Corporate Branding & Events

Oprah Finale

How do you produce two of the final Oprah! show tapings at Chicago’s United Center in 60 hours with 80 tractor trailers of equipment between two NBA games? You call Chicago Scenic.

And to top it all, we had to convince the queen of talk, Oprah Winfrey, that we could do it. This proved not so difficult given Chicago Scenic's 25 years’ experience building the Oprah Winfrey show sets. And having done events at the United Center before - thus knowing the building inside and out – we knew we could do it. With only six weeks from idea to show, we were on our way.

When a troupe of celebrities and a crowd of 13,000 excited fans entered Chicago’s United Center for the final show tapings, they saw a space truly transformed. The Center featured a mammoth 80-foot deep by 100-foot wide stage with another stage featuring the orchestra above. There were three giant video screens and a runway lined in colored lights that led to a second, circular stage at what was normally basketball’s center court.

United Center’s transformation was the result of more than two weeks of intensive pre-staging and rigging by Chicago Scenic, PRG, OSA and Harpo staff, followed by a crew of more than 350 working hard 12-hour shifts around the clock for 48 hours. 

How do you produce two of the final Oprah! show tapings at Chicago’s United Center in 60 hours with 80 tractor trailers of equipment between two NBA games? You call Chicago Scenic.

And to top it all, we had to convince the queen of talk, Oprah Winfrey, that we could do it. This proved not so difficult given Chicago Scenic's 25 years’ experience building the Oprah Winfrey show sets. And having done events at the United Center before - thus knowing the building inside and out – we knew we could do it. With only six weeks from idea to show, we were on our way.

When a troupe of celebrities and a crowd of 13,000 excited fans entered Chicago’s United Center for the final show tapings, they saw a space truly transformed. The Center featured a mammoth 80-foot deep by 100-foot wide stage with another stage featuring the orchestra above. There were three giant video screens and a runway lined in colored lights that led to a second, circular stage at what was normally basketball’s center court.

United Center’s transformation was the result of more than two weeks of intensive pre-staging and rigging by Chicago Scenic, PRG, OSA and Harpo staff, followed by a crew of more than 350 working hard 12-hour shifts around the clock for 48 hours. 

05.2011 back to Corporate Branding & Events