When Magic Leads You to Events

Summary

Stacey Bera, daughter of a professional illusionist who mentored David Copperfield, now executive director of the Miss Arizona organization and owner of The Hazlet event space in North Scottsdale, walks Rachel through 25 years of production lessons. The standout story: a citywide Mesa power outage 20 minutes before showtime with 1,000 people in the Mesa Arts Center, Stacey praying for the lights to come back, then learning the sound operator was missing, allegedly getting high in his car.

Key takeaways

1. The show must go on is a mantra you inherit — Stacey's dad performed 50 years without missing one show, vomiting into a side-stage bucket when sick and walking back to finish. That's the standard she brings to a Miss Arizona crown reveal and her own venue's grand opening.
2. The most stressful moment is the one you have no control over — Mesa's whole power grid went out 20 minutes before showtime. 1,000 ticket holders. No AC, no lights, no curtain. The fix was prayer and 30 minutes of waiting, not a contingency anyone could engineer.
3. The planner picks the pink petals out of the white — Stacey's wedding florals arrived bright pink instead of blush. Her planner Nicole pulled every wrong petal before the bride walked the aisle, because the bride would have refused to walk. Floral terminology is not universal.
4. One rule beats five excuses — Miss Arizona contestants were taking their earrings out for the show after rehearsing with them in, breaking the headset mics. New rule: no earring with a headset mic, no redo for tech issues. The earrings stayed in.
5. A FedEx driver can become a VIP in a single delivery — When Stacey alone faced a truck of tables, the driver said "no, that's my job, I've got my dolly" and unloaded the whole thing. He's invited to the venue's parties now. The people who rise to the occasion are worth their weight in gold.

Transcript

00:00 With over 33 years in the mobile bartending and service industry, he is the guy who brings the party and the joy wherever he goes. She's a seasoned event planner and producer with more than 20 years of experience in sports, corporate, nonprofit, and private events. Together we are Hot Mics, Cold Drinks and Untold Disasters of the wild, hilarious and unforgettable moments in the world of events.

00:27 This is the Event Talk podcast with Dave and Rachel.

00:31 Hi everybody. Welcome to the Event Talk podcast. We are here today with Stacey Bera, who I'm so excited to have here. I technically knew your husband first. You have an event space that's brand new in the Valley. You have a crazy background — producing, on stage, an author, an editor. How did you get to where you are?

01:25 Thank you for having me. My husband, Rich Berra, from 104.7 Kiss FM, the John Jay and Rich show — he thinks I have way too many jobs. I've labeled myself a serial entrepreneur. The big things I'm involved in: I'm the executive director of the Miss Arizona organization, which leads to the Miss America pageant. I've been doing that about 12 years. I decided, why am I always paying other people a premium to hold my events at their space? So I invested in my own — it's in North Scottsdale, called The Hazlet, off of Shea near Fountain Hills.

03:57 Today's mocktail — Poor Masters made a mango lemonade with a lemon garnish, all fresh, Steph made it. Cheers. Welcome to the podcast. I want you guys to come record the live podcast there. Everyone's like, what type of events do you do — weddings. No, that's the last thing I want to say. It's farmers markets, festivals, dog events. I like going into a new experience.

05:35 Rich is also the MC of Miss Arizona. He's so natural on the radio, but when he MCs Miss Arizona he just does not like it because he can hide at the radio. I think he perceives me as technically his boss. Everyone gives him great feedback, but he holds himself to a higher standard because it's my event. Every year I have to beg, borrow, plead.

07:24 25 years of production experience. Biggest lesson — expect the unexpected. Let me give you a peek at the most stressful event I ever produced for Miss Arizona. A super quick backstory — my dad was a professional illusionist, a magician. He was David Copperfield's mentor, they were best friends. I grew up going to David's apartment in New York. I learned my love of performing and the stage from my dad. In 50 years of performing, that man never missed one show. He'd put a bucket on the side of the stage — if he had the stomach flu, run off, vomit, come back. The show must go on was his mantra.

10:00 A few years ago everything's ready, I feel like it's going to be perfect. We're at the Mesa Arts Center. The power goes out — not a little select place, the power in the city of Mesa goes out, and it's a government building. No power, no AC, no lights, no ability to raise the curtain, no sound. An audience of a thousand people ready for a show. That is the scariest thing ever — you realize you have no control. I'm a Christian person, I prayed so hard. We were making contingency plans, everybody come back tomorrow, because even if power comes on it'll be too hot, it was June. Then, miracle of miracles, the power comes back on.

11:51 We're about to do the show and we learn our sound operator is missing. We just avoided a cataclysmic event of 20 minutes with no power. The rumor — I will neither confirm nor deny — was that he was perhaps getting high in his car. Finally we wrangled him back in and did the show. I'm surprised they don't have a backup generator, but the whole city went out.

13:53 About a 30-minute time delay for the power, then the sound guy pushed us another 20. We started probably 50 minutes late. The biggest frustration was getting the power on but still couldn't do the show — that's when there might have been tears. People who were there understood, they were patient.

15:27 People don't realize a lot of stuff leading up. The reason I was late today was an unexpected visit from the city of Scottsdale about our sign permit. Our venue is in an environmentally protected scenic area trying to look like the Sonoran Desert, so our sign must comply — like the turquoise McDonald's arch in Sedona, the only one in the world. Permits, the city has to approve before the state, Board of Health, police, fire, the neighbors, the HOA Karens. We've got people with too much time on their hands complaining.

18:33 Funny things behind the scenes. From dancing I had two dances back to back, off the stage 30 seconds before the dance ended, quick change, different hairstyle. It's all smoke and mirrors. I was my dad's female assistant once — I had to come on in bare feet, my shoelace wouldn't come off, a knot. My dad's on stage waiting. He bends down, picks up a piece of lint, looks at it, hands it to the male assistant — that's their way of stalling — while someone backstage broke my lace off. I finally raced on and we did the illusion.

20:54 A floral delivery where times got mixed up — the event was starting as the florals were delivered. All hands on deck, within five minutes every single person took a floral and set it up. That happens almost more often than it going smoothly. The only time an event went really smoothly was Rich and my wedding — Nicole was the planner, I'm sure she was pulling her hair out behind the scenes but I didn't see it.

21:38 The florist story — I'm a perfectionist, I wanted a perfect peachy pink blush color. The florals arrived with bright pink petals for the aisle. Nicole told the florist, we need to pick out every single one of these bright pink petals mixed in with the white, because if she sees that she will not walk down the aisle. They picked them out, it ended up only white. In their heads pink was the same as blush. It was not.

23:46 Miss Arizona — microphone issues. Girls sing with a headset mic and wear big earrings, the earrings and mics interfere. We made a rule: you cannot wear an earring with a headset mic. If you break the rule, no redo for tech issues. We've had girls go through rehearsal with the earrings and take them out for the show. Like Miss Congeniality — she was supposed to play the cups, the girls drank all the water, so she did self-defense and flipped her partner because she was FBI.

26:39 Contractor issues — the amount of times we order candlesticks or decor and it's either wrong or broken happens constantly, local delivery. We were going to have our grand opening this month, it's delayed a month because shipments keep getting delayed or arrive broken. One was priceless — the trucking company called and said, do you have a lift and people to take it off the truck? I'm not the delivery guy, I paid for someone to deliver it. People assume shipping includes the whole process.

29:18 Last time we ordered tables, different company, the FedEx guy shows up. I had my same conversation — it's just me here. He was so nice: "no, that's my job, don't worry, I've got my dolly, I've got my lift." This guy is now VIP and coming to the party. People rising to the occasion and doing the job you expect is worth its weight in gold. As a planner I make expectations minimal then over-deliver. Like in our book — they expect us to bartend, then help with food, clean the bathroom, pick up dog poop. That next level crosses over to other industries.

32:29 Most surprising reaction from a live audience — when I was younger I was mostly a tap dancer, part of a non-competitive group. We performed an acapella number, just taps, called War of All Things. The whole audience was like, oh my God. The studio said we needed to go to competition. They just didn't expect it from us. And my dad's double saw — two ladies sawed in half at once, then he switched the bottom halves and we came out in each other's pants. That got quite the reaction.

35:04 I knew who your dad was but forgot that whole side of you. Those early years really shaped what I'm doing now, especially now that he's not with us anymore — that's why I pay tribute. He's with you every day. Thank you so much for joining. We're coming for your Rich — she plans, he attends, a two-part series. Thumbs up, share, like, all the things.

36:02 Thanks for tuning in to the Event Talk podcast — Hot Mics, Cold Drinks and Untold Disasters where every event has a story. A big thank you to our guests for their laughs, stories, and lessons. If you loved this episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share with your fellow event pros. Until next time.