Empire and Partners Salute Our Heroes

May 2020. New York City, Long Island, New Jersey, Westchester

Empire, alongside their trusted partners and vendors, created a mobile Illuminate Our Heroes experience at the doorstep of hospitals in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Yonkers, New Jersey and Long Island to recognize the many individuals serving at the frontlines of the COVID-19 response effort.

Beginning May 11, in honor of National Hospital Week, the tour was a means to deliver frontline workers a much-needed boost and a message of support from New York’s live events, entertainment and production community. The interactive 15 minute multimedia show thanked frontline workers for their dedication and sacrifice during this crisis, playing all-time favorites like, “Here Comes the Sun", and “New York, New York".

Upon special request, Empire arranged an intimate performance by America’s Got Talent Golden Buzzer & The Apollo Theater’s Grand Prize Winner Christian Guardino, who delighted essential workers at Mather and Stony Brook University Hospitals with his renditions of “Rise Up” by Andra Day, “New York State of Mind” by Billy Joel, and “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey.

“In a time when our live entertainment & event industries have been so deeply affected, we know that our ability to recover quickly and bounce back is largely thanks to the heroic efforts of frontline workers. Empire and our partners have come together to deploy our production capabilities to show our gratitude to the heroes that come together every day to protect us”, said Matt Stevenson, Empire’s SVP of Production.

Stops included St. Joseph’s Wayne Medical Center in Wayne, New Jersey; Bergen New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus, New Jersey; NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi in the Bronx; BronxCare Hospital Center in the Bronx; NYU Langone Sunset Park and University Hospital of Brooklyn; SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn; NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst in Queens; St. John’s Riverside Hospital in Yonkers; NYU Langone Health: Tisch Hospital; Kimmel Pavilion & Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital in Manhattan; NYU Winthrop in Long Island; Mather Hospital in Port Jefferson, Long Island; and Stony Brook University Hospital in Stony Brook, Long Island.

We couldn’t have been more moved by the spirit of our heroes throughout this experience. Thank you to everyone involved in making this possible, including a special thanks to our partners: AVS Production Group, 4Wall Entertainment, Aggreko, Boum Creative, AV Trucking, and BNW Rigging.

Empire is a leading producer of live experiences. We strive to deliver the same high production value, immersive and interactive qualities we are known for in live events to virtual audiences.

Please contact us for more information on Virtual or Socially Distant Events.