Q & A -- Getting ready for the big bang

It’s the biggest show of the year in Newport Beach.

The Newport Dunes fireworks on the Fourth of July draw thousands and

thousands of people for a 20-odd minute spectacular to celebrate the

nation’s birthday.

But there’s more to it than just a half-hour of bright lights and loud

bangs, as Dunes General Manager Andrew Theodorou can attest. There’s even

more than the limbo dances, the volleyball tournament and the carnival.

Weeks of intense preparation lead up to the big night. And during the

show itself, Dunes workers don’t get much time to enjoy what’s going on

over head.

But everyone else does. And that’s the point.

Taking time out from these busy days, Theodorou -- who has been in the

hotel business for almost 30 years, about 2 1/2 with the Dunes -- sat

down with Pilot Senior City Editor S.J. Cahn to discuss the Dunes’ annual

Fourth of July tradition.

First, a little history: When did the Dunes start its fireworks

show and how has it changed over the years?

It’s our 43rd annual fireworks show. It’s obviously grown over the

years, and it’s now very recognized in the community. The city is a

co-sponsor. And, importantly, it’s a family event. We don’t allow alcohol

on the beach, to encourage that.

What is the most spectacular moment of the show?

There’s the big finale. [The show] will probably go 20 to 22 minutes.

The finale is pretty spectacular.

Surrounding our resort, there’s a lot of people on the cliffs, on the

highway, so the final has got to be pretty spectacular.

What is planned for this year?

There’ll be a lot of activities on the beach.

It starts early, it starts at 10 o’clock, and we’ll have activities

through the day.

A lot of the stuff is for the RV park guests. We do a parade

throughout the park that’s for them.

There are a lot of people on the property. They barbecue, there’s a DJ

throughout the day.

We’ll have Uncle Sam and our mascot, Moby Dunes, walking around. How’s

that? He’s our famous whale.

There’s volleyball every year -- the carnival games, the face

painting. The limbo contest is something we’ve started recently. The hula

hoop [contest] is something we started a few years ago.

Where do all the fireworks come from and how long does it take to

plan and then to actually set it up?

Preparation takes a number of weeks. We have a team of over 200 staff

members, and we work with Pyro Spectacular.

They’re very popular. They do the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in

New York. They do a lot of pop [music] shows, a lot of theme parks -- Six

Flags. They did the Statue of Liberty Centennial, that was them.

We expect between 11,000 and 15,000 people on the property. There’s a

lot of security, parking and crowd control. There’s a lot of

coordination. There’s a lot of meetings.

The fire department is involved, of course. We’re obviously very

safety conscientious.

What’s the most difficult part of getting the fireworks show

together?

It hasn’t really been difficult because we’ve been doing it for so

many years. I can’t say. It’s just the general stuff.

How busy do you get in the final days before it goes off?

We have a lot of activities on the beach on the Fourth of July.

There’s a lot to coordinate. And we have the RV side.

It’s the single busiest day of the year for us, yes. Everybody

basically works, and we have a full staff on duty.

[On the Fourth} we’re very, very busy. We make sure things go without

any glitches. We make sure it’s perfected.

When it’s over, we concentrate on the crowd, and how to get all those

people out of here.

And, finally, what’s your favorite firework?

The kaleidoscope. The palm trees. The Roman candles. Those types of

things.

BIO

NAME: Andrew Theodorou

AGE: 49

BIRTHPLACE: England

FAMILY: Wife, two children

POSITION: General manager, Newport Dunes

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Member, executive board of the Newport Beach

Conference and Visitors Bureau; member, Newport Harbor Area Chamber of

Commerce