LONDON — Mark Fisher, founder and managing director of Stufish, died June 25 after a long illness at Marie Curie Hospice in Hampstead, U.K. with his wife Cristina at his side. He was 66. Fisher played a key role in the creation of some of the most complex and successful stadium rock shows ever produced, for artists ranging from Pink Floyd to U2 to the Rolling Stones and many others.
Along with his involvement in such memorable touring designs as Pink Floyd’s wall, U2’s 360° claw and AC/DC’s locomotive, Fisher helped dream up and engineer staging elements for KÀ by Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas and show visuals for extravaganzas ranging from the opening ceremonies of the Olympics and Asian Games to the concert stage near Buckingham Palace for the Queen of England’s 2012 Diamond Jubilee.
Fisher played a key role in the look of recent tours including Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Ball, Madonna’s MDNA tour and Metallica’s Death Magnetic tour, along with The Immortal Michael Jackson for Cirque du Soleil and Elton John’s Million Dollar Piano at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.
As well as his designs for Pink Floyd and Roger Waters, he had been involved with every Rolling Stones show since 1989 and every U2 concert since 1992, including the mammoth 360° tour of 2009-2011. In addition to KÀ, his theatrical design credits include the West End celebration of Queen (the band), We Will Rock You, and, more recently, Viva Elvis for Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas.
Fisher had a long roster of production design credits for events seen by millions. Along with last year’s Diamond Jubilee, he played a key role at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the Opening Ceremony for the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou. He also helped design and engineer expo spectacles ranging from the Aquamatrix at Lisbon Expo98, the Millennium Show in London and the Big O multimedia lagoon for Yeosu Expo 2012 in South Korea.
For the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies, Fisher served as an executive producer. He also collaborated with Cirque du Soleil designer Franco Dragone on the production of an innovative water show in China and had been provided a design assist with the Dalian Wanda Group for some recent projects in China.
Among many awards and honors, Fisher was awarded a royal OBE for his work on the London Millennium Show in 2000 and an MVO for his work on the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002.
