On December 29, 2023, Gary Fails took his well-deserved bows as he retired from City Theatrical, a company he founded 37 years ago. His impact on the entertainment industry has been profound and we will all miss seeing him at industry events and learning of his latest innovations. We look forward to his next act—and the things he continues to dream up! We at PLSN wish Gary nothing but the best and hope he enjoys his retirement! CTI conducted this exit interview below with Fails and has graciously shared it with the readers of PLSN. But first here is a bit of Gary’s bio.
2023 marked Gary Fails’ 52nd year in professional lighting. It was a career that started when he dropped out of Columbia University and went on the road with Dance Theatre of Harlem as a teenager, first as a truck driver and later as an electrician, stage manager, and lighting designer. He also toured extensively as Production Electrician on first national tours of Broadway shows spending 10 years on the road.
In 1980, Fails returned to New York City to become an IATSE Local One Apprentice at Four Star Lighting and spent his nights as a Local One Electrician on Broadway, soon becoming the House Electrician at Circle in the Square Theatre on West 50th Street. His Local One apprenticeship allowed Fails to become a certified welder, licensed New York State laser operator, and provided his training in sheet metal design and fabrication—all skills that he utilized to form City Theatrical. His routine for the first 10 years of City Theatrical was to work a full day at the company’s South Bronx shop, then travel to midtown Manhattan to work on a Broadway show at night. Fails was Production Electrician for 28 Broadway shows and had the unique opportunity to meet and work with nearly every Broadway designer of the time, often building products during the day to meet the needs of the designer he was working with at night. At its heart, City Theatrical’s role is to create products that serve the needs of lighting professionals.
Fails is a 42-year member of IATSE Local One and an instructor in their technology training program, an ETCP certified electrician, and an MBA graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. He is a member of the Advisory Board to the Entertainment Technology program at the New York City College of Technology and is a Board member of the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program which advises and aids New Jersey manufacturers. Fails, distinguished innovator, entrepreneur, and industry pioneer, was the winner of the 2019/2020 Lifetime Achievement Award as selected by the Board of Directors of the Wally Russell Foundation.
CTI Interview:
Thinking back, what are some of your favorite memories from starting City Theatrical in the Bronx 37 years ago?
I always wanted to have a shop. I had worked in shops and was good with my hands and I wanted to start a business and to make things for show business. In 1986, I got married, we had a baby, and I started my business. It was a year of huge optimism and dreams of the future. I found a little industrial building in the South Bronx and renovated it myself. I went to a machinery auction and bought enough machines to get started and I was underway. I specialized in lighting accessories since I was a Broadway Electrician and I knew what was needed and I knew how to make it, and there was no one else doing it—there was literally no competition to what I was doing. I was making things that everyone needed, and the shop grew fast. It was a really exciting time.
What are some of your favorite memories from working at the City Theatrical office in New Jersey?
We were growing so fast in the South Bronx we kept outgrowing our building, but we were fortunate to be able to break through the wall into the adjoining building to expand. We did this three times, then got a building up the street, then another building up the street. We looked all over the Bronx for a good building without success then expanded our horizons to New Jersey and found a great building in Carlstadt. It was the perfect manufacturing building for us, bright and well-lit with windows all around, six loading docks, good office space and we were able to create an excellent manufacturing flow with a 300’ long manufacturing aisle. Raw material came in one end of the building and finished goods exited the other end. We invested in better machinery and added a good powder coat line, and we had our dream shop.
Who or what are some of the greatest influences on your career at City Theatrical?
I continued to work as a Broadway Production Electrician after I started my shop, and I was influenced by all the Broadway designers that I worked with. They all had specific accessory needs that no one else could provide so I created the products. I had a unique opportunity to get to know many of the world’s top designers. I was Ken Posner’s Production Electrician on his first Broadway show and did two shows with Don Holder before he went on to Lion King. I was Tharon Musser’s Electrician on her last Broadway show. I worked with Peggy Eisenhauer and Jeff Croiter when they were up and coming Assistants. I was a Production Electrician on 28 Broadway shows and met and became friends with most of the Broadway design community during that time. It was a wonderful opportunity.
What are one or two of the most interesting projects you have worked on through your role at City Theatrical?
We have worked on thousands of interesting projects and continue to do so every day. Anything we do with Jules Fisher and Paul Marantz rank at the top of the list of creativity and complexity. Both Jules and Paul are extremely mechanically adept along with being great creative thinkers. Brainstorming with them and creating the products they sketch out have been highlights for me.
The other project I look back on as a highlight is the development of our Multiverse wireless DMX technology. Paul Kleissler and I dreamed of a new and advanced system of wireless data communication that could be scaled up to multiple universes. We started with a blank page and travelled around the country visiting chip designers and manufacturers and we created a system that had never been imagined before. Philip Nye joined our design team and Paul and Philip worked for two years to bring the products to market. As a company, it was a big bet on a new generation of technology that has gone on to provide City Theatrical’s present growth.
What are several key learnings from running City Theatrical for three plus decades?
Here are a few learnings: The leader sets the pace and the culture of the company. Over time a company faces lots of ups and downs and challenges which must be navigated. Every day is a new adventure. Running a company in a competitive industry takes constant attention.
What do you see for the future of lighting?
More LEDs, more video, more networking, more moving lights, less conventional lights, more Asian manufacturing, less customization, all adding up to creating a “mature” industry with less opportunity for startups.
What are you most looking forward to doing in your retirement?
First, having fun with my darling wife Terri Klausner every day. Second, letting my mind open up to new ideas and challenges. I have product ideas (not lighting) that I will explore in my newly expanded home workshop.
Any shoutouts to colleagues who have helped make it possible along the way?
There are so many, but here are a few: All of the DeVerna family and all of my Local One friends and who supported me when I left Four Star Lighting to start City Theatrical. Fred Foster who helped me in so many ways and always gave me opportunities to create and manufacture products for ETC. All of the ETC staff over the years who became great friends of City Theatrical. Steve Terry, my friend of over 50 years (we went on the road with a show together when we were both teenagers) who has supported City Theatrical since the day I started. Larry Dunn, Paul Kleissler, and Philip Nye, who formed the backbone of our electronics innovation. Mark Lacko who was my industrial designer for nearly 30 years and who created the look and feel of our products and graphics.
Is there anything else you may want to include?
My 50+ year career in professional lighting followed the arc of the industry from the primitive early days of rock ‘n’ roll lighting to the introduction of moving lights, the creation of DMX, the birth of LEDs in architectural and entertainment lighting, the consolidation of local lighting shops, and the entry of Chinese manufacturers into the entertainment manufacturing world. It is a dramatically different lighting world today that requires much different skills than when I started. There were dozens of companies like mine that started in the 70s and 80s when the industry was young and many of the companies were ‘mom and pops.’ Today, private equity money drives the industry and there is less opportunity for small startups. I’m glad I could participate in our industry when the time was right.
Read what Gary’s Colleagues Are Saying at www.citytheatrical.com/company/gary-fails#colleagues and find further reading and videos about Gary’s career at www.citytheatrical.com/company/gary-fails#further-reading
