the auerbach connection · auerbach says, adding that the rela - tionship with bbn became increas -...

www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • November 2017 • 1

This year is a momentous onefor the theatre consultancyAuerbach Pollock Friedlander

(and its architectural lighting designstudio, Auerbach Glasow), as it turns45, making it one of the longer-run-ning firms in its field. The firm pres-ents a remarkably youthful face to theworld, however, thanks in part to thewide variety of projects in its portfo-lio, many of which draw on the latestadvances in entertainment technolo-gy. A look back at the company’s his-tory is a kind of study in miniature of

the industry: A firm that started outworking mostly on regional theatresand performing arts centers—and,along the way, developed an associ-ated architectural lighting designpractice—now has its fingerprints onsome of the most complex and high-profile live entertainment projects inthe world today. It’s a remarkable tourof the process by which theatricalconcepts have found their way in vir-tually every aspect of society. And,one suspects, there is much more tocome.

S. Leonard Auerbach (known asLen), the man behind it all, was per-haps unusually qualified to join thestill-pioneering theatre consultant pro-fession when he did. Having earned aBFA in drama from Carnegie Tech(today, Carnegie Mellon University),he stayed on to get an MFA in theatrearchitecture, working in studio withthe school’s architecture and urbandesign group. Prior to attendingCarnegie, he logged in the requisitetime in New York: “I did the install forthe original company of The

The Auerbach Connection By: David Barbour

Photo: Alan Rosenberg

The team, assembled in the San Francisco office.

Over nearly half a century, Auerbach Pollock Friedlander and Auerbach

Glasow have grown to reach the ever-expanding universe of its markets

Copyright Lighting&Sound America November 2017 http://www.lightingandsoundamerica.com/LSA.htmlBUSINESS PROFILE

2 • November 2017 • Lighting&Sound America

BUSINESS PROFILE

Fantasticks [at the Sullivan StreetTheatre, where it remained fordecades] and hung around, workingas house manager; I made $35 aweek, and that was just enough tohave a room and get some burgers.”He also designed scenery OffBroadway for Equity Library Theatre;at least one production, DetectiveStory, was a highly successful show-case.

By 1967-68, Auerbach was inMinneapolis, working as residentlighting designer at the GuthrieTheatre, one of the first prominentvenues in the then-burgeoning resi-dent theatre world. His job involvedmuch more than the title suggested.“When the Guthrie was built,” hesays, “there were funding problems,which they solved by omitting one ofthe building’s structural bays. Thissaved approximately $20,000, whichwas a big deal at the time. Of course,it also cut out most backstage ameni-ties, including access to the stage.The scene shop was in the basement,and the only way to get scenery out

was to take the traps out of the stageand haul it up. I had a concept for anaddition; I was hired to advise on thedesign, and also to deal with whathadn’t been done for the building inthe first place. I was there for twoseasons, designed a studio theatre ina nearby church, and designed light-ing and projections for 13 produc-tions in Minneapolis and their St. PaulSeasons.”

Next, Auerbach was approachedby acoustician Russell Johnson andtheatre consultant Tom DeGaetaniabout joining the firm Bolt, Beranekand Newman. Auerbach eventuallyjoined up, a move that, for all its pres-tige, may have proved to be less thansatisfying. “BBN was involved in anintense growth effort,” he says.“There were offices in Toronto, Dallas,Los Angeles, San Francisco, NewYork, and Cambridge, and they start-ed acquiring other businesses thatwould support their professionalpractice. They received a lot of gov-ernment contracts in appliedacoustics, underwater acoustics in

addition to defense contracts andthey were really growing quickly. Theybought one of the first large IBMcomputers and started a time-shareprogram with it.”

All this growth at BBN was impres-sive unless one was focused on the-atre, like Auerbach, who says, “Theyreally started diluting the purpose ofthe three original partners, especiallyLeo Beranek, who was purely aboutarchitectural and performanceacoustics. At one time, they had1,200 employees. I didn’t want to bein the New York office, so I was told,‘If you work in New York for sixmonths, you can go to Los Angelesor San Francisco.’ For me, SanFrancisco was the target. Anyway,those six months were actually twoyears.”

Still, Auerbach notes, the experi-ence was invaluable in terms of theprojects and connections theyoffered. For example: “My first realproject was at Dickinson College inCarlisle, Pennsylvania, with TheArchitects Collaborative, WalterGropius’ firm; Sarah Harkness wasthe design architect and we got alongvery well. It was a flexible auditoriumdesign that BBN got involved with,because the Ford Foundation gaveout research grants to study theacoustic viability of divisible class-rooms. The Macton Company, whichmade turntables, developed a way ofturning the audience area around,making small classrooms out of it,isolating them from the performancespace. I believed that these turntablerooms at the back of the hall wereawful; you couldn’t circulate in or outof them and when they were linkedup, it wasn’t a unified space. I sug-gested making a hexagonal shape, inan arena form, and, using a horizontaldual-coil wall system, putting two ofthem side-by-side: You could haveacoustical isolation and you couldtrack them out any way you want. Ifyou retracted one, you got a prosce-nium house. If you retracted two, yougot a thrust. With all of them retract- P

hoto: John M

artin

CIRCLE READER SERVICE 29

Friedlander, Auerbach, and Glasow.


ed, it became an arena.” This anec-dote is a telling one, revealing that, ata very early stage of his career,Auerbach was already focused onout-of-the-box problem-solving forhighly singular projects.

As promised, Auerbach moved toSan Francisco and, after another twoyears with BBN, set up an office witha colleague, Vince Piacentini. “Wehad such a collaborative friendship,”Auerbach says, adding that the rela-tionship with BBN became increas-ingly unsatisfying, soPiacentini/Auerbach was establishedin 1972. Piacentini suffered fromhealth problems, however, and hereturned to BBN before starting a

small firm of his own, based in St.Louis. The original firm was rechris-tened S. Leonard Auerbach andAssociates in 1973. An early majorproject, he says, was Children’sTheatre Company, in Minneapolis. “Itwas conceived as a significantregional theatre for children,” he saidin a 2010 interview with another pub-lication. “It required an intimate andcomfortable space with good sight-lines for both adults and children in amixed audience environment. KenzōTange, the architect, sought to createa womb-like and intimate interior. Wecollaborated, designing a 750-seatspace with a homogeneous orchestralevel and two very shallow balconies

to reduce viewing distances andencourage the perception of space,that confirmed Tange’s concept.” Healso designed, with Tange, theMinneapolis Institute of Art’s architec-tural lighting.

Growing the firmAs Auerbach notes, the early yearsrequired him to be a generalist whocould provide the creative and techni-cal design for many disciplines, suchas room design, seating and sight-lines, lighting systems, rigging,machinery and controls, electricalpower, sound systems, buildingcodes, etc. All aspects were providedin analog fashion of hand drawingsP

hoto: David Sundberg/ESTO

The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre, part of Pershing Square Signature Theatre Center in New York, is a model of proportion.


and original application to projectspecifications. As time went on, thegrowth of the firm and evolving tech-nologies required specialists in vari-ous applications and a consultingstructure that managed to maintainthe integrated nature of all aspects ofthe essential technologies with archi-tecture. This brought together manytalented staff members, who have

been the core of the firm for manydecades. Some of have moved on inlife and followed other pursuits; oneexample cited by Auerbach is MikeMcMackin, who was a part of the firmfor 30 years, now resides in Mexico.

One of the most critical additionsto the firm in the late 1970s wasHolly Auerbach, initially providingpart-time support while attending

California College of Arts and, uponcompleting her studies, lending herdesign talent to many projects in theconceptual phases during the forma-tive years. Later, she became execu-tive director and CFO of the firm,serving in these roles for more than35 years. The marketing and busi-ness structure of her tenure contin-ues as the foundation of the firm’s

The Conference Center for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints represents one of the firm’s most massive projects.

Photo: Timothy Hursley

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success, Auerbach notes.Steve Pollock, now a consulting

principal with the firm, says that in theearly 1980s, he was living in NewYork, working as lighting designer inregional theatre and Off Broadway,and also for special events such asthe centennial celebration of theTennis Hall of Fame in Newport,Rhode Island; he supplemented these

projects with a day job as technicaleditor for Theatre Crafts and LightingDimensions magazines.

“I was in San Francisco duringThanksgiving, 1984, interviewing Lenfor a story about the Ordway MusicTheater,” Pollock says. The 1,900-seat Ordway Music Theater, in St.Paul, Minnesota, was a major venueof its type in the 1980s. “We had

such a good interview that we agreedto meet a few months later, at USITT.Then I decided, with my girlfriend—towhom I’ve now been married 32years—to move to California. Lensaid, ‘When you come here, you canstart with us.’ I started working forthe firm in August 1985. The firstproject I had a hand in was the YerbaBuena Center for the Arts.” It was a

Santa Fe Opera is a good example of the firm’s work designing outdoor performance spaces.

Photo: Robert Reck


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hometown project, and, again, a sig-nificant one. Yerba Buena Center forthe Arts, Galleries, and Forum is amulti-use community art exhibit facili-ty in downtown San Francisco; a littlemore than a decade after opening forbusiness, the firm was working on abroad variety of projects.

Pollock continues, “In our kickoffwork session at Polshek andPartners [now Ennead, Yerba Buena’sarchitects], Len asked me to workwith him and, after three days work-ing at drawing tables in Polshek’soffice, we laid out theatre plans andsections, all hand-drawn. I remember,

after one particular meeting—I wasworking side-by-side with Len, whichwas incredible training—he turned tome and said, ‘Whether you know it ornot, this project has been going onfor 12 years.’ I learned early: Thisbusiness can humble you.”

Pollock adds that another signifi-

The Windhover Contemplative Center at Stanford University, an Auerbach Glasow project, is a spiritual refuge, featuring a series ofmeditative paintings by Nathan Oliveira. The lighting is carefully integrated to bring focus to the art.

Photo: Matthew M

illman


cant project at the time was the AllenElizabethan Theatre at OregonShakespeare Festival. The companyhas been around since 1935 and theAllen, an outdoor theatre, was its firstvenue. Pollock and Auerbach workedwith the festival’s designer, RichardHay, with whom Auerbach first col-laborated at the Guthrie, designingprojections for The Resistible Rise ofArturo Ui. They came up with a1,200-seat, multi-level paviliondesigned to meet with the existinghistoric Elizabethan theatre structure.“We began work on the day the sea-son was struck, and we were readyfor opening day of the next season,”Pollock says, recounting a schedulethat was daunting in its narrow timeframe.

Another project cited by Pollockshows the firm’s ability to managecomplex, prestigious projects: TheUS Capitol Visitor Center, whichevolved over the course of two presi-dential administrations. The firm col-laborated with RTKL Associates, thearchitects, on the organization andlayout of the Visitor Center’s two250-seat orientation theatres and450-seat Congressional Theatre,

designed for joint sessions ofCongress and special Library ofCongress screenings. It is configuredas the Capitol’s primary venue formedia-intensive governmental ses-sions; it has a full wall of rear-projec-tion systems, allowing members ofCongress and guests to witness pre-recorded events and real-time livevideo presentations. It goes withoutsaying that only a highly respectedfirm would be entrusted with such asensitive, high-profile project.

Adding architectural lighting to the mixPatricia Glasow, who came onboardbefore Pollock, represents anotherside of the Auerbach organization, asshe is the firm’s executive vice-presi-dent and the principal in charge ofAuerbach Glasow, which specializesin architectural lighting design.Trained as a theatre lighting designer,she worked for Strand CenturyLighting and had completed a stintwith WED Enterprises, working ontheatrical and architectural lighting forEPCOT Center and providing fieldsupervision at Disneyland’sFantasyland, before joining Auerbach

in 1984. “I was the first person hiredspecifically as an architectural lightingdesigner,” she says. “That was thebig step that Len took, in creating anarchitectural lighting department.”

From the beginning, Glasowworked exclusively on architecturallighting projects, including, early on,the San Jose Convention Center, andthe British Columbia pavilion, one ofseveral with which the firm wasinvolved at Expo 86 in Vancouver,British Columbia. She notes, “Lenalready had contacts with architects,and my job was really about attend-ing to those clients and helping togrow that part of the business.” Sheadds that the company’s project port-folio was, from the get-go, “prettybroad. I think people are attracted tous because of our specialty compo-nent. I tell my clients, ‘If it’s lighting,we do it’.” She adds, laughing, “Idon’t know what we don’t do—except for prisons, which is fine withme!”

She isn’t exaggerating. A quickperusal of Auerbach Glasow’s projectlist includes corporate headquarters,retail venues, churches, theme enter-tainment, hotels, museums, and edu-

An Auerbach favorite, San Francisco’s SoundBox is a state-of-the-art venue for all types of new music.

Photo: Stefan Cohen

cational institutions. “One of myrecent favorite projects was theLighthouse for the Blind and VisuallyImpaired here in San Francisco,which we designed with architectsMark Cavagnero Associates.” shesays. “You might wonder why theyneeded a lighting designer, but over90% of their clients, and also thepeople who work there, have somelevel of vision and perception of light.We worked closely with the executivedirector, and the committee he put

together, demonstrating lighting tech-niques and doing mock-ups of equip-ment to understand their level of visu-al perception. It was a very intimategetting-to-know-your-client experi-ence, but there was no way we couldhave done it by ourselves. It’s one ofthe few organizations for the blindthat is run by the visually impaired; itincludes meeting rooms, readingrooms, lounges, a conference center,and dormitories where people canstay when participating in training.”

The integration of AuerbachGlasow with Auerbach PollockFriedlander (APF) is seamless,Glasow adds. “We’re in the sameoffice; we sit next to the theatre staff.Sometimes we’re doing multiple proj-ects together and sometimes not atall. Sometimes, Steve [Pollock] willcome to us with a theatre project.Then again, I had a high-tech corpo-rate client who wanted a mechanized,segmented conference table that roseout of the floor. We brought Len in


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Photo: Jeff Goldberg/Esto

Judy and Arthur Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall helped to kick off two decades of high-profile New York projects for the firm.


and he designed it. It’s very synergis-tic.” Pollock adds, “We’re colleagues:It’s not the theatre people and thelighting people.”

Branching out: the New York officeSteve Friedlander, the last of thename partners, joined the organiza-tion in 1994, a move that resulted inthe opening of a New York office. “Ihad left Artec, where I had been forsix years, and was running my ownfirm, SFA,” he says. “I met up withLen at a conference, and he askedme if I wanted to go out to SanFrancisco. It was an intriguing idea,but I had incorporated a few monthsbefore that, and I wanted to give it ago on my own. About a year later, wedid a joint project together forCelebrity Cruises, and that was thebeginning of the New York office ofAuerbach Pollock Friedlander.”

Like the others, Friedlander trainedas a lighting designer and hadworked extensively in regional operaand ballet, yet felt the need for a newchallenge. “I was making a living, butI was doing the same thing a lot andit wasn’t satisfying. Artec had a greatteam—and I worked on projects likeTampa Bay Performing Arts Center,the Meyerson Symphony Center [inDallas], and the ICC Birmingham [inthe UK]—but I was a theatre consult-ant working at an acoustics firm, and,despite the fact that the work therewas very good, I decided to set outon my own. I’m a firm believer that ifyou do good work, you can get more;joining Len, with his reputation andconnection to architects in New York,really helped.”

Friedlander cites Zankel Hall as anearly milestone for him. Replacing thecinema in the basement of CarnegieHall, Judy and Arthur Zankel Hall,was done in collaboration withPolshek Partnership Architects andacousticians Jaffe Holden. In additionto dealing with theatre design, rig-ging, lighting, and the flexible seatingarrangement, Auerbach Pollock

Friedlander worked on the sound-reinforcement, playback, and videoand communications systems in thisflexible space; it also developed asystem that isolated the mechanizedrigging elements from the main halldirectly above. Auerbach Glasowdesigned the architectural lighting forZankel Hall, integrating newly devel-oped light pipe technology into theinterior wall materials and imbeddedsources. This is an excellent exampleof the New York and San Franciscooffices being highly integrated on asingle project.

Zankel Hall began a 20-year periodin which APF worked on a number ofimportant New York projects, includ-ing the Richard B. Fisher Building atBrooklyn Academy of Music, theDrama Division Studio at the JuilliardSchool, a significant upgrade to thepublic spaces at The Public Theater,and the Pershing Square SignatureTheatre Center, an ambitious, three-theatre venue developed with thearchitect Frank Gehry. The latter isone of the most vital additions inyears to New York’s Theatre District.One of the spaces—the Alice GriffinJewel Box Theatre—is one of themost perfectly proportioned play-houses in the city.

Along with Steve Friedlander join-ing the firm, Paul Garrity, an estab-lished production sound and systemsdesigner, who previously practicedwith Steve Friedlander, also cameonboard. “Paul is always at the cut-ting edge of audio design and hasdeveloped highly sophisticated audioand projection systems for manyaward-winning projects,” Auerbachsays. “His talent as a production andsound systems designer was heavilyapplied to the Zankel project and pro-vided an opportunity to expand thisaspect of the firm. His close workwith clients, such as Cirque du Soleil,in creating aural experiences in non-conventional environments has hadoutstanding success.”

Garrity, as principal in charge ofthe audio-video consulting group, has

brought in a team of colleagues overthe years that, Auerbach says, is unri-valed. Together with Dan Mei and KenFause, the team’s breadth includessound reinforcement, productionsound, multi-dimensional aural plane-tarium experiences, and broadcaststudio design.

New projects, new mar-kets, a new generationAPF has continued to evolve with theindustry. Tom Neville, a principal ofthe firm who runs the smallMinneapolis office, was working asproduction manager at BerkeleyRepertory Theatre when the firm col-laborated with ELS Architects on thedesign for BRT’s new Roda Theatre, aproject that was completed in 2001.(Auerbach has had a long history withBerkeley Rep, having consulted on itsthrust stage in 1980.) By then, Nevillewas onboard at APF, working as proj-ect manager for the Latter-day SaintsConference Center in Salt Lake City.“Due to its scope and size, it wasessentially my only project from June1996 until April 2000,” he says.

This was indeed a massiveendeavor, involving the participationof a broad, specialized team, andwith Auerbach leading the design.The project consists of a 21,000-seatauditorium, making it one of theworld’s largest indoor conferencespaces and a 911-seat prosceniumtheatre. The center is designed to lastfor 150 years, with an infrastructurethat can accommodate the latesttechnology throughout its lifetimewith a framework of data distribution,power, structural systems, an acces-sible service tunnel network and ahigh-definition television studio.Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnershipwas the architect of record, GillesStransky Brems Smith the consultingarchitects, and Jaffe Holden theacoustics consultants. AuerbachGlasow was the architectural lightingdesigner for all the interior and exteri-or public spaces.

Work on the LDS Conference


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Center led to another exciting project:the Salt Lake Tabernacle for theChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-daySaints. Built in 1867, it was in need ofrenovation to meet current seismicstandards for earthquakes in the SaltLake City region. Application of 21st-century theatrical systems had to beintegrated into the existing buildingwith minimal impact on the historicinterior. The building is home to theMormon Tabernacle Choir, and Musicand the Spoken Word, the longestcontinuously running radio program inthe US; it hosts more than 500 eventsannually. APF was asked to design aflexible infrastructure to accommo-date general conferences, stake con-ferences, a large orchestra, choir, andreduced-sized orchestra performanc-es. FFKR was the architect andKirkegaard Associates consulted onthe acoustics.

APF continues to have a long andsuccessful relationship with Cirque duSoleil in Vegas and abroad. At thebehest of MGM Resorts, LenAuerbach was invited to serve as the-atre consultant for the ZumanityTheatre at New York New York Hoteland Casino, the success of which ledto an ongoing relationship. Each ofCDS’ entertainment venues hasrequired dedicated theatre spaces,and the firm has been extremelyinventive in designing venues thataccommodate each production’shigh-production-values requirements.Arguably the most spectacular is thevenue for KÀ, at MGM Grand Hoteland Casino. This is the extravaganzawith a stage deck that moves in vari-ous directions, among other wonder-ments. APF developed criteria andcoordinated the theatrical systemsinfrastructure within the building toachieve independent and reliableoperation. Under Neville’s manage-ment, this included developing aninfrastructure of sophisticated stagemachinery and mechanized elements,controlled by a sophisticated automa-tion system. In addition, Garritydesigned extensive production-spe-

cific sound, video, and productioncommunication systems for thespace. (Marnell Corrao Associateswas the architect and Pelton MarshKinsella the acoustician.)

Far more intimate, but no lesschallenging, was APF’s work on TheBeatles LOVE, the Cirque du Soleilentertainment at MGM Mirage. One ofthe production’s talking points wasthe use of newly remastered versions(by Sir George Martin) of classicBeatles recordings. Working withCirque’s audio staff and JonathanDeans, the production’s sounddesigner, APF designed the extensivesound, video, and production com-munications systems. The challengeof designing a 360° show involvedcreating hidden arrays; the surround-sound system required the placementof more than 280 primary and sur-round loudspeakers throughout theauditorium, with more than 2,000custom personal loudspeakersinstalled in the audience seating. (Inthis case, Marnell Corrao was thearchitect and Jaffe Holden theacoustician.)

Interestingly, however, when askedabout his most important projects,Neville cites “the new high schoolauditoriums, which many school dis-tricts have constructed over theyears. Watching a high-school stu-dent who performed or worked in a‘gym-auditorium’ move into an actualtheatre with all of the best equipment,gives me a great sense of satisfactionand hope.”

Future thinkingNeville’s comment about young peo-ple is also a reflection of the firm’sintensive engagement with the indus-try and larger world. Everyone inter-viewed for this piece belongs to theexpected industry associations andmany of them are involved in educa-tion. Auerbach has taught and/or lec-tured at Carnegie Mellon, Harvard’sGraduate School of Design,University of California at Berkeley,and various professional organiza-

tions. Glasow is a trustee of theRobert Bruce Thompson StudentLight Fixture Design Competition andhas spoken at panels produced bythe Illuminating Engineering Society,American Institute of Architects, andothers. Pollock is the former architec-ture editor of TD&T, published byUSITT, and has contributed to manyindustry publications, including thisone. Friedlander serves on the Dean’sAdvisory Board of Boston University’sCollege of Fine Arts, and has lecturedat Yale University, for the BritishSociety of Theatre Consultants, andelsewhere. Auerbach is a fellow, pastpresident, and founding member ofthe American Society of TheatreConsultants.

Also, Auerbach notes, while con-sulting on Carnegie Mellon’s PurnellCenter, he says, “I was poked, byMartin Prekop, then the dean, todonate to the capital campaign. I did-n’t want a plaque on one of therooms, but I wanted to help sponsora theatre architecture curriculum somy academic experience could berealized by others. This fostered thetheatre architecture program, a jointeffort between the school of architec-ture and drama department, thatbegin in 2001. I was awarded theFitzGibbon Chair in Architecture in2003 and have been participatingwith this studio ever since.

“The CMU theatre architecture stu-dio engages upper-class and gradu-ate students from architecture,drama, arts management, and otherdisciplines in teamed practical proj-ects for active arts organizations invarious cities, nationally and interna-tionally. The quality of the studentwork rivals some of the highest-levelprofessional firms. The program is ledby CMU faculty: Dick Block, fromdrama, and Hal Hayes, from architec-ture.”

There is much more to theAuerbach PollockFriedlander/Auerbach Glasow story,not least its ongoing work with univer-sities, major symphony orchestras,


opera companies, regional theatres,popular entertainment venues, inti-mate community theatres, museums,civic buildings, and commercial enti-ties. Add to that the Belgian stagingmaestro Franco Dragone, who is cur-rently putting on major spectacles inChina and the Middle East. Auerbachsays, “The recent advancement ofRob Hill to principal in charge of ourDragone projects in China is a testa-ment to gaining client confidence andbuilding strong relationship on com-plex international projects.”

Friedlander notes that cruise ships(a market that has been rather dor-mant in the last few years) are comingback, and APF, which has done manyentertainment spaces for RoyalCaribbean, is likely to be part of themix. Neville, asked about upcomingprojects, says, “Non-disclosure

agreements preclude me fromanswering this question with anyspecificity, but I can assure you ofone thing: You will always findAuerbach Pollock Friedlander at therazor-sharp intersection betweentechnology and entertainment.”

Auberbach finds it difficult to pointout any favorite projects, but pointsto two recent San Francisco projects:SF SoundBox and SFJAZZ Center.The former is an experimental musicperformance space, a flexible conver-sion of a very large rehearsal room atthe rear of Davies Symphony Hall,which serves as San FranciscoSymphony’s tool for new works. Thelatter is the first stand-alone structurein the country built for jazz perform-ances, the result of close collabora-tion with the architect, MarkCavagnero, and Randall Kline, the

founder of SFJAZZ. “It is magic themoment you walk in and the first noteis struck,” Auerbach says. “The entirecompany celebrated its 45th anniver-sary at a SFJAZZ performance.”

By way of conclusion, Auerbachsays, “After 45 years and 2,000-plusprojects in 29 countries, 380-plusawards, and creating 200-plus jobsfor people, the part that makes youwant to come to work each day is thepeople. Everyone is very special. Weare a very diverse and vibrant group,with staff from all over the world withyoung minds and upcoming talentjoining the firm. With respect to ourclients, we share our passion for the-atre, architecture, lighting, art, andtechnology with a spirit of enthusiasmand commitment. I wouldn’t give thatup for anything!”

KÀ, the Cirque du Soleil extravaganza at MGM Hotel and Casino, is one of many CDS attractions to feature a dedicated theatredesigned by APF.

Photo: Tomas M

uscionico/Cirque du Soleil

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