4th of July Fireworks 2011: An inside look

BY MARGARET MORGAN - NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

The 35th Annual Macy's 4th of July Fireworks returns to the West Side’s Hudson River in the nation’s largest, awe-inspiring display of patriotic pyrotechnics. Celebrating our nation’s 235th birthday and the 125th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty, this year's extravaganza, "Gift of Freedom," will feature more than 40,000 fireworks expertly synchronized to a dynamic 26-minute score that includes a mix of American standards and the hottest pop favorites.

If you don’t plan to be in New York, the fireworks display will be aired on NBC, July 4th at 9 p.m. EST. The show will be hosted by entertainer Nick Lachey and features performances by Beyoncé and Brad Paisley.

At the heart of the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks 2011 will be a dazzling, soul-stirring salute to the 125th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty. Since 1886, the Statue of Liberty has been a beacon of hope that has proudly stood at the gateway to New York Harbor and the American Dream. This year's display will reflect on the united pride of our nation to the accompaniment of heartfelt celebratory songs. The show will also feature a tribute in light for the upcoming 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks.

According to Amy Kule, Executive Producer of the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks 2011, the music is going to tell the story, images of the statue will be there and the celebration will be in grand style in probably the biggest show Macy’s has ever done.

From beloved Independence Day standards such as "God Bless America" and "The Star Spangled Banner" to some of the most popular songs of today, the score for the Fireworks show is set to dazzle. Hits from Taio Cruz, Everclear, Jennifer Hudson, Katy Perry, LeAnn Rimes and James Taylor will be featured along with Broadway stars Anika Noni Rose and Karen Olivo who will pay tribute to the Lady in the Harbor with a bilingual rendition of the original song “Gift of Light.”

Macy's fireworks show will feature more than 40,000 shells exploding at a rate of more than 1,500 per minute and reaching heights of 1,000 feet in the air. At approximately 9:20 p.m. the 26-minute display will be set off from six barges positioned between 20th and 55th Streets on the Hudson River. Two full miles of sky will provide tremendous visibility of the show for millions of spectators. The display boasts 50 designs and 17 colors in celebration of the 125th Anniversary of the Statue of Liberty.

The trademark Macy's "Golden Mile" fireworks display will feature a shower of golden sparks stretching a mile across the Hudson River and will be enhanced this year with additional mile-long showers of sparkling red and green. In 2009, Macy's fireworks display moved across town from its traditional East River location to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the exploration of the Hudson River by Henry Hudson. The Macy's July 4th fireworks display originally made its debut on the Hudson River in 1958 before becoming an East River tradition in 1976.

According to fireworks coordinator Gary Souza, the fourth generation of a fireworks producing family, there will be some fun stuff in the show, some passionate, majestic, delicate moments, and some rocking raucous kind of loud and exciting fireworks as well as patriotic favorites.

In the early 1900s, Portuguese immigrant Manuel de Sousa entertained his San Francisco neighborhood with small fireworks for local celebrations. Flash-forward more than 100 years, and his great-great-grandson Gary Souza (the surname name evolved with the company, Pyro Spectaculars by Souza) is the mastermind behind the biggest pyrotechnic display in the country. Souza has been producing Macy's Independence Day spectacle with his brother since 1983. He begins designing the next year's larger-than-life light show almost right after the last shells have been fired from the current show. Souza travels around the world looking for just the right shells and sparklers to bring his fiery vision to life. He handpicks fireworks from the U.S., China, Japan, Australia, Spain and Italy. His team then tests the fireworks repeatedly over the Mojave Desert to check consistency and to pinpoint the launch time down to the tenth of a second. That data is then entered into the electronic firing system: 13 computers connected to 30 miles of wire synchronizing the explosions with musical cues. It takes 60 licensed pyrotechnicians 11 days to painstakingly load the shells into mortars onboard the six barges.

The New Jersey waterfront offers a spectacular front row viewing of the fireworks that will be launched from the six barges between New York’s 55th Street and 23rd Street.