George Washington's Mt Vernon

While the iconic, colonial mansion of the nation’s first president is at the center of George Washington’s Mount Vernon, the estate offers guests a campus full of activities and exhibits to discover.

Officials with the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association wanted to enhance the visitor experience at a pair of attractions located in their museum and education center. One would be a completely new interactive experience, and the other was an existing theater that needed extensive technical renovations. For the exhibit technology and fabrication services needed to turn their plans into reality, they chose Solomon Group.

“Be Washington” Interactive Theater

The “Be Washington” Interactive Theater is a first-person leadership experience where visitors come face-to-face with challenges that George Washington confronted as commander-in-chief or president. After hearing the recommendations of his most trusted advisors, visitors can “Be Washington” and choose a course of action.

Working in partnership with Gallagher & Associates (exhibit design) and Cortina Productions (media producer), Solomon Group attacked our mission to provide the exhibit fabrication, A/V integration and lighting services needed for this new visitor experience. Guests approaching the theater gather in a waiting area that resembles the mid-18th century, with brick flooring, brick/stone walls, windows, moulding and signage created by our scenic department. Inside the main room, our fabrication team custom built 18 hardwood kiosks that include touchscreen displays which guests use to interact with the storylines. They also constructed a wall to support the theater’s stunning main screen, a 6K resolution LED wall that measures approximately 30-feet wide and 8-feet tall. Using 1.5 mm tiles, it’s the tightest pixel pitch LED display that Solomon Group has ever programmed and installed.

Additionally, our A/V integration team installed light box “windows” with LED lighting programmed to change colors depending upon what is displayed on the main screen. We also provided all of the audio equipment which sets the entire experience in 5.1 surround sound and programmed a Medialon show control system to automate the house lighting, open and close the theater doors, and run the entire show with minimal staff supervision.

Revolutionary War Theater: 4D Experience

For the Revolutionary War Theater: 4D Experience, Solomon Group provided all the A/V integration work needed to dramatically transform the campus’s existing, main theater into a state-of-the-art, multisensory visitor experience.

Tracing General Washington’s important military victories at Boston, Trenton, and Yorktown, this unique media presentation highlights his role in the Revolutionary War complete with snow, fog, wind, cannon shots, and other 4D effects.

Solomon Group’s Technology team installed a new, Christie Boxer 4K projector and a giant, curved screen that measures 32-feet wide and 16-feet tall. We also installed all new seat shakers, a new audio system, new snow, and fog machines, and over 60 new light fixtures which can create over 260 unique lighting looks inside of the theater. Additionally, Solomon Group provided all the programming for the show, which includes snow, fog, and wind effects, as well as environmental lighting that is coordinated with the show, such as strobes timed to flash with canon fire on screen.