USA - City Theatrical founder Gary Fails has been recognised as the recipient of ESTA’s 2025 Lifetime Technical Achievement Award. This award was presented by ESTA executive director Erin Grabe at ESTA’s AGM at the Hilton Columbus Downtown Hotel in Columbus, Ohio. The event was scheduled two hours before doors opened at Columbus Convention Center for the first day of the USITT Annual Conference & Stage Expo 2025.
“I am truly humbled to be selected for this award, and it makes me reflect on my 53-year career in entertainment lighting,” said Gary Fails. “When I decided to go into manufacturing, we signed up for the ESTA membership, marketed to their member lists, and the ESTA dealer members became City Theatrical distributors, which City Theatrical still does business with today.
“I have a lot of respect for what Erin Grabe and her team at ESTA continue to do to grow ESTA for the future of our industry, and always look forward to what they come up with next. I appreciate their contributions to the growth of City Theatrical, our industry as a whole, and my own career. Thank you!”
ESTA’s 2025 Lifetime Technical Achievement Award to Gary Fails was presented by Steve Terry, director of standards and industry relations at ETC, and Gary Vilardi, vice-president of sales at City Theatrical. Both presenters celebrated the distinguished contributions of Gary Fails to the entertainment lighting industry over his career, as an innovator, entrepreneur, and industry pioneer.
The event was attended by ESTA’s board of directors and members, as well as colleagues and friends of Gary Fails. Event sponsors included IATSE Local 1, ETC, Harlequin Floors, Reliable Design, and City Theatrical.
Gary Fails founded City Theatrical in 1986 in a South Bronx garage, with the goal of creating innovative lighting products and accessories. City Theatrical invents, manufactures, and customises unique lighting accessories for the entertainment and architectural industries and has offices in Carlstadt, New Jersey and London, England.
Products include the award-winning DMXcat Multi Function Test Tool and Multiverse wireless DMX/RDM systems, QolorFLEX brand of professional LED linear lighting, dimmers and accessories, as well as numerous beam control accessories and hardware solutions. City Theatrical also performs custom manufacturing services and designs and manufactures products on an OEM basis for other lighting manufacturers.
In February 2020, Gary Fails was recognised by The Wally Russell Foundation, to receive their 2020/2021 Lifetime Achievement Award. This award was created in 1992 to celebrate the vision and life of Wally Russell, a true mentor to the industry.
In July 2023, City Theatrical announced the news that the company had been acquired by Environmental Lights. In December 2023, Gary Fails retired from City Theatrical.
Gary Fails is a member of IATSE Local One and an MBA graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. He is married to Broadway actress Terri Klausner.
