Joey Brennan, Halftime Staging Supervisor for All Access Staging takes us into the shop for a deep dive into the sets for the Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show, with production design spearheaded by Bruce Rogers of Tribe Inc.
Related: Live Design's coverage of the Super Bowl LX Halftime Show
Live Design: Who brings All Access into the design/build process for the Super Bowl Halftime Show?
Joey Brennan: While we work with the same team of talented halftime production, design, and coordinators each year, All Access starts the show each year just like any other project that runs through our company. We work closely with Bruce Rogers of Tribe Inc., Diversified Production Services, and the creative team for that year’s performer to break down the design into a system that will work within the many constraints of time, location, access, and protecting the playing surface to get the vision on and off the field.
LD: How many years have you been involved in this production?
JB: This was my eighth halftime production, and All Access has been providing the field elements for the show for 16 years. I started on Super Bowl 50 as a draftsperson working on some of the staging elements for Coldplay’s show.
LD: What was the role for All Access this year?
JB: As in previous years, All Access provided all the on-field stages and major set pieces for this year’s halftime show. These were all custom field carts built around our Versa Turf Wheels. We provided technical design, fabrication, and onsite support for the scenery and worked closely with all the other departments of lighting, sound, pyro, props, and the ground covers to integrate all the pieces together.
LD: What were the biggest challenges this year?
JB: The biggest challenges this year, as they usually are, were a tight timeline, scale of the show, and protecting the natural grass playing field. That protection comes down to number of carts, number of wheels, and weight of the carts and elements we design. Essentially trying to minimize the overall weight, maximize the weight distribution, and making all our choices to design, build, and deliver the entire show to site in roughly 6 weeks.
LD: How many carts were involved and what set pieces were on them?
JB: There were 25 main scenic carts in this year’s show. That was the Casita, Wedding, Special Guest/Ricky Martin Stage, individual palm tree carts, and Power Poles. The New York/Nueva Yol units were built onto the side of the Wedding stage carts. There were additional curved grass units behind the live string orchestra, and small scenic units for the sugar cane elements as well as the pickup truck.
LD: How do you collaborate with Bruce Rodgers? And with Bad Bunny's creative team?
JB: Bruce Rogers and his team, among many other things, are our main link as a fabrication shop to the creative team and the producers of the show. They are a hub that helps maintain the flow of information, keep us focused on accuracy to the creative design, and translate the non-negotiable requirements of the turf wheels, clearance off the field, practical and safety needs for the army of crew that pushes the set pieces on/off the field back to the creative team. We talk several times a day for those 6 or so weeks to make sure everyone is on the same page and the myriad changes that originate from us, from creative, and from production are all relayed to the wider group that needs the information. With Bad Bunny’s team there was a similar constant and tight flow of communication, receiving updates from their side as they explore new ideas for the creative look of the show, number and position of dancers, the flow from one area or set piece to another.
With both, it starts with a very broad overview: scale ground plans of initial ideas for size of show, overall areas, and the flow of the artist and camera from one place to another. Eventually that focus narrows to what the fans in the stadium can see, what the camera can see, and as everyone goes through the rehearsal process, what the individual performers need to be able to create a successful show. Whether it’s that main star, a guest artist, or individual dancer or musician. We’re there to help support all the performers and technical staff to create the best show possible.
LD: How was the casita built?
JB: Like every set piece, the Casita started as a set of visual renderings from the creative team along with a basic white model 3D file. From there we take the overall dimensions desired and break it down into rolling carts that work for the constraints of the stadium. In this year’s case, no cart was bigger than 8’ wide x 24’ long x 10’ tall. This is the maximum size we could fit both through the tunnel onto the field and safely maneuver through every door, room, and passageway from our fabrication shop to truck to onsite delivery.
From there the Casita was a custom aluminum frame, our highly engineered Versa Turf Tires, and all the bells, whistles, cladding, and capabilities the production needs. The Casita included a stock Versa Star Lift, custom built manual release double locking trap door, pyro positions, lighting positions, and service power and lighting. Along with the practical elements of doors, porch lighting, there was room for performers, technicians, stunt coordinators, and stage management as well as the incorporated scenic finishes and grass elements.
LD. Can you talk through the process from drawings to shop to show?
JB: I think there’s essentially two periods, both of which happen extremely fast for the complexity and size of the halftime show. The first goes from receiving creative design, breaking them down to technical drawings for our fabrication and project crews to loading trucks and the second starts once we deliver and are on site and ends at load out.
The first period is a lot of overlapping priorities; to meet the deadline, we often need to start fabricating the framework of units before the entire piece is done in CAD. Cladding, scenic elements, or more complex aspects of the individual carts will come out after the main body of the unit has begun to be cut, welded, and put together. Once the framework of a particular unit is on wheels, it goes to our carpentry shop for cladding and finishing work, and then back to our project team to receive both its scenic finishes as well as specific field cart attachments like our locators, straps, and anything needed for safe packaging and shipping. Once we’re on site, there are often changes that come out of the rehearsal process. We bring an entire fabrication shop with us, albeit smaller, that can do everything from cutting, machining, and welding steel and aluminum to finish carpentry and scenic work. We work hand in hand with lighting, pyro, audio, and scenic crews onsite to complete the units and help install the rest of the items that complete the pieces and make any modifications that help us navigate the push from storage location to the field with the local stagehands and field team members.
LD: What was most successful for you this year?
JB: There are two things, first, there is not enough I can say about the incredible amount of teamwork it takes to pull off this show every year. Of course this goes for the entire team at All Access, but also for all the crew, staff, and onsite partners we get to work with. Every group is involved in getting a show of this scale and complexity out the door in such a short amount of time, from the front office to the back lot, it takes a tremendous amount of effort and skill. There is a point, usually about halfway through the second or third on field rehearsal, when I can take a deep breath, look around for a minute and go, “wow, we pulled it off”, and that is a great feeling made possible by a very large group of hardworking people. Lastly, I think the overall message of the show was a big success. I think it was designed to send a positive message and it’s great to be able to work on something helping put that out into the world.
Take a peek:
All Access team credits (in alphabetical order):
LED LX electrician: Skyler Agar
Staging technician: Jesus (Chuy) Arroyo Ventura
Staging lead: Pedro (Rene) Avila
Halftime staging supervisor: Joseph Brennan
Head carpenter: Roger Cabot
Staging technician: Micky Dymond
LED LX electrician: Zackari Eastland
Production coordinator: Eric Eastland
Lead fabricator: Fidel Garza
Rehearsal Crew: Cassidy Guerrero
Staging technician: Jack Demarest
Project manager Noe Prado Lemus
LED LX Electrician: Mollie Randa
Fabrication specialist: Julio Rocha
Staging lead: Ryan Trebon
Staging technician: Kendall Williams
Staging project manager Yangyujie (Kay) Zhou
Check out the All Access Bad Bunny blog for detailed set information, piece by piece.