LD Systems Presents Indoor Celebration of Houston's Shell Freedom Over Texas How do you take a city-wide Independence Day festival -- with several stages, vendors, and exhibitions -- and move it inside a black-box theatre, and then attract more viewers on television and live streaming than in its 30-year history? LD Systems partnered with the City of Houston Mayor's Office of Special Events to do just that, helping Texans celebrate safely in the time of COVID-19. The City of Houston's Shell Freedom Over Texas July Fourth event at Jones Hall featured live performances -- without audiences -- of Pat Green, Houston rappers Trae tha Truth and Bun B, Houston Opera soloist Nicole Heaston, Los Luzeros De Rioverde and Mariachi Imperial De America, all accompanied by the Houston Symphony Orchestra. To mix it up, virtual performances by Lyle Lovett and La Mafia, backed by the Houston Symphony live, were added along with throwback tributes from past performers Hunter Hayes, Sara Evans, and Josh Turner. LD Systems provided live production including lighting, media content programming, LED video walls, video monitors, and audio. Houston TV station ABC13 Houston provided the camera gear, broadcast services, and live streaming. "What LD Systems did with the lighting design was not only visually pleasing but amazing," says Susan Christian, Freedom Over Texas producer/director with the Mayor's Office of Special Events. "They transformed the Houston Symphony's home, built in 1966, into a unique contemporary urban performance theatre." LD Systems production designer/ lighting designer Lance Williamson had design influences to consider: social distancing of the live artists performing with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the television camera angles, the no-audience mandate, the television/live streaming audience at home and what they would want to see. "I found it creatively more liberating because we were able to take elements, break out of the proscenium and put things in the house," Williamson explains. "There were some lighting focus positions I wouldn't be able to do because of the audience -- you don't want to shine a 1,500W light into someone's eyes. It was challenging and more creative, more freeing." The design started with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, who pared down to 25-40 musicians from their normal 120 members to spread out six feet apart onstage. The musicians masked-up when possible. The lighting rig fixture count was actually higher than normal to fill in those social-distance gaps for the camera shots, Williamson says. Robe MegaPointes were the main hard-edged fixture in the rig upstage and flown around the sides. High End Systems SolaFrame 3000 luminaires were positioned on the floor scattered around the orchestra to provide texture on the ceiling. GLP Impression X4 fixtures added backlight, toplight and beamage, while GLP Impression X4 Bar 20 battens lit up the front of the stage and extended into the house beyond the apron of the stage to give character to the hall itself. Claypaky Scenius Unico spots painted gobo texture on the scenic pieces and added long throw front light. Chauvet Pro Epix Strip IP units lined the upstage and mid-stage truss, and sprinkled light through the socially-distant orchestra. For video, ABC13 handled all the broadcast cameras, while LD Systems provided a couple of 80" monitors and the ROE MC-18 Hybrid LED video panels. LD Systems' Nathan Brittain programmed the media content of patriotic flags and song-specific images. He used Resolume software on an Apple Mac Pro computer to feed video through the ROE LED panels on towers around the set, and through the Epix Strips. To fill the gaps between the orchestra members, Brittain says they waited for the orchestra to set their positions and then filled those voids between them on the floor. "We raked the Epix Strips up as we went back from front to back so it gave the stage a look that it was ramping upward on camera. Most of the musicians could not see the light source, so it would not distract them. it was either behind them or angled away from them," Brittain says. "It filled the gaps beautifully." Williamson agrees. "It all looked great on camera and paired well with the lighting. I was informed about the camera angles so I could anticipate where the shots would be." For control, Williamson chose a grandMA2 console with two NPUs (Network Processing Units) for parameter extension. It took a little more time to implement proper safety protocols: from temperature screening and hand sanitizing before entering the space and constantly throughout rehearsals and showtime, to ensure social distancing at all times. But in the end, all agreed it felt good to do a live show again. More than 2 million viewers tuned into the broadcast, which ended with a live fireworks display over the city, again without spectators. Susan Christian has produced the city's celebration since 1999 along with LD Systems' general manager Rob McKinley as technical director. "Rob and I, as well as our TV partner, wanted to include a live element for the show to prove that the industry could successfully stand up a live show. We were thrilled to produce a truly unique event and bring another level of live performance for Texans and beyond." McKinley thanks Christian at the Mayor's Office, Kim Nordt-Jackson at ABC13 and The Houston Symphony. Creating the "deconstructed" production design of the orchestra shell, stage, and lighting/video elements achieved a unique look to bring life to the live TV performance, he adds. "With our live entertainment industry coming to a screeching halt in March, we've all been working to find ways to help our industry come back to life," McKinley says. "Even if we could not be allowed a live audience, we showed that a production team and performers can properly follow a set of safety protocols to show promise that the live event industry can return sooner than later. We are a 'We Can Do Something' industry and it was great to celebrate America's freedom on Independence Day with fellow Americans." 
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