Our client was a major Canadian Transportation company hosting their holiday party at Chicago’s historic Union Station in December 2015. The client was very visual and wanted everything from the lighting, the décor and entertainment to really pop, utilizing the marble surfaces of Union Station and creating a unique, high energy, one of a kind experience for their guests. This event was not your typical rubber chicken dinner and dance band holiday party. It combined elements of class, action and visual sensations that stimulated the guests from a variety of angles.
The objective of the event was to find visually stimulating entertainment that was custom created and not cookie cutter out of the box stuff that everyone has seen. We started with the cocktail hour where we dramatically staged a beautiful soprano opera singer dressed in white like and angel, delicately serenading guests in the round while backed by another beautifully dressed pianist playing a dramatic white piano (which are very hard to rent by the way). The uplighting around the piano and the use of pipe and drape, ice sculptures, linen and LED trees set the regal winter wonderland tone as the guests mingled.
After cocktails, the guests moved into dinner in a different part of Union Station. Upon entering, they were met with beautifully lit white tree centerpieces, the historic Union Station Christmas tree and silver linen and chairs. As the guests were seated the first custom creation was unveiled. The most visually stimulating group in the country is the Trans Siberian Orchestra. We created a custom tribute show to TSO with a cast of 12 musicians and vocalists, complete with an amazing laser and moving light show to replicate the TSO stadium experience. The group started the evening in black tuxedos and performed excerpts from the story of Christmas, leading the guests through the familiar tale with a narrator, a snow machine and the accompanying orchestral pieces. At the conclusion of the first 20 minute set, the group took a break.
At this time we served salads and brought back our Soprano singer, dressed in a dramatic red gown. She performed several numbers for the guests as they ate their salads.
Then we brought out another special treat. The client was a huge fan of opera. She was so picky about singers that she contemplated flying in singers from Montreal to make sure she was satisfied. Throughout our meeting process, we were able to gain her trust that we could put together an amazing tribute to The Three Tenors (Domingo, Pavarotti and Carreras) with locally sourced Chicago talent. We sought out the opinions of several opera vocal coaches to find the very best in Chicago that had both the look and talent to pull off this tribute. Once selected, we hired the head of one of the University Opera departments to oversee the rehearsals of the group. Dressed in dramatic white tuxedos, the tenors soared throughout dinner, receiving the ultimate compliment from the guests…a standing ovation. The client commented during sound check that she truly felt what we put together was light years ahead of the talent she was planning to bring from Montreal.
As desserts were being plated, we brought out the TSO Tribute dressed now in white tuxedos. They began playing an uptempo holiday number. To the surprise of the guests, the Chicago Acrobatic Boyz tumbled into the scene for a high energy 15 minute performance, custom choreographed to the TSO Tribute music. The audience was awe struck as the youth flipped, spun and tumbled to the music.
At the conclusion of their performance, the TSO Tribute finished their set, completing the story of Christmas. It was at that time that the guests were ready to dance. Our TSO Tribute then became a dance band and took the guests through everything from the Jackson 5 to Maroon 5, ending with an audience participation version of Don’t Stop Believin’.
The guests and the client were thrilled. They left the event visually stimulated and spiritually satisfied.
The elements of the event that we were responsible for were as follows:
- The production – stage, sound lighting, uplighting, the TSO moving lighting, backline rental working with the 3D Image mapping team to create custom pieces on the walls.
- Wardrobe – Planning the costuming and procuring or renting all of the outfits worn by the performers.
- The design – We worked with the client to plan the layout of the tables, the projection on the walls, the lighting and the décor to make sure all of the elements worked together in harmony.
- The entertainment – we custom created the TSO Tribute and Three Tenors Tribute, while custom producing the integration of the Soprano and Chicago Acrobatic Boyz. We not only procured the talent, but produced the creative elements that they delivered.
- Vendors – hiring the photographer, searchlights for outside the event, the production team and the décor team
This winter wonderland experience went off without a hitch. Doing a stadium style show like the Trans Siberian Orchestra in a venue like Union Station certainly presented it’s challenges logistically. Loading the show in through single doors at the station and running the necessary power taps to the second floor of the space was tricky. However we assembled the correct team to execute this task.
There were many moving parts to this event and many custom creations that all had to come together seamlessly for this event to be a success. In the end, it could not have gone better and the client could not have left happier.
