Competing for their third time in Montreal, Melrose, based in Chicago, are one of the largest display operators in the United States. Winning the Gold Jupiter in their debut display in 2006 with Curtain Call and a bronze Jupiter in 2009 with Reel Love, Melrose jumped at the chance at competing in Montreal for the special 30th Edition of the competition.
I met with Mike Cartolano (chief designer) and Matt Peterson (creative director) who both told me there are excited to be in Montreal. Mike said that, despite this being Melrose’s largest display of the year (and they shot around 700 in the two weeks surrounding July 4th), he felt that coming to Montreal was like being on holiday. In fact, he had arrived early so he could also see the Vicente Caballer show last Saturday (being as Melrose is one of their customers). Both told me that the 35 people who work in the Melrose office were also excited and energized by their company competing in Montreal.
They had started putting idea together for their display at the end of last year and had attended a small Halloween display in Chicago which gave them an idea. The local Six Flags park in Chicago was doing a “Fright Night” theme for a month and Mike said that Martyne Gagnon’s facebook picture from around that time of the same festival at La Ronde cemented the theme for them, along with the name.
They said they’re not quite so scared to compete this time, but feel that creativity is key since display style has evolved considerably since their last performance in Montreal in 2009. Thus this year’s display represents a stylistic departure for them and will feature many more low-level effects than their usual display style. Mike said he can’t wait to see it! The display will have around 5500 cues and be fired from ten PyroDigital field controllers.
Products come from two Spanish companies, several Chinese manufacturers (Mike said they use some companies that no-one else in the US uses) as well as North American manufacturers such as NextFX, Santore, AngelFire (out of Canada) and a small amount of Italian products. Ramps four and five will be extensively used, but there will be no set pieces nor structures, though Mike did hint there would be some special surprises! In terms of shells used, Mike gave me the following information:
- 28 12″ shells
- 48 10″ shells
- 72 8″ shells
- 300 6″ shells
- 600 5″shells
- 650 4″ shells
- 600 3″ shells
For the soundtrack, this was produced by Jon Gesse who has cleverly used two versions of the same piece for the opening and closing of the display. Mike and Matt said they were particularly looking forward to the “Bat Out of Hell” segment. They said they want their display to be “a delightfully scary good time” which will be fun for all members of the family!