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March 2025 Newsletter

Gary Fails and his wife Terri Klausner (center), with ESTA and Protocol representatives following ESTA’s Lifetime Technical Achievement Award presentation at their Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Columbus, Ohio on Thursday, March 6, 2025

City Theatrical Founder Gary Fails Wins ESTA's 2025 Lifetime Technical Achievement Award

Mitch Hefter, Terri Klausner, Gary Fails, and Steve Terry

City Theatrical Founder Gary Fails was recognized as the recipient of ESTA’s 2025 Lifetime Technical Achievement Award on Thursday, March 6, 2025. This award was presented by ESTA Executive Director Erin Grabe at ESTA’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the Hilton Columbus Downtown Hotel in Columbus, Ohio. The event was scheduled two hours before doors opened at Columbus Convention Center for the first day of USITT 2025 Columbus trade show.

Read more about Gary Fails Winning ESTA Lifetime Achievement Award, or read Gary Fails retirement interview from 2023, to celebrate Gary's career as an innovator, entrepreneur, and pioneer in our industry.

Read Gary Fails Award Press Release

Gary Fails

“I am truly humbled to be selected for this award. I have a lot of respect for what Erin Grabe and her team at ESTA continue to do to grow ESTA for the future of our industry. I appreciate their contributions to the growth of City Theatrical, our industry as a whole, and my own career. Thank you!”

- Gary Fails, Founder, City Theatrical (Read more)

USITT 2025 Show Report by City Theatrical

City Theatrical's USITT 2025 Show Report photo collage

Experience USITT Show 2025 in Columbus, Ohio through City Theatrical's lens, in City Theatrical's USITT 2025 Show Report!

Peruse some of the new and familiar faces of people who stopped by our booth, discover happenings from around the show, explore exciting new award-winning products presented by City Theatrical, learn about the Hands-On Soldering Lab hosted by David O. Smith of City Theatrical, the Lighting Lab by Barbizon, ETC's 50th anniversary booth and party, and hear what colleagues are saying about City Theatrical gear available to demonstrate at the show.

USITT Show Report

Nick Eberts

And the DMXcat-E Giveaway Winner Is... Nick Eberts!

The winner of City Theatrical's DMXcat-E™ Giveaway at USITT 2025 is Nick Eberts, from the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts (CAPA)! Congratulations, Nick! We hope you enjoy using your new DMXcat-E behind the scenes.

Women's History Month at City Theatrical

Women of City Theatrical New Jersey office

We're celebrating Women's History Month this March 2025 by featuring the women who work at City Theatrical!

We asked these powerhouse women: what inspires them every day, what is something they are proud of, what is something new they would like to learn or have learned recently, and if they had a million dollars (or pounds) to spare, what they would do with it for good.

Learn more about this inspired and inspiring group of women behind our products in the Women of City Theatrical page.

Women of City Theatrical page

Serena McDonald

"The chance to make a positive impact, however small, truly inspires me each day. Knowing that my actions, words, or even a simple gesture of kindness can brighten someone's day or contribute to a larger goal is a powerful motivator."

- Serena McDonald, Administrative Assistant (UK Office), City Theatrical Ltd. (Read more)

Case Study: Multiverse SHoW Baby for Fiddler on the Roof at Jerry's Habima Theatre in Atlanta, GA

Multiverse SHoW Baby providing wireless DMX/RDM capabilities behind the scenes. Photo by Harrison Hohnholt.

Jerry’s Habima Theatre at Marcus JCC of Atlanta is an inclusive theater company featuring actors with disabilities Atlanta, Georgia. Their March 2025 production of Fiddler on the Roof delighted audiences from Thursday, March 6, 2025 through Sunday, March 16, 2025, and used a series of Multiverse® SHoW Baby® devices to provide reliable wireless DMX.

Thank you to Michael Wolmer of Barbizon Lighting for choosing Multiverse wireless DMX/RDM for this show. Read this Multiverse case study Q&A with Michael Wolmer to learn more about how he set up Multiverse wireless DMX quickly and easily for this production.

Read case study

Michael Wolmer

“It was as easy as possible to work with Multiverse SHoW Baby devices to provide wireless DMX for the show. As someone who has worked heavily with all kinds of wireless DMX options, Multiverse setup was the smoothest I’ve ever had.”

- Michael Wolmer, Barbizon Lighting, on Fiddler on the Roof at Jerry's Habima Theatre (Read more)

March 2025 Custom Manufacturing

Custom GLP X5 Compact Hexcel Louvers

Every month, we do dozens of custom manufacturing projects for customers all over the world. These projects include entertainment lighting, architectural lighting, and OEM development projects for other companies. Custom projects give us a chance to use all of our experience, knowledge, and capability.

Tell us about your challenges, submit a custom order, and you could see your project in next month's newsletter.

Custom Manufacturing