Projection Design
A Hundred Years On
Direction Tazewell Thompson
Costumes Millie Hiibel
Projections Team
Associate Desmond Wiley
Projectionist Nick Wyant│Kevin Hackenberg
The Mann Center-The Philadelphia Orchestra 2026
I carried into the oratorio my bias against mixing classical music with pictures. At first I tried to look away from the projections, but gradually found that they made the piece a more complete experience. Boyer’s gorgeous music suggests an aerial view of the exhibition? The projections showed us one. Campbell’s lyrics gave voice to human beings, and the projections showed us what they saw — cannons, the first telephone. What really got me was when the oratorio got to the titanic Corliss steam engine that powered the fair’s machinery hall, turned on at the start of the fair by President Ulysses Grant and the visiting emperor from Brazil, Dom Pedro. The projections did a Ken Burns-style climb up a photograph of the 45-foot-tall engine.. John McWhorter The New York Times
One visually surreal moment translated into a section rich in implications: The disembodied arm of the still-unfinished Statue of Liberty invited visitors to explore the insides of her torch. Video projections designed by Rasean Davonté Johnson lifted and animated images usually seen in vintage photographs in ways that took you deep into that era. Virtually, you were there. David Patrick Sterns The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Photos by Rasean Davonte Johnson and Chris Lee