Sign up for one of our email newsletters.
Updated 1 hour ago
Pittsburgh won't be represented in Super Bowl LI on Sunday, but a Lawrence County fireworks company is generating plenty of oohs and aahs this week in Houston.
New Castle-based Pyrotecnico is producing fireworks shows as part of Super Bowl Live, a nine-day fan festival in downtown Houston leading to the big game.
“Anytime you get to be involved in an event like this, it's a big deal for the company and it's a big deal personally,” production manager Doug Aller said.
Pyrotecnico is no stranger to big events — or to Houston. The company, which was founded in 1889 in Italy by Constantino Vitale and then moved with the family to New Castle in 1920, has 14 locations nationwide. It produces thousands of shows each year, including Freedom Over Texas — Houston's July 4 celebration.
Closer to home, the company produced the EQT Flashes of Freedom Fireworks on Independence Day in Downtown Pittsburgh and shows for the EQT Pittsburgh Three Rivers Regatta and PyroFest at Cooper's Lake in Butler County.
Rocco Vitale, 38, the great-grandson of Pyrotecnico's founder, is the company's creative director. His older brother, Stephen Vitale, serves as company president and CEO.
Pyrotecnico received a call from Houston's Super Bowl host committee about three weeks ago, Rocco Vitale said, and workers began designing five unique shows that would showcase Houston specifically and Texas in general.
It began with finding the right music.
“Do a Google search of Texas musicians, and you see all these people, so there was no shortage of musicians to select tracks from,” Vitale said. “There was so much content we could have had 10 shows.”
From Beyonce to ZZ Top to the Dixie Chicks, music Pyrotecnico chose represents a variety of genres, Vitale said. After the tracks were finalized, the list went to the music editor, who was responsible for cutting the songs down to make 10- to 12-minute shows. Later, a team of three designers used computers to create the fireworks displays to accompany the soundtracks.
Vitale said his passion lies in finding the right visual to match the moment, music and place in the show. At his disposal are fireworks that explode in colorful, expanding orbs; fountains of shimmering white lights; and booming flashes that reverberate.
“I like the art behind it, the beauty of the product and how you put it together to make a complete show,” said Vitale, who works in the company's Dallas office. “The shows we're doing this week in Houston are tightly choreographed using the most beautiful products from all over the world. Entertaining the masses, putting smiles on faces, creating oohs and aahs, that's rewarding for us.”
Aller, who is based in New Castle, has spent most of the past two weeks on the roof of Houston's George R. Brown Convention Center, which is serving as Pyrotecnico's staging area. The company conducted two shows last weekend, and the final three are scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Pyrotecnico's eight-man crew in Houston spent this week reloading. Vitale said the shows he designed utilize 1,700 to 1,800 firing lines, with each launching 10 fireworks.
Because the building is long and wide, the crew is able to be more creative compared to working in more restrictive spaces. For instance, Aller said, Pyrotecnico can shoot more at angles rather than straight up and can create wide arcs of display, shapes and even letters.
“The first show we shot off, the reaction of the crowd, people were stunned,” Aller said. “They couldn't believe what was happening. It's great to be part of that.”
Karen Price is a Tribune-Review contributing writer.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
