The Brief

The creators of This Year in Music needed a way to open a special event celebrating the music of 1971, bringing nearly 20 different performances on stage for one night.

The opening needed to grab the room’s attention, build anticipation, and create a shared experience that would set the tone for the evening. But it also had a practical job to do: help with crowd control, quiet the room, and get an evening crowd focused and ready for a shared experience that was about to begin.

Company Soul developed the opening video and worked directly with the house A/V team to choreograph the entire start of the show, from what appeared on screen to what happened in the room. This gave the organizers one less thing to manage during an already packed run-of-show.
The Challenge

Originally, the organizers planned to accomplish everything through live performances on stage. Through a series of conversations, we realized video could become the secret weapon.

It gave us a way to premeditate the experience: building excitement, communicating with the audience, creating emotional moments, and controlling the timing before anyone stepped on stage. For a show this ambitious and tightly scheduled, that control was invaluable.

The Outcome

It worked. The crowd chanted along in unison during the countdown. The room roared as familiar faces appeared on screen. Attendees applauded, cheered, and even danced along. Some even had tears in their eyes. By the time the video ended, the audience wasn't waiting for the show to start anymore. They were already part of it.

The response continued after the show, with audience members and performers seeking us out to talk about the piece. More importantly, the video did exactly what it was designed to do: turn a room full of people into a shared experience before the first live performance even began.

The show organizers continue to see how much of an impact these kinds of touchpoints provide. It shows that some of our clients come to us to inject personality and fun. In this case, there was no shortage of personality and fun, but we brought the polish and feels, reminding everyone what a special experience this is. "This is one of the components that leads to repeat ticket sales and we plan to do more of these for special events" said Molly Jones, one of the show organizers.