Cathy, you’re a firework: Behind the scenes of the annual Homecoming laser and fireworks show

The most famous part of Pitt’s annual Homecoming Laser and Fireworks Show — a laser-made panther climbing the Cathedral of Learning — began as an accident.

According to Tom Misuraca, assistant director of student life, the laser company at the time planned to project an animated panther walking across the screen that runs across the Forbes Avenue side of Bigelow Boulevard.

“For some reason they had turned it in the computer 90 degrees, and they held up a big mirror at the laser and bounced it on the Cathedral and said, ‘Hey Tom, look at this.’ And they just took the mirror and made [the panther] go up and down by hand,” Misuraca said.

Everyone loved the animation, so Misuraca and company kept it. Sponsored and paid for by Pitt Program Council, the Homecoming Laser and Fireworks Show has been an annual event for the last 20 years. As he’s in charge of PPC, Misuraca coordinates the show.

While this year’s show is already mapped out, planning for next year’s show begins as early as next week. Misuraca discusses improvements for next year’s show with pyrotechnicians and Bob Turco, the project manager for the shoot.

Then, Misuraca gets music suggestions from students that work with the PPC. He begins editing the music down to shorter segments — it depends on what’s “hot” at the time — to make a 26-minute soundtrack.

After making the soundtrack, Misuraca travels to the Zambelli Fireworks offices in New Castle, Pennsylvania, to meet with a firework choreographer to choose which explosions will happen at each cue and program it into a computer.

“We broadcast out on the street in stereo, using a full concert sound system, but we need to have four tracks,” Misuraca added of the show’s audio components. “In a 26-minute show, we will fire about 2,500 shots, so it’s a big show.”

No other university does anything like this for any celebration, especially homecoming, according to Misuraca.

And there has always been some sort of big Homecoming to-do throughout the years: In the ’60s and ’70s, it was a parade float design contest and a formal dance with live music; in the ’80s, it was the Carnival in the Quad, where students voted for the king and queen and participated in a keg roll. The current Homecoming show, first implemented in 1990, is the only tradition that survived.

The light show has gone on for 26 years, but no one thought it was possible to shoot fireworks from the Cathedral, according to Misuraca.  Getting the fireworks onto the Cathedral could be the easiest part — all they do is walk them out of doors and windows and set them out.

Although it would seem like the best view would be from the Cathedral, Misuraca argued that the best spot is down on the ground where the action happens.

“I always tell people, if you didn’t see it from the streets, you didn’t even see the show,” he said.