The History of Bay Stage Live

It all began in the early 1950’s. Sam Marino, a man drawn to the theatre, had a vision: to create the Bay Area’s most comprehensive, creative, and cooperative entertainment company. Marino quit his job at his family’s fish company and began acquiring professional stage and lighting equipment that he would rent to Tampa Bay’s theaters. And thus, the “Bay Stage Lighting Company” was born.

Sam’s business flourished; by the 1970’s, Bay Stage Lighting was one of Tampa’s top stage equipment rental companies. That’s when Sam’s god daughter, Yvonne Felicione and her then-boyfriend, Brian Justo joined the company as front-desk and warehouse employees, respectively. During their time with Bay Stage Lighting, Yvonne and Brian fell in love with the business and each other. They married, and took over the business in the late 90’s, with the passion and dedication to Sam Marino’s original vision.

Since then, Bay Stage Lighting has catapulted forward as one of the nation’s leading stage rental and lighting companies. In 2013, the company was renamed Bay Stage Live in order to better represent their company’s creativity and dynamic concept. In 2017, Bay Stage Live celebrated their 60th anniversary delivering the best in live event equipment, planning, and stage lighting services.

In 2022, Brian and Yvonne Justo’s daughters, Nicole and Danielle purchased the company to continue the family business for a third generation. After doing so, Nicole and Danielle acquired the Tampa based Audio Visual company AVSS creating a combined history of 98 years of live event experience.

Nicole Justo Idziak, Greg Utley, Danielle Justo Sherwin

Sam Marino

Brian and Yvonne Justo