JUNE | BIGGER PICTURE
Opening pitch
What: Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium opening
ceremony
Where: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
When: 3 April
Agency: Gary Beestone
Client and reporting: Tottenham Hotspur directly,
Tony Stephens head of PR – with the project being
overseen by Donna Cullen, executive director
On the 3 April 2019, Gary Beestone Events & Theatre
produced and delivered the Opening of Tottenham
Hotspur’s new 62,062 capacity stadium – a fitting
‘Welcome Home’ to Spurs ever loyal fans, 22 months after
their farewell to White Hart Lane.
The ceremony was all about the local community.
Gladesmore Community School Choir, conducted by
Ty Lowe, were joined by 2018 X-Factor contestant and
Tottenham local, Lanya Matthews, in a stirring rendition
of Everybody Dreams. This song was written by pupils
of Gladesmore, as an anthem of pride and hope for the
community after the town’s riots of 2011.
Following an emotional players entrance, Wynne Evans
saw a triumphant return to the pitch, dueting with Lanya
on the club’s rousing anthem Glory Glory, culminating
in a spectacular rooftop pyro display. All performances
were supported by the Tottenham Hotspur marching
band, conducted by the Grammy award winning musical
director, Steve Sidwell.
The ceremony was shown live on Sky Sports and NBC
and streamed live via Spurs TV on social media. “Without
question the short notice of the final green light and also
working with a completely new building with untested
(in a live show environment) technical infrastructure to
deliver a very short unforgiving ceremony that had to be
faultless,” says Gary Beestone, director.
Suppliers:
Stadium FX designed and delivered the lighting
Event FX on pyrotechnics
Brittania Row on sound
Sygma on Health and Safety
Orange Jackets on stage management
Steve Sidwell was the musical director and led on
the arrangements, studio recordings and musician
recruitment
Read the rest at accessaa.co.uk
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