Their ancestors lit the fuse — while today’s generation carries the torch.
The Souza family, who have owned and operated one of the nation’s top firework display companies, Pyro Spectaculars, since 1979, is booked and busy for America’s 250th birthday.
The prominent five-generation fireworks family from Southern California traces its roots to patriarch Manuel de Sousa, who immigrated from Portugal to the San Francisco Bay Area more than a century ago (the family later Americanized its surname) — and was considered a titan of the niche industry by the early 1900s.
This Fourth of July, the company will produce a staggering 326 fireworks displays nationwide, including shows at iconic landmarks such as South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore National Memorial and San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.
Perhaps the most explosive event on the Souzas’ busiest day of the year is the 50th annual Macy’s 4th of July fireworks show in NYC, which the company, headquartered in Rialto, has helped produce for over 40 years, according to a Macy’s rep. The show will include displays at New York Harbor (near the Statue of Liberty) and the Brooklyn Bridge.
Gary Souza, the show’s designer, told The Post that working on the Macy’s show is “especially meaningful” — it’s involved “multiple generations of (his) family” over the years.
“I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside family members who helped build this tradition before me, and today I’m working with the next generation as we continue that legacy together,” said Souza, who has contributed to the show himself for the past 43 years. “That family connection, combined with our longstanding partnership with Macy’s, makes being part of this celebration incredibly special year after year.”
Last year’s NYC shindig featured an impressive 80,000 shells that were launched from four barges on the East River, along with an art show projected on the Brooklyn Bridge.
“Thank you, Macy’s, every year for what you do. I’m crying. Yes. I’m crying. This is New York City. This doesn’t happen this way, anywhere else,” Brooklyn resident Maribel Abreu, 54, told The Post last year, fighting back tears as she stood at South Street Seaport’s Pier 17.
This year’s bash is prepared to be the biggest and best yet in honor of the nation’s semiquincentennial.
Tomorrow night’s celebration will be shown on NBC and Peacock from 8-10 p.m. EST (the actual fireworks will begin to be set off at 9:25 p.m. EST) and is estimated to accrue 2 million live viewers, per Macy’s executive producer Will Coss. And this year, they’re upping the ante even further, launching 85,000 shells in 30 vibrant shades from four barges on the East River, with two additional barges on the Hudson.
Show designer Souza added that preparing for this milestone started with planning more than a year in advance and will utilize 75 licensed pyrotechnicians, who’ve spent the past two weeks loading the shells, installing equipment and preparing firing positions.
“Every shell, effect and visual flourish is digitally choreographed months in advance during our pre-visualization stage…Every burst, color change and effect occurs at a precise moment,” Souza said, emphasizing that the company’s experienced crews monitor conditions the execution goes “safely and precisely.”
Viewers can look forward to color-changing Ghost Shells, Atomic Rings, Fuchsia Crossettes, Purple Butterflies and the brand’s Pastel Pillar Mines, which change color four times vertically and four times horizontally. Other special effects will include a waving American flag (with this one taking place from the Brooklyn Bridge locale).
A laser show on the Brooklyn Bridge will also fan the flames of the holiday festivities, which will be accompanied by a 27-minute specially designed musical score by Grammy and Emmy Award winner Jason Howland, featuring musical hits from 1976 (the country’s bicentennial anniversary) and beyond.
“We are proud to celebrate our 50th anniversary with a once-in-a-generation experience filled with emotional storytelling and signature spectacle to connect millions of people nationwide,” Sharon Otterman, chief marketing officer for Macy’s, said in a statement.
“America’s 250th birthday is a once-in-a-generation moment, and we are honored to help the entire nation celebrate it in the sky,” Michael Ingram, the president of Pyro Spectaculars, said in a company press release. “Producing 326 shows from coast to coast is an extraordinary undertaking, and there is no greater privilege than telling the story of America’s independence through the art of fireworks.”
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