| NEWS 04.17.08 1:26 PM |
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| Yankee Stadium Prepares Quickly for Short Papal Mass |
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FROM NEW YORKPope Benedict XVI makes his way to New York tomorrow morning as a part of the second leg of his first papal visit to the States. Much of his rigorous schedule is being produced by Stig Edgren, president of Los Angeles-based SEG Events, who has spearheaded the Ground Zero visit, the event at St. Joseph’s Seminary, and Sunday’s public Mass at Yankee Stadium.
Edgren has a history of working with pontiffs. He produced three papal Masses for John Paul II during his seven trips to the U.S., including the Central Park services in 1995. The Mass at Yankee Stadium will be celebrated just in time, as the facility will be shuttered at the end of the current baseball season. The honor of a papal visit had previously gone to the Mets, when John Paul II visited Shea Stadium in 1979.
All of the details that have gone into the Mass in the Bronx seem to hinge on time. In the midst of baseball season, there is only a 48-hour window for the construction and dismantling of the stage created by production designer Rene Lagler, and the relatively short service requires communion to be distributed to 57,000 people in less than 15 minutes, according to The New York Times. There’s even a specific 10-minute slot (2:10 to 2:20 p.m.) set aside for the "popemobile" (a bullet-proof, glass-encased vehicle) to make a lap around the diamond. A rehearsal was held yesterday to ensure that the plan is followed as closely as possible.
A host of musical acts, headlined by Harry Connick Jr., will precede the Mass, including a processional piece scored by Benoit Jutras, musical director and principal composer for Cirque du Soleil. The vigilant papal bloggers at Pope 2008 have all of the service details, including a full schedule of the spectacle, renderings of the stage, a photo of the ticket, and a long list of items attendees should not expect to get past the tight security.
Earlier this week, Pope Benedict arrived in the nation’s capital, where he met with the president, celebrated his 81st birthday, and delivered another ballpark mass. Our D.C. bureau chatted with Lauren Beegal, operations manager of destination management and event planning company GEP Washington, about the details and hazards of producing the Pope's Washington visit.
—Michael O'Connell
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