CSSI Creates Scrim for CSO's 2010 Inaugural Program;
Muti Debuts

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra's 2010
Inaugural subscription program introducing Riccardo Muti as the CSO's new Music Director featured Hector Berlioz's revolutionary masterpiece "Symphonie Fantastique" followed by its sequel, "Lelio". Chicago Scenic was called in to create a scrim – an open weave cloth that, with special lighting, helped create the theatrical effects necessary to perform Berlioz's Romanticist monodrama.

The 70-foot x 30-foot scrim was made by Rosebrand and operated by Chicago Scenic's lifting winch. As part of the scrim's installation, Chicago Scenic provided an upper and lower truss – representing nearly a ton of combined weight – enabling the scrim to be suspended in Orchestra Hall's open proscenium and to be raised and lowered on cue. To balance the weight, Chicago Scenic installed a counterweight system which allowed the winch to raise and lower the scrim smoothly.

"Part of the challenge," said Ross Hamilton, one of Chicago Scenic's senior project managers, "is that Symphony Hall is designed to be a concert hall, intended to reflect the voices of the orchestra, and not as a theatrical stage. A stage house has a built-in fly loft above the stage, facilitating the hanging of a scrim on its existing rigging system. None of this existed in Orchestra Hall, requiring CSSI to install the custom system. " Despite the project's challenges, the season opener, which included Gerard Depardieu as the narrator - was a critically-acclaimed series of performances.

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Pepsico Prepares for Shareholder's Meeting; Commissions Giant Tropicana Juice Carton

In preparation for a PepsiCo shareholder's meeting, C2 Imaging contacted Chicago Scenic to create a larger-than-life Tropicana orange juice carton that they could be displayed prominently in PepsiCo's main lobby.

In just under a week, Chicago Scenic's crew, under the direction of Senior Project Manager Gary Heitz, constructed a 12 ½-foot, 5-foot square carton. The size was determined, Heitz said, by the client's wishes and what could fit through the doors at the Sustainability Center. C2 Imaging produced the carton's vinyl graphics that Chicago Scenic then used to wrap the carton.

How many oranges does it take to make enough juice to fill a 59-ounce carton of Tropicana juice? The answer was perfectly clear to the shareholder's at the meeting when they saw 16 oranges surrounding the carton.

CSSI staff made the oranges by glueing together Styrofoam halves to make a
24-inch diameter ball, and then applyed hard coat to each ball. The hard coat process produced a natural orange peel texture that was perfect for the finished product. A few coats of orange paint later, the carton and 16 oranges were installed in the
Center's lobby in Chicago.