| 1925 |
Peter Stuart Foy is born on July 11,
1925 in Kensington, London. This infant never
knew that his destiny was set by his birthplace. |
|
| 1928 |
At the age of 3, Peter Foy
makes his stage debut in in the London musical
review, Life is a Circus |
|
| 1937 |
Last flying act in the US
before Foy's arrival. |
|
| 1939 |
At 14 years old, Peter is
awarded a scholarship to the prestigious
Italia-Conti Theatrical School in London, which
had also schooled Noel Coward, Anthony Newley
and many other great stars of the world stage.
Peter makes his acting and flying debut as a sea
witch in a Christmas Pantomime |
|
| 1940 |
Peter Foy flies in Where
The Rainbow Ends. |
|
| 1941 |
Peter becomes the Youngest
Professional Stage Manager in the U.K. |
|
| |
Peter acts in a production of
Peter Pan, playing the role of
"Slightly", the same role that had earlier been
played by No๋l
Coward |
 |
| 1942-47 |
Peter joins the RAF as a
Navigator and Entertainment Officer. He
continues writing and acting actively through
1949 though he continues to act on occasion
until 1957 |
| 1942-43 |
Peter acts on stage and in film |
| 1947 |
Peter Foy flies his first
Peter Pan, Phyllis Calvert, at Scala
Theatre in London |
| 1950 |
Peter Pan opens
on Broadway with Jean Arthur as Peter. Peter is
in charge of the flying as a representative of
Kirby's Flying Ballets. |
Phyllis Calvert |
| |
The New York Times Reports
(8/11/1950): "Peter Foy, who supervises the
flying apparatus in Peter Pan has written the
book for a new musical entitled The Man
Who Could Fly. The music has been
composed by Walter Handel. The book is
said to deal with a Milque-toastish type of
individual who discovers he can fly and thereby
becomes the idol of society." |
|
| 1952-53 |
Peter Foy creates the first
"flying ballet on ice" for The
Ice Capades |
|
| 1954-55 |
Mary Martin's musical version
of Peter Pan opens on Broadway.
Peter Foy directs the flying. For this
production, he developed his
Inter-Related Pendulum
System allowing for far more spectacular
flights. |
 |
| 1956 |
The Mary Martin production of
Peter Pan is broadcast live on
January 1, 1956 but it is not recorded. |
| |
In Kansas City, Foy designs
flying sequences for the first ever outdoor
production of Peter Pan |
| |
Foy flies Lucille Ball in a
delightful episode of I Love Lucy,
"Little Ricky gets stage fright" (6th season) |
|
| 1957 |
Flying
by Foy
is
founded |
 |
| |
Peter Foy makes his last
appearance as an actor. |
| |
Peter designs flying sequences
for the first-ever theatre in the round staging
of Peter Pan - in a tent in
Sacramento, California.
This introduces theatrical flying to the
world of the musical tent thetre. |
| 1958 |
Peter provides flying sequences
for Music With Mary Martin, a
concert tour |
|
| |
Foy develops his
Floating Pulley System |
|
| |
Peter Foy acts on Broadway in
Small War on Murray Hill |
|
| 1959 |
For theatre-in-the-round
productions, Foy develops a
Mini Floating Pulley
System |
|
| |
Foy creates flying sequences
for The Ford Show on television |
|
| |
Music With Mary Martin,
is televised on March 29, 1959 on NBC |
 |
| |
Foy creates flight sequences
for the pioneering television production,
Men Into Space - considered by many to
be the most realistic depiction of early
missions into space. The series is broadcast
through 1960. |
| 1960 |
A new production of Peter
Pan With Mary Martin is created for
television. This time it is recorded so that
many new generations can appreciate it. The
video production is in color and is rebroadcast
in 1963, 1966, 1973, and 1989 |
|
| |
Foy also creates flying effects
for The Chevy Show on Television
that year |
|
| |
Pater Foy and his lovely
wife Barbara Foy are both guests on
The Groucho Show, formerly called
You Bet Your Life. The show airs June
26, 1960. |
|
| 1961 |
Foy creates flying effects for
the Shirley Temple Show on
Television. 5 people fly in this version of
Pippi Longstocking. (1/7/1961)
In March, both Peter and Barbara Foy
work on Shirley Temple's TV version of
The Little Mermaid (3/5/1961) |
|
| |
Peter Foy flies Garry
Moore and Carol Burnett over the
heads of the audience in a special broadcast of
The Garry Moore Show |
|
| 1962 |
A Primitive
Track-On Track
is system developed for the Seattle World's
Fair. This system revolutionizes theatrical
flight, allowing for flights in environments
with minimal available height, and allows for
superb control, being especially useful in film
work to come. |
|
| |
Peter Foy is the guest
on Best of Groucho on Television
6/11/1962 |
 |
| 1963 |
The
Track-On Track
system is improved and is patented. |
| |
Peter Foy returns to the
Garry Moore Show to fly Dorothy
Loudon in the show's opening sequence. |
| 1965 |
Foy provides extensive flying
systems making the filming of Fantastic
Voyage possible. The film wins that
year's Academy Award
for special effects. |
| |
To aid in the film's floating
effects, Foy develops and then patents the
Multi-Point Balance
Harness. |
|
| |
For even more advanced floating
illusions, Foy develops the
Fiberglass Body Tray |
|
| 1966 |
For the Lido show
at the Stardust Casino in Las Vegas, Foy
develops the Dual Wheel
Floating Pulley system |
|
| |
It's a Bird...It's a
Plane...Its Superman opens on Broadway
featuring Flying by Foyฎ |
|
| |
Peter Foy is a guest on
The Tonight Show (5/31/1966) |
|
| 1967 |
Foy
Inventerprises
is formally incorporated to reflect the growing
depth of Foy's accomplishments in the breadth of
the industry. |
|
| |
Foy creates the flight
sequences for The Flying Nun the
series is produced through 1970 |
 |
| |
Foy creates flying sequences
for Disney on Parade, featuring
Twin Flying Carousels |
| |
Foy designs a
Motorized Floating
Pulley System. |
|
| |
Foy flies Gene Kelly on
television in Jack and the Beanstalk. |
|
| 1968 |
The
Floating Track System is Introduced. |
|
| |
Foy flies Barbara Streisand in
the film, Funny Girl |
|
| |
Foy flies Richard Dawson on
Rowan and Martin's Laugh- In on
television |
|
| 1969 |
With PZAZZ
produced in Las Vegas, Foy introduces his
Motorized Track-On
Track
System |
|
| |
Foy works with NASA and the
television industry to be able to provide
simulated coverage of the Apollo moon landing
should live coverage be impossible.
Moon Simulations |
|
| 1971 |
The 1971 Lido
edition in Las Vegas introduces a
Directional Turn-Around
System to stage flight as well as
Endless Curtain Wipes |
|
| |
For a production at The MGM
Grand in Las Vegas, Foy develops a
Serpentine Flying Track
over the audience and a
Bi-Part Austrian
Carousel Curtain. |
|
| |
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate
Factory features Flying by Foy |
 
|
| 1975 |
The Wiz opens on
Broadway, with Flying by Foy |
| 1976 |
The Danny Kaye production of
Pinocchio makes its TV debut on March
27, 1976. Danny Kaye and Sandy Duncan
both fly in the TV production. |
| 1977 |
The Ice Capades
"Flying Ballet" introduces the
Fully Motorized,
Trussed Non-Visible Compensator System. |
| |
The prestigious
Neiman-Marcus Holliday Catalog offers as a
holiday gift for the well-to-do, lessons in
ballet flying from Peter Foy.
Requirement: 15-foot ceilings in your home. |
| 1978 |
Peter Foy provides all sorts of
flying for the film,
The Wiz. For one scene he is
called on to fly a whole nursery full of live
babies! |
| |
Peter Foy, with
Choreographer/Dancer Tomm Rudd stage an
astonishing flying ballet sequence for "Trilogy"
with The San Francisco Ballet |
| 1979 |
The
manual compensator system is introduced |
| |
The Sandy Duncan edition of
Peter Pan opens on Broadway and runs
until 1980. Peter's son, Garry Foy supervises the
project. This is the
edition which first introduced the now standard
flight over the audience. |
| |
Governor Hugh L. Carey
of NY awards Peter Foy a special state award for
his contribution to the arts. |
 |
| 1980 |
Foy
introduces flying angels to The Crystal
Cathedral |
| |
Foy provides flying sylphs for
the Rudolf Nureyev-Boston Ballet
production of La Sylphide at the
Uris Theatre on Broadway |
| 1981 |
The Little Prince and the
Aviator opens on Broadway. Foy flies
Michael York for the production. |
|
| |
Flying by Foy wins a Los
Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award |
|
| 1982 |
All-Time-Good-Time-Knickerbocker-Follies,
featuring a host of Broadway stars, and directed
by Pat Birch for the re-dedication of "The Egg"
theatre in Albany NY becomes a Foy Family
affair. Joining writers Ralph Allen and Hugh
Wheeler, Peter Foy writes a segment of the show
about Sandow, billed as "The World's Strongest
Man" at the Chicago Columbian Exposition.
Peter's wife, Barbara is a featured singer, and
son, Garry Foy provides much of the flight
direction. The show featuring gobs of flying is
revived the following year as a reprise. |
Flying Butterfly,
All-Time-Good-Time-Knickerbocker-Follies, 1982 |
| 1984 |
The
Foyal Track System
is Fully Developed. |
|
| |
The Crystal Cathedral angels
are now flown using a
Motorized Dual Pulley
system. |
|
| |
Peter Foy and Mary Martin
(70) team up again as flying partners for a
benefit to aid San Francisco General Hospital's
Trauma Center |
 |
| 1985 |
The
Ultra-Lift
system is developed from the manual compensator
system |
| 1986 |
Foy is responsible for the
flying sequences in the TV show, The Rise
and Rise of Daniel Rocket |
| 1987 |
An article in the New York
Times cites "more than 4,000 shows" produced to
date with Flying by Foy! By now he is working on
approximately 200 shows a year with 150 of them
being editions of Peter Pan |
| 1988 |
Nina and the 12 Months,
makes its debut in Tokyo, with
13 Flying
simultaneously, 12 Lifting in Sequence Forming
Circle in Air, Revolving, Separating - Landing
Individually Whilst Nina Spirals in Center. |
| 1989 |
The Royal Opera House in London
presents Un Re In Asolto with 19
Flying At One Time. The system is
motorized With
Programmed Control. |
 |
| |
Foy makes his debut in Russia
with the NY State Theatre Institute production
of Peter Pan |
| |
Jerome Robbins' Broadway opens,
featuring Flying by Foy |
| |
March 24th marks the last
network broadcast of the Mary Martin 1960 Color
edition of Peter Pan |
Peter Pan in Russia, 1989 |
| |
Flying by Foy estimates
it has provided flight for over 3,000
productions of Peter Pan to date. |
| 1990 |
The Flower Expo (Expo
'90)
in Osaka, Japan, introduces the first
Completely
Self-Contained Radio-Controlled Flying System On
Curved Track. |
| |
Foy collaborates with David
Lynch, Martha Clarke, Nicholas Cage, Laura Dern
on the TV Film: Industrial Symphony No. 1:
The Dream of the Brokenhearted |
| |
The Cathy Rigby production of
Peter Pan opens on Broadway with
Flying by Foy |
| |
Foy reports in a New York Times
interview that by now he has "sent more than
1200 Peters aloft"! |
|
| 1991 |
Paula Abdul's Under my
Spell tour (through 1992) features
Flying by Foy |
 |
| 1992 |
Foy provides flying effects for
the film, Brain Donors |
| 1993 |
Angels in America
opens on Broadway with Flying by Foy |
| |
Fool Moon begins
the first of three Broadway runs with Flying by
Foyฎ |
|
| 1994 |
Foy flies Garth Brooks across
Texas Stadium |
|
| |
The Lion King
Opens on Broadway with Flying by Foyฎ |
|
| 1995 |
The Who's Tommy
on Broadway features Flying by Foyฎ |
 |
| 1996 |
Hunchback Opens
at the New Orleans Superdome. 24
performers are flown in the show! |
| |
The Shoji Tabuchi
Show-Branson,MO utilizes Flying by Foy. For
this show, the S-Class
control is developed |
| |
Foy provides flying effects for
the film, Bogus |
|
| 1997 |
The prestigious United States
Institute for Theatre Technology presents a
special award to Peter Foy "In recognition of a
lifetime of achievement in the advancement of
Entertainment Technology, Safety, Artistry, and
Innovation." |
 |
| |
The Lion King
Opens on Broadway, featuring Flying by Foy! |
| 1999 |
Foy designs flying sequences
for the BackStreet boys World Tour
which utilizes a Fully
Automated Truss System |
|
| |
Aida Opens on
Broadway utilizing a
Double Decker Ultra-Lift with Programmable
Controls |
|
| |
Foy provides flying services
for the televised ESPY Awards. |
Pegasus Systemฎ
2001 |
| 2000 |
Foy designs flying sequences
for a production of Hans Christian
Anderson at The American Conservatory
Theatre in San Francisco |
| |
One of the largest productions
of Peter Pan ever, is mounted in
Australia by Sydney's Capitol Theatre at a
cost of almost $6 million. Flying is by Foy (of
course!) |
| |
Foy's
Five Truss Programmable System is
redeveloped and Improved |
| 2001 |
Aida begins its national tour
using Foy's newly developed
Daedulus Control System
|
| 2002 |
Foy designs flight sequences
for Carnivale at Radio
City Music Hall using the newly developed
Pegasus Control System
|
Radio City, 2002 |
| |
Foy provides flying services
for Microsoft's Global Summit at
the New Orleans Superdome |
| |
Peter Foy is interviewed
onWeekend Edtion with Scott Simon for NPR.
listen
in. |
|
| |
Flying by Foy is featured at
the MTV Music Video Awards |
|
| 2003 |
Flying by Foy is featured on
The Grammy Awards |
|
| |
For the inauguration of the
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of The National Air
and Space Museum, the Foy team flies a
full-scale exact replica of the Wright Flyer
over the heads of the dignitaries! |
|
| |
Foy collaborates with Martha
Clarke on a production of The Midsummer
Night's Dream at The American Repertory
Theatre based at Harvard |
|
| |
Foy provides flying effects for
Celine Dion's - A New Day at
Caesars Palace in Las Vegas |
|
| 2004 |
Flying by Foy is again featured
on the MTV Music Video Awards |
|
| |
Nadia Comăneci flies over
Times Square courtesy of Foy, delivering the
Olympic torch to the City of NY on its way to
Greece for the Summer Olympics |
Olympics Opening 2004 |
| |
Flying by Foy provides the
central imagery for the opening ceremonies of
the 2004 Summer Olympics |
|
2005 |
Peter Foy passes away on
February 17, 2005 |
|
| |
The legacy continues. On his
passing, Foy left a legacy of innovation and
artistic excellence that caries on today through
the work of the many artists and engineers at
Foy Inventerprises. The timeline continues! |
|
| |
"Peter Foy" is a clue on
Jeopardy, ironically within a day of his
passing. |
| |
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
opens on Broadway featuring Flying by Foy |
 |
| 2006 |
Tarzan Opens on
Broadway featuring Flying by Foy |
| |
Threepenny Opera
opens on Broadway, with Flying by Foy |
| |
The engineers at Foy
Inventerprises create a "flying machine" that
flies over the heads of the audience in a
production of Babes in Toyland at
Dollywood |
| 2007 |
MTV Awards
feature Flying by Foy |
| |
The Pirate Queen
Opens on Broadway with equipment and programming
provided by Foy. |
|
| |
Santa flies at Radio City,
courtesy of Flying by Foy! |
|
| |
Finding Nemo, the
Musical, opens at Disney World with Flying by
Foy |
|
| |
Other Highlights of 2007 - A
sampling:
- 400 productions in N. America in 2007
- 60 productions in the UK over the holiday
season alone
- Peter Pan presented in Korea
- Lion King presented on Broadway,
South Africa, 2 US tours, Tokyo, Seoul,
London, Paris
- Spamalot presented on Broadway
and in
Las Vegas, London, and Australia
- Mary Poppins on Broadway
- 11 Royal Cruise Line Ships with Foy shows!
- Saturday Night Live
- J-Lo Fashion Rocks Show
- Wicked presented in Tokyo
- Flavor Flave Roast in LA
- College Road Trip, Feature Film |
 |
| 2008 |
The Tony Awards
feature flying sequences designed by the artists
at Foy |
|
| |
Billy Elliot
opens on Broadway with Flying by Foy. |
|
| |
The MTV Film Awards
feature Flying by Foy |
|
| |
Flying by Foy is featured on
Dancing With the Stars 3/24/2008 |
Rehearsal for Garden of Earthly Delights
2008
|
| |
Flew JabbaWockeeZ on
America's Best Dance Crew |
| |
Martha Clarke's seminal dance
work Garden of Earthly Delights is
revived after extensive planning and rehearsal
at the Foy flight studios in Las Vegas. For this
production, the Foy designers develop
the Foy Flight Assist
System, a
hybrid system
incorporating the advantages of computer and
manual control into a single system |
| 2009 |
You're Welcome America; A
Final Night with George W. Bush, written
and performed by Will Ferrell makes its Broadway
debut on February 5th, with flying by Foy!
Other projects of 2009 include:
|
 |
| |
The Opening of London's
Darwin Centre features Flying by Foy
(14/9/09)
SEE THE VIDEO |
 |