Monday, March 10, 2009

NASHVILLE PREDATORS STAGE "DISCO BALL" FOR CHARITY 

Last night's “Club 501” Disco gathering at The Sommet Center Nashville was the 11th annual Predators Gala Foundation Event. The Foundation through its grant program supports kids and kids organizations all over Middle TN. Kudos to Foundation leaders Gerry Helper and Rebecca Ward and their efforts to raise money for these needy charities. Kudos also go to the players as they step up in unbelievable ways to help make this Foundation a success. This is the Gary Musick Company's 11th year producing the event for The Predators. GMC producer Curt Wallen and and our scenic team once again spearheaded efforts in designing and implementing the production. The evening included a silent auction, player introductions, special awards for outstanding Predators play over the past year, and dancing by our cast of red hot disco dancers. Thanks to everyone who made the evening a fantastic success!

March 8, 2009

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A WEEK MAKES!

As a wrote last week, we recently had a late season snow storm in the South that blanketed Nashville with 1-2" of snow. Here are a couple of shots of flowers in my yard that I took then, and then shot again today. No doubt, spring has sprung! And that's a good thing. 

Sunday, March 8, 2009

"INFINITY" CAST COMPLETES FIRST WEEK OF REHEARSALS

The new cast of the Celebrity "Infinity" just completed their first week of rehearsals here in Nashville. Yesterday, they did a run of their Broadway show for us. In spite of a difficult week of travel delays, bad weather, and late arrivals, the cast did a fantastic job! This cast represents a perfect blend of returning performers and new talent. They have solid technique and outstanding performance skills. The audiences will love this cast!

Here are some shots I took during the rehearsal. I'm looking forward to seeing more of the Infinity run-throughs when I return from the "Jade" in a couple of weeks. 

GMC PRODUCES "U.S. BUSINESS HALL OF FAME" INDUCTION FOR

 JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT USA

Many of our Gary Musick team members just returned from Tampa where we helped the JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT organization with the production of the U.S. BUSINESS HALL OF FAME induction ceremonies. This is our second year to work with J.A. on this major event designed to honor the accomplishment of entrepreneurs and business leaders from every phase of American business. The show was produced by GMC staff producer Bert Hensley, with assistance from Jim Sheridan, Jonathan Yeaworth, Chris Lyle, Chris Arsenault, Don England, Greg Tipton, Gabe McCaully, Kelly Evans, Rebecca Shubart, Johnny Jones, and Jimmy Davis. Junior Achievement is a worldwide organization that teaches young people about business, personal financial responsibility, and entrepreneurship. This year's inductees included the founder of Publix supermarkets, the founding partners in Outback Steakhouse (and several other national restaurant chains), the founder of AOL, the first female member of the New York Stock exchange, and the visionary pioneer in cellular technology for AT&T. More than 800 leading executives, sponsors and members of the national business community gathered in Tampa to celebrate the accomplishments of these individuals. It was a great evening that also succeeding in raising substantial funds that will be used to support J.A's nationwide efforts to educate kids in all things business. 

The show was held at the Marriott Waterside Tampa Bay. This is a photo of the Tampa Bay Convention Center taken from the window of my hotel room.

The day began with a luncheon to honor J.A.'s Leadership Awards recipients.



One of the great things about the J.A. program is its nurturing of promising young leaders. This is a photo of 14 year old Ben Carpenter. Ben is confined to a wheelchair, but is one of the most dynamic and engaging young men I have met. He acted as the MC for the luncheon program - congrats to Ben for a fantastic job!

The featured speaker at the luncheon was Tiffany Bolden. She shared her inspiring story of accomplishment in spite of difficult economic times. Awesome job!

Several Leadership Award recipients were honored for their contributions to JA's activities across the country.

The stage was transformed to an elegant look for the evening awards dinner. The event theme was "Portraits of Achievement", so we designed elegant projection screen wraps that looked like portrait frames. 

Banners featured the five laureate organizations.

Here's a shot of the stage just before doors opened for dinner.

Special entertainment was provided by "ENTERTAINMENT REVUE", a musical group comprised of talented young women from the Tampa area. They were fantastic!

A shot of the orchestra just before the show began. In a time when so much music is pre-recorded, it was nice to have a live orchestra for background music and awards play-ons. It really made the show have an Academy Awards feel!

This was an inexpensive yet effective entryway created to compliment the "PORTRAITS OF ACHIEVEMENT" theme.

Our mistress of ceremonies was CNBC journalist Margaret Brennan.