August, 2005 • MarineNews 29
had accidents.
Phil Grucci remembers the days when
his grandfather lit shows with a railroad
flare. Manual ignition is no longer permit-
ted, of course, nor are wooden barges like
those used off Rockaway Playland or
Coney Island a half-century ago. "It's still
on the books that we need to spread a
layer of sand on the deck," said Mr. Gruc-
ci, "even though it's a steel barge. We have
to get a variance to stage each show with-
out a couple of inches of sand on the
deck."
Besides reducing the odds of a wood
deck fire, the coating of sand helped
anchor the mortars, the vertical tubes
emplaced on said deck to direct the fire-
works skyward. "You wouldn't want one
of them falling over just as it fires," Mr.
Grucci comments. Most bargemen and
tugmen would agree.
Toward that end, the Gruccis have
patented certain construction techniques
in a metal gridwork of their design, which
their own sustained use has proved ideal.
Of copies that have shown-up elsewhere
in the industry, Mr. Grucci finds it a sin-
cere form of flattery, "but it concerns us,
because the reliability of our design is
based upon points that not everyone is fol-
lowing. We want it to be understood that
our design is not something we license for
a fee - it's free for the asking."
Although the "Fantastic Four" show
was a large one, it came together through
a sequence of steps more-or-less common
to show-business. "We knew what the
movie was about," said Mr. Grucci, "and
they had a musical score. We put together
a soundtrack with a timecode on it. I
locked myself up in my studio and lis-
tened to every second of the music. I
could envision what kinds of fireworks
effects, from our inventory of about 3000
characters, will dance and perform in
which way. I equate the process with cast-
ing a play, where you have some charac-
ters that are more dynamic than others.
The show in this case needed to be very
powerful from beginning to end," and
included some giant eruptions designed
specially for it.
Mother Nature
Also becoming powerful on the after-
noon of July 5 was the weather, tropical
and drippy and foreboding of worse. The
crew set-up the grids, then tossed the mor-
tars through the air, man to man till the
tube of the correct size reached its
planned destination in the layout. They
were standing the last ones in place when
a light smattering of rain, just a teaser,
blew across Erie Basin. Large blue plastic
tarps, labeled "Fireworks by Grucci,"
were unfurled and spread over the waiting
mortars.
"We've fired shows in rainstorms," said
Mr. Grucci. "There is the chance the
escape charge won't fire if you don't keep
your powder dry," but a 3-mil plastic film
over the loaded mortar keeps the water
out - and permits the "product," including
eight-inch-diameter spheres packed with
elaborations of charges and firing sys-
tems, to blast right through and up a thou-
The airborne display begins long before ignition, the crew tossing-along the mortars for exact placement
within the patented Grucci frames, there to be wired for ignition from a laptop. The "escape charge"
could include up to a pound of black powder. (Photo: Don Sutherland.)
Sea Pigeon IV, one of several party boats stemming the tide as nature's own pyrotechnics do their slow-
motion thing. (Photo: Don Sutherland.)
An hour after a spirited pelting by a tropically-inspired downpour, Megan McAllister noses the fireworks
out of Erie Basin, conveniently near Liberty Island, with a lovely warm sunset in full bloom. (Photo: Don
Sutherland.)
AROUND THE HARBOR
Here's a Marine News Exclusive. Fireworks look great from a distance, but greatest of all from directly
beneath. They're fired straight up, and fall back straight down, surrounding the observer in a three-
dimensional cascade. Don't forget your hard hat. (Photo: Don Sutherland.)
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