“Doing fireworks is a one-time event, like when you turn your light bulb on and it blows up,’’ said Tucker, who works for California-based Pyro Spectaculars by Souza. “After all of that work, you destroy it.’’
The stage for a fireworks show is the night sky. Now in his ninth year choreographing Boston’s show, Tucker knows exactly how much space he has on the Esplanade: nearly a third of a mile up and across, fired from a string of barges as long as a city block.
The shells accompany a soundtrack that is hashed out months in advance by sponsoring company Liberty Mutual and members of Boston 4 Productions, the company that coordinates the fireworks display and concert that draw hundreds of thousands to the Esplanade. Last winter, the group pared down hundreds of marches, movie scores, and classic rock ballads to 11 songs.
Not every pop anthem or patriotic chestnut makes a good fireworks song. The key, Tucker said, is hearing songs visually: understanding how tempos, volumes, and tone translate to firing speed, height, and color.
“It can’t all be about Sousa marches and 4/4 time,’’ Tucker said. “We’re trying to design an arcing story that’s going to carry the audience to the end, but also surprise them.’’
Tomorrow, Yanni’s orchestral “Santorini’’ will ease the audience into the show, followed by the Cincinnati Pops’s “Yankee Doodle,’’ and Katy Perry’s appropriately named “Firework.’’
Most of the shells Tucker selects from Pyro Spectaculars’ storerooms, an hour north of Los Angeles, originate from overseas. Since trade regulations encouraged pyrotechnic production in China in the 1970s, the bulk of shells for American shows have been produced abroad, pyrotechnics specialist John Conkling said.
Now, Tucker shops at centuries-old fireworks factories in Italy, Spain, and Portugal. He visits China to create custom fireworks and watch as test displays illuminate rural rice paddies.
