profound appreciation for the blessings we've experienced in the past, and heightened anticipation for things unseen in our future. We wish all of you the best for the year to come - may it be filled with dreams that come true for each of you!

December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope your holiday was all you hoped it would be. Last night, my family and I sang at the Christmas eve service at our church. It was a really nice service, with lots of Christmas carols and candlelight. The highlight of the evening for me was hearing my wife and daughters singing the NSYNC arrangement of "O Holy Night." They were awesome! It was the first time they had performed together in the last couple of years. Eliza, my youngest daughter, sang lead and blew me away!  It was a perfect way to celebrate the spirit of Christmas. I sang "Some Children See Him", one of the Alfred Burt carols. It was fun to sing again (I sort of laid off the singing a few years ago when I had surgery on my neck and my vocal chords were affected). The service was beautiful and was the perfect way to start our family's Christmas celebration. 

Today was busy. We got up early, opened presents, and immediately went in to clean-up mode in order to be ready for breakfast with our neighbors by 10:00am. I got an IPOD Nano from my kids (thanks girls!) which will be great for all the hours I spend on planes. After a long winter's nap, we had dinner with my wife's brother and his family and my daughters fiance and their friends. It was a nice evening of laughter, good food, and reconnecting. And now its back to work for a couple of days before New Years. I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas Day filled with love and celebration. Happy Holidays!

Sunday, December 23, 2007

One of our Gary Musick Company staff members experienced a family loss earlier this week. Phil Barnes, one of our scenic associates, lost his mother-in-law in a car accident on Thursday. Phil's son was also riding in the car at the time, but thankfully escaped with only bruises and minor injuries. Authorities believe she might have had a heart attack or stroke immediately prior to the accident. The funeral for Joan Bennett is this afternoon in Hendersonville, TN. Our thoughts and prayers are with Phil, his wife, and family.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Here are more shots from the NORWEGIAN GEM INAUGURAL this past week. These shots are all from the show "WORLD BEAT". This is a really talented cast, and they're terrificly fun to watch!

Thursday, December 20, 2007

NORWEGIAN GEM INAUGURAL EVENT - NEW YORK CITY

The Norwegian Gem's inaugural events were a huge hit with travel industry VIPS and invited guests! We just returned to NYC a couple of hours ago - I think everyone would have liked to stay on board a couple more days before heading back to the stress of the holidays. Here are a few shots I took over the 2-day cruise.

Here is a scene from the Spanish section in the WORLD BEAT show...

The official inaugural program was staged in the main theater. Since there were too many guests to experience it live, the ceremonies were broadcast to all the lounges and atrium areas around the ship. This shot was taken in the main Atrium area - the image of the singers in the background was being shown on an enormous High Definition screen. Very impressive!

Our cast assisted in various aspects of the inaugural program - here are some of our dancers being shown on screen during the ceremonies.

This was the party in the Atrium of the hotel. There were hundreds of guests gathered to watch the ceremonies and network before the evening's big events.

And this is a shot of the GEM at Pier 88 in Manhattan just before we sailed. 

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Greetings from NYC!! David and Denise Patton and I are on board the brand new  NORWEGIAN GEM for a two day inaugural cruise for agents and travel industry writers from the east coast. We met the ship in New York yesterday and boarded for a two-day cruise just off the coast of New Jersey. Last night, the ship was christened and the "IT GIRL" (this is the nickname of the "GEM") contest winner was announced. We and other key entertainment vendors to the cruise line had a fabulous dinner with Douglas Gray, the VP of Entertainment for NCL. That was followed by a performance by the GEM's resident cast of comedians from "Second City". Our show - "WORLD BEAT" will be performed tonight as the finale of the cruise. We are looking forward to seeing the cast perform again! I have some great photos I'll post tomorrow when I have access to land-based internet. 

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season!!

Saturday, December 15, 2007

This has been a full week! We are preparing to go to New York on Tuesday to join the Norwegian Gem for its inaugural events here in the US. David Patton, his wife Denise, and I will be going on a two-day cruise to nowhere with about 2000 travel industry VIP'S and NCL execs to show off the new ship. It should be a fun 2 days! We are really looking forward to seeing the cast again!

Bert Hensley and I met this week with the execs from JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT WORLDWIDE program. We are producing their US Business Hall of Fame induction event in April. On Wednesday evening, we auditioned about 35 talented kids in the Nashville area. We will select several of them to be part of the program. I love working with kids - I am always totally surprised about how creative and engaging they can be! On Thursday, Bert and I met with the local JA event planing committee and shared our vision for the events. NASCAR legend Darrell Waltrip has agreed to be the MC for the event. Bert and I are really looking forward to being part of this fantastic event!

We are also working on the 2008 Heart Gala for the American Heart Association. This week, we met with the volunteer leaders of the event and are moving forward with plans for another fabulous gala dinner, auction, and dance. This year the gala will be held on Feb. 2 at the Schermerhorn Symphony Hall here in Nashville.

I also spent time preparing for upcoming shows in Montreal, Dallas, and Atlanta. Our spring is going to be crazy!

Tomorrow we are attending the Christmas concert celebration at Otter Creek Church where Brandon Thomas is the worship leader and music director. Many of you know Brandon from his work with us as a vocal director for some of our cruise ships. His wife Sheryl is one of the soloists in the concert. She is awesome! Another friend and incredibly talented musician, Jeff Berry, is also featured in the concert. The program starts at 6:00pm in the sanctuary at Otter Creek for any of you in the Nashville area that would like to attend.

Happy holidays, everyone! I am loving having my kids home for the next three weeks!

Sunday, December 9, 2007

One of my favorite events we produce each year is the William Morris Agency holiday open house. William Morris is one of the largest and oldest talent agencies in the world, with clients who are among some of the most prominent names in the entertainment world. This year we turned the parking deck of the agency's Nashville headquarters into a silver, blue and white "club" environment where more than 450 artists, managers, agents, and music industry titans came together for an evening of holiday cheer. Here are some shots of the room...and yes, it is a parking deck! We completely enclosed the sides of the parking garage and heated, decorated, and carpeted the interior. The folks at William Morris said it was the best event we'd produced so far! Thanks to the GMC staff who worked such long hours in the freezing December air to set up the event! And, we were doing the Nissan car show as the same time (see pictures below)! A special thanks to Chris Lyle and his team for all the extra effort, as well as Jim Sheridan and Brandon Thomas who worked hard to make sure everything was perfect. All of you guys are awesome! Also, a heartfelt thanks to Paul Moore and Sue Ann Cordell, our primary contacts at the WIlliam Morris Agency.

One of the highlights of the party was the sushi bar that featured twin 250 gallon aquariums filled with freshwater tropical fish. Throughout the evening, a chef prepared fresh sushi on a cutting board atop the tanks. Our team of artists created a mock up of the William Morris logo that looked like it had been carved from coral. It was very cool! A large display of fresh "Fruits d' Mer" complimented the sushi.

A popular hangout at the party was this lounge area. 

Saturday, December 8, 2007

I'm back! Sorry I haven't added anything in the last few days, but it has been a little hectic this past week. We have several major projects in the works, and two shows that happened concurrently over the last three days. Bert Hensley, one of our Gary Musick Company producers, works with Nissan North America on some of their new car shows. We helped them with their "2007 Car Salon" here in Nashville. This is a special show for all of the Nissan North America headquarters employees and dealers. New models, concept cars, and imported specialty models are showcased in a 2-day event designed to familiarize the company's employees and their families with the complete Nissan and Infiniti lines of vehicles. These are photos I took this morning at the Nashville Convention Center. They have some amazing new cars, including several sports cars that caught my attention! Can someone please pass this information along to Santa Baby?

I will post the shots from my William Morris Agency show under a separate heading.

Saturday, December 1, 2007

NORWEGIAN MAJESTY CAST

Early this morning the cast of the Norwegian Majesty left Nashville to join the ship. We wish them the best for a smooth install over the next two weeks! Here are some shots we took at the farewell dinner on Thursday night. From left to right, the cast members are: Front Row - Megan, Daniel / Back Row (L to R) - Joe, Sabrina, Michael, Beth, Chuck.

Here are shots of the cast with Brandon Thomas (light blue shirt), Dale Rutherford (jeans jacket in front), and Mindy McLemore (far right). They were part of the production team that has been working with the cast over the past month.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Tonight was the farewell dinner for the cast of the Norwegian Majesty. We had a great evening getting to know the cast members a little better and celebrating the successful completion of their Nashville rehearsals. They will be joining Gabriel (the final cast member who is already on board the ship) on Saturday - and then the fun begins! Late night rehearsals, frequent safety training classes, costume fittings, and frequent staging sessions will be a way of life for them over the next few weeks. We presented them with their Gary Musick Company jackets and took cast photos for our rehearsal studio wall. I always enjoy getting to know our first time cast members, and this group was no exception. What a great cast! They will be a hit on the ship, I know. These pictures were taken at their final rehearsal this afternoon. Break a leg you guys! And thanks to Dale, Garris, Mindy, Jeff, Brandon, and Kelly for another great job...from casting to choreo and vocals, they did a great job helping this cast get prepared for their adventure on the Majesty!

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Jason Campbell, one of the singers on the INFINITY, sent me these images from their cast. The INFINITY is currently sailing in South America. Thanks for the pics, Jason!

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Today was filled with meetings and rehearsals. We are in the home stretch on the William Morris open house event, as well as several other projects we're producing in January and February. I also had a chance to catch part of anther MAJESTY run, and here are the photos. Hats off to the cast for the great improvement over the last run I saw on Monday. They are really gelling as a cast and starting to make their rehearsals look like real shows. Way to go!