The Obama inauguration was accompanied by events all over the metropolitan Washington D.C., and they gave lighting suppliers and designers the opportunity to shine. At The Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, which hosted approximately 30,000 guests Jan. 18-22, for example, Showcall Inc. and Baltimore Stage Lighting Productions lit themed rooms and ballrooms for the Texas State Society’s Black Tie and Boots Inaugural Ball.
The lighting design of Hans Shoop and scenery provided by Hargrove Inc. gave each room its own identity. Shoop specified gear from Vari-Lite, MA Lighting, Phillips, ETC, Altman, Martin, Thomas, and High End Systems to ensure that each room could light any of the performances. A handful of talented designers also contributed their skills.
The Potomac Ballroom featured two stages — one that served as a remarks stage and the other as an entertainment stage. Bruce “Higgy” Higinbotham was in charge of the entertainment stages programming and operation, Mike Lurz was LD for the remarks stage, and Dan Snyder and Briana Binkerd-Dale served as technicians for both. The Maryland Ballroom had a similar structure to it with Andrew Hall and Andrew Dooley serving as programmer/operators along with technician Mark Rigby..
The smaller rooms each as their own Texan theme, including Lone Star, High Plains, Rio Grande and Hill Country. The crew list for those rooms included lighting programmers, operators, and technicians: Tony Caporale, Frank Salerno, Angel Toro and Duane Womack. Kim Frame served as senior production manager. Blayne Candy was the technical producer, and production managers included Sean Brosnan, Sonny Taylor, Eric Wills, Tim Condor, Randy Whitcomb, John “Swoop” Fisher, Karen Hill and IATSE Local 22.
The gala also featured established Texas artists and newcomers throughout the night. The evening’s entertainment included: Tracy Byrd, Jack Ingram, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Kevin Fowler, Dale Watson, Asleep at the Wheel, Kelly Willis, Bruce Robison, Emory Quinn, Charlie Robison Sunny Sweeney, Neal McCoy, Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, Rick Trevino, Zona Jones and others — plus a marching band that paraded through the resort.
