University Park Baptist Church came to us with great plans for the Consecration of their senior pastor who was being elevated to Bishop. Their vision was to recreate a renaissance style cathedral within their property, The Park (formerly the Charlotte Merchandise Mart) where the event took place. They also required a stage large enough for 350 program participants. These included a choir with 150 members, a 32 piece orchestra, a 25 member praise team and a large number of church dignitaries.

A lighting scheme was designed to create a cohesive ambiance throughout the large, basic exhibit hall where the event took place. 16 - 16' tall custom built columns were incorporated into the design of the space, which were uplit in warm hues adding to both the ambient and functional lighting of the program.

The ceremony began with a grand processional of over 500 participants along a 400' custom designed purple carpet runner. Anticipated attendance for the event was 5000 guests and Total had to ensure that everyone in the hall could both see and hear the event, as clearly as if they were sitting in the front row. 6 projection screens were mounted along the sidewalls of the hall and multiple sound systems were integrated into the design of the space. With multiple performances and segments we were required to provide 80 audio channels on 2 digital mixing consoles.

Concealing the miles of cable required for the numerous elements was essential in the design scheme. These included 300 conventional lighting fixtures, 62 speakers located which were placed throughout the hall and 50 automated lighting fixtures. In alignment with the client requiring that the walls be masked, it was important that all components of the event be effective in a clean well executed fashion.

Load-in began 8 days prior to the event with two days of rigging and mounting of the lighting fixtures which needed to be integrated into the swagging of the upstage drape custom designed for this event. This was followed by set up of the PA system, staging and scenic elements. The stage required some reconfiguration on site when the client added an additional 60 participants to the all ready crowded stage. Safety became the tantamount issue with this change and many tests were done to ensure that the performers and participants would have a hazard free experience. Considering the expansive layout of the staging, it's design in general proved to be one of the prevalent challenges in the event design.  The final configuration was 115' and 40' deep at its widest.  In addition, two 20' x 40' tiered stages flanked the main stage for choir members and additional program participants. Both of these side stages were 6' off the venue floor, necessitating safe design and construction.

One of the client's original ideas was to incorporate two large custom semi-circular stages as part of the initial processional. When budget constraints prevented the purchase of custom staging, we were able to provide a similar design using CAD software to configure standard stage decks to form the curve desired.

Following the event was the dinner for 650 guests in an adjacent space. This area has no rigging points and all truss had to mounted on stands. This space also required many scenic elements to soften the space and fabric was draped on the ceiling. A specific look of multi-colored swags had been designed as a portion of this event. Despite approving multiple renderings showing design, once on-site, the clients felt additional swags were required.  Several crew members worked overnight to ensure additional swags were in place on time. A stage was built here, but because of structural elements in the building, two stages connected by a platform were required. Plasma screens lined the room for video to be shown during the dinner. More truss and fabric were integrated into the design of the event and dynamic lighting created the ambiance for the setting.

After two weeks of scenic construction, two days of rehearsals, sound checks, lighting checks and focusing, it was time for the Consecration. Clients, congregation members and participant felt the space was spectacular and completely transformed. The four hours ceremony held the audience captive and achieved the sense of grandeur that was the client's original goal. Sound and lighting elements were executed flawlessly as was coordination with client, performers and other stakeholder throughout the event. The magnitude of the Consecration transcended the evening and everyone involved was truly moved by the ceremony.