cinema

In keeping with the event's cinematic theme, longtime Target partner David Stark Design and Production created a movie palace marquee on the exterior of Terminal 5. A gobo of the Target logo was also projected onto the façade of an adjacent building.

The main hallway of the Midtown West concert hall venue was redesigned with red carpet running the entire length of the passageway and floor-to-ceiling chocolate brown drapes punctuated by red up-lights. With five chandeliers hanging overhead, the hallway led to a red carpet and step-and-repeat where V.I.P. guests were photographed and interviewed.

On top of the event's bars sat oversize popcorn containers filled to the brim with real popcorn.

Two Target bull's-eye rugs, each 15 feet in diameter, formed the room's focal point. The pieces served as both a visual cue and a strategic cue: They were the field that the aerialists needed clear in order to execute their performance later in the night.

A concession stand distributed three varieties of popcorn, boxes of movie candy, and Target beauty products.

The Target fall style branding was showcased as giant five- by six-foot movie posters surrounded by frames of glowing marquee lights, hung on the walls.

As guests gathered in the main room, special-effect jets shot into the audience and confetti showered the room, announcing the beginning of the performance. Following their high-flying act, the aerialists and drummers joined the crowd for a dance party to keep the energy moving.

An on-stage aerial performance was announced via a kabuki drop of a red curtain that revealed a 32- by 20-foot vertical wall, designed to depict an apartment on its side. Featuring furniture available at Target, aerialists ran, danced, and flipped across the pieces, which were all attached with bolts and had straps hidden within allowing the dancers to grab and secure their footing.

A total of 21 performers (seven aerialists, four dancers on the ground, two aerial drummers, four drummers on the ground, and four performing riggers that were visible and part of the act), all clad in clothing from the Target fall style campaign, entertained the crowd of 400 guests with a series of rapid-fire, high-energy aerial performances.

Using film as his muse, David Stark created graphics for the bar façades, step-and-repeat backdrop, and walls that utilized film cells as windows for imagery and text. Real film even decorated the catering trays that held bites from Olivier Cheng like sweet potato gratin with sage-walnut pesto on cranberry pecan toast.