At 9 p.m., on Saturday, July 4, the geniuses behind Grucci will begin the fourth decade of what has now become computerized, synchronized fireworks shows in Biscayne Bay, launched off a barge 1,000 feet offshore the Key Biscayne Beach Club.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Active fireworks at a past 4th of July in the Key.<\/p>\n
The 25-minute “pyromusical” is choreographed to patriotic songs. Three this year are directly tied to the America 250 celebration and will be simulcast on WDMA 88.9 FM.<\/p>\n
“It’s more of an effort to coordinate the fireworks to music, but you get a far better performance,” Grucci told Islander News. “It’s like a ballet, the characters are the fireworks and the stage is the sky.<\/p>\n
“It certainly means a lot to us to have that show there on Key Biscayne. It’s our flagship, our most southern (U.S.) show and (our) largest fireworks show in Florida.”<\/p>\n
As a fifth-generation “First Family of Fireworks” employee, Grucci has provided the spark for the recent success of the family business, which began in the Bari region of Italy 176 years ago in 1850 by his great-great grandfather, Angelo Lanzetta.<\/p>\n
Key Biscayne’s show is one of 65 his company will produce this weekend, most coinciding with July 4.<\/p>\n
It takes 10 pyrotechnic experts to handle the $197,900 Key Biscayne fireworks show, which features “a few thousand shells.” Things get rolling three days in advance with the setup process.<\/p>\n
“Design is important, but most people don’t have any idea what it takes to put on a show like this, to get the explosives there on time and have everything on schedule … in this business, we can’t say we’ll shoot it off another day with everyone waiting,” Grucci said. “It’s like a construction process. The electronics computer software (package) has long been implemented and loaded to a regimented script,” he added, saying if a portion of the music calls for specific colors or lettering (such as USA), or more explosive output, it’s already in the package.<\/p>\n
“Logistics is just the tip of the iceberg. To move 300 people around, with airline flights, hotels, is like moving an army around. Here, we have a chartered barge rental; a tugboat to pull it into its place; multiple contracts and vendors; the permitting through police and fire … 30 years is quite a run.”<\/p>\n
Todd Hofferberth, the Village’s Parks and Recreation Director, helped organize the original 1994 fireworks event on the island and has been involved in every Independence Day celebration since then.<\/p>\n
“They’ve performed well for us over the years and they’re renowned in the business with their pyromusical shows,” he said. “We welcome their consistency and being familiar with our show.”<\/p>\n
Grucci, whose love for fireworks blossomed as a youngster on Coney Island, where his dad and grandfather were applauded for putting on such fine shows, has become a Florida “snowbird,” spending winters in Fort Lauderdale. His company’s fireworks shows have been seen at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and the Seminole Casino Coconut Creek in that area.<\/p>\n
They’ve also been seen at the Olympics, including the 2008 Games in Beijing, where the company was asked to present 25% of the show a month before the start, then a 50% show about a week later, and then a 100% show before the Opening Ceremonies ever took place. Those preview shows are “very rare,” Grucci said, but Steve Wynn at the Bellagio in Las Vegas also required a preview.<\/p>\n
“We’re not a lighting show, we can’t just turn it on and off,\u201d he said. \u201cWe do test them at the site and use computers, animated, to pull that visual off (in other cases).\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Active fireworks over a body of water at a past 4th of July in the Key.<\/p>\n
This year, Grucci’s company will try to set a world record with a 3,200-pound shell in the United Arab Emirates, and the Las Vegas show will consist of fireworks 3.5 miles down the Strip and another 8 miles through the Valley “all at the same time.”<\/p>\n
The company already holds the record for longest linear fireworks at 7 miles long; once launched fireworks in 52 different cities in Saudi Arabia at the same time; and set a world record in 2014 with 450,000 fireworks in a stunning 6-minute, 360-degree synchronized display of light, color and music over Palm Jumeirah in Dubai.<\/p>\n
“One rule we have is that we won’t break our own record because we feel it’s unfair to the (original) customer, but if someone else breaks our record, then we can go after it,” Grucci said.<\/p>\n
While Fourth of July results in the most shows for Fireworks by Grucci, New Year’s Eve is the most fruitful, raking in 30% more revenue for just 20 shows, albeit longer and even more spectacular.<\/p>\n
And the rest of the year?<\/p>\n
“Private parties, anniversaries, Vegas goes all year …” Grucci said, noting that there are now regular fireworks shows for the first American theme park in Saudi Arabia, Six Flags.<\/p>\n
Although Disney has its own fireworks team, Grucci has supplied those parks with the necessary rockets.<\/p>\n
One of the reasons Grucci’s company is such a power player is its dedication to the environment by “going green” years ago.<\/p>\n
“We’re very diligent on the environmental impact,” he said. “There’s no such thing as zero impact, but we are leading the pack on environmental astuteness, controlling the types of chemicals (and less debris) … it’s an economic benefit and the future of the industry.”<\/p>\n
Ten years ago, Grucci’s company leveraged the drone technology and “we retro-fitted it with pyrotechnics, another world record we have with the most (drones) in the sky with pyrotechnics.”<\/p>\n
While the drones are amazing, there’s nothing better than fireworks, he said.<\/p>\n
“What’s beautiful about it is that it touches all the senses,” Grucci said.<\/p>\n
Even if he does feel a little numb these days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Phil Grucci was sipping on a cup of coffee Monday morning in his hometown of Bellport, N.Y., when…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329418,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[48309,76223,135479,136213,126,123,125,124],"class_list":["post-329417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-fireworks","tag-fourth-of-july","tag-fourth-of-july-parade","tag-grucci-fireworks","tag-key-biscayne","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329417\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}