Recently opened at the end of 2023, the THG team is proud to have collaborated with repeat client National World War II Museum in New Orleans on the Freedom Theater at the Liberation Pavilion. The museum wanted to add a more intimate attraction within a new building on their campus. The new show focuses on the Four Freedoms FDR laid out (Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, Freedom from Fear) and the expanding global role the United States was destined to play in the post-WWII era.

As a ticketed attraction, the need to handle sufficient audience flow directly conflicted with the available space within a new building filled with exhibits and displays. The inspiration came to seat the audience on a turntable, which managed both requirements.

The installation comprises a pre-show area and a three-act show, which presents significant and unique challenges, including a significant amount of lighting, electromechanical and scenic elements packed around the audience.

The 44-foot diameter turntable is split in half, allowing 64 guests seated on one half to view the first of three acts before rotating at the start of Act 2. The show settles into act 3 after rotating 180 degrees. Once there, the other side of the table is loaded with 64 more guests for Act 1. Throughout the entire 20-minute show, moving scenery, shattered buildings, video screens appear and disappear; projection mapping covers walls and ceilings, and rich sound fills each half of the theater. An inflatable, acoustic gasket and double thick walls had to be designed to prevent sound bleed between the two audience groups.