Many years ago I first met Van Allen Rice at a closed elementary school, I think it was in Levittown, Long Island. Myself and Ray Howell, were answering an add for scenic carpenters, painters & lighting techs for a new dinner theatre. We were hired on the spot, maybe because we had tools with us. Van's partner, I do not recall his name was handling the dinner theatre, some kind of an actor / director. Sometime down the road he bailed to be in a movie and never returned. Anyway, Van was putting together a scene shop somewhere and Ray and myself were building a set for a show, plus hanging lights and curtains. Eventually we got away from the abandoned school and found the scene shop. There we met Brian, Tommy and Garret, Tommy was out of his mind in a good way. Apparently Van had a lot of contacts in the music industry I know I am not going to get everything in the right order, after all this was 1974 and nothing was written down. First were sets for some soul, funk bands; Brass Construction, Slave, TriLion, The Manhattans. Somehow we got the set for Todd Rundgren's Utopia Ra Tour, the year I really do not recall what year. Then a ridiculous amount of different size mirror balls and a mirrored parabola for the Blue Oyster Cults laser light show.
A new fad was starting up in the music scene and there was a new dance club opening in New York City, Bestek landed quite a contract there doing all the scenic and rigging there. The owners of the club took over an old CBS TV Studio on 54th Street and spent about a year turning it into Studio 54. This place was beyond amazing, every night the club had a different look.
I stayed working for Bestek through 1980. In six years I watched the company grow from doing dinner theatre to creating all the effects in the worlds biggest Disco. I have much admiration for Van Allen Rice he taught me a lot, for that I am thankful. In the industry I became a respected touring rigger. Today I am 71 years old and recently retired. read more