We know how you feel.
Now that the smell of the pyro smoke has faded away, you begin to wonder if it really happened, yet you know it did. You are happy and you are sad. So are we. Just another part of show business. It happens to us as well. On every gig. This part is always shot through with joy and sadness. It is also, in show business as in life, inevitable.
We have returned to our homes or to another project. Your beloved staging carts have been stripped of their state-of-the-art electronics. The reusable pieces are presently in the back of two semi-trucks somewhere between Tampa and California. The rest of it has been dismantled, cut to pieces and fills two 60 yard dumpsters somewhere in Hillsborough County.
You did an incredible job. Everyone was very pleased and for that, the credit goes to many, but it could not have happened without you. Of that, one can be certain.
We hope you made new friendships or renewed old ones. Many Halftime cart crews still get together on a regular basis, especially around Super Bowl time.
As we all go forward, try to remember a few things we shared.
- It’s not always about you.
- What it feels like to unplug from the internet, cell phone, iPod, Facebook, Myspace, TV and video games for a while and look into the eyes of another human being. See them. Feel their presence. To mutually strive for and accomplish a very complex and difficult task, under the most rigid of timelines, at absolute ground zero of the hottest, most intensely focused spotlight in the television world. Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band were there with us. The place where magic is.
- The value of stories. The human mind is not made for emails and instant messages which say C U soon or luv U 2. It is hard-wired for stories and what they teach us. We are hopeful you have a few Super Bowl stories of your own.
- How to stand around and wait and wait and wait. (We call this standing still at breakneck speed.)
- Drink water. It is good for you.
- The most critical measurements in this show, the precise positioning of the stage and video screens, were made using a yellow nylon truck strap and two (2) broom handles.
- When presented with unexpected circumstances, use your thumb.
I received this email, as did the rest of the entire SB XLIII Halftime Show staff, from Rob Paine, the Line Producer of the Halftime Show (our immediate boss). We share it with his permission. It was sent to us, but is pertinent to you as well.
Halftime isn't easy. The success of shows like this require
experience, skill and the ability to deal with a lot of moving parts.
But it also requires the right mindset. Everyone is there not only
because they're the most qualified but because they have an amazing
ability to roll with the punches and still keep smiling (at least
inwardly). That's quite an achievement - and there's no better
example than this year's show. You're all the best in the world at
what you do and I'm proud to have been able to work with you again
this year
FYI, it was the most watched Super Bowl in history and the 2nd most
watched broadcast in television history (show averaged 98.7 million
viewers)
Until next time,
Rob Paine
Line Producer
Super Bowl XLIII Halftime Show
Thanks, again Tampa Volunteers. We are crazy about you!
Cap Spence and Staff
Staging: Marcus Lopez, Graeme Lagden, Doug Cook, George McPherson, Aaron Chawla, Hans Wert
Volunteers: Bryan K. Ransom, Holly Silber and Casey Henry
