Longtime Lights Show at Planetarium Still a Hit
By Micaela Hood, The Miami Herald
Apr. 28–To the acoustic guitar beats of Bob Marley’s Redemption Song, blue, green and red images flash across a galaxy of stars.
Seconds later, people clapped and cheered as images of the musician smoking appeared above their heads.
Marley’s songs, along with tunes from The Beatles and Pink Floyd, resound during Fabulous First Fridays held every month at the Miami Science Museum. The next is on Friday.
The following Friday, the museum will celebrate National Astronomy Day with a special lineup. Starting at 11:30 a.m. May 10, the day features children’s activities, astronomical lectures and door prizes.
The evening program, which starts at 7:30 p.m., showcases peeks of Saturn, Mars and the moon, a lecture with Jose Nunez, a NASA mission project engineer working with the International Space Station, and a Pink Floyd laser show marathon.
The planetarium’s 33-year-old laser shows, which feature classic rock and mix modern technology with old, draw crowds of all ages, said Jack Horkheimer, executive director of the planetarium.
“The music combined with millions of lights, digital images and a galaxy of stars is not something you can see on the your computer, movie screen, TV or even in a nightclub,” he said. “I see grandparents with their grandchildren at the shows enjoying the same music; it’s quite a unique experience.”
On a recent Friday, hundreds of people packed into the planetarium, and some also brought pillows to snuggle up with a loved one on the carpeted floor.
For some families, it’s even become a way to bridge a gap between generations. Carlo Marin said he frequented the laser shows in college and still brings his 70-year-old mother and his two teenaged children.
“They think it’s cool, too,” he joked of son and daughter. “This is one place they actually will hang out with me on a Friday night! “
Marin’s 16-year-old daughter Giselle chimed in: “My dad likes to tease me and my brother because we like the same kind of music, but really I like coming because it’s something you can’t see every day,” she said.
At the monthly Friday events, the evening starts with stargazing at the Weintraub Observatory, where two powerful telescopes amplify images in our galaxy. A lecture on the sights follow.
The crescendo starts around 9 p.m. when a laser light show to rock music fills the planetarium.
Jenni Pacello held tight to her boyfriend’s hand as they waited for the show to start.
“We come every month,” she said. “It’s awesome . . . very out of the ordinary.”
The show, run by planetarium operations manager Mark Bennett and a team of three “laserists,” uses special-effect projectors, slides, robotic lights, four-color lasers and computerized images to build the show.
Then a 42-year-old projector displays millions of stars onto the ceiling of the four-story-high, seven-story-wide dome.
A small analog computer stores a variety of laser graphics, displays what Bennett calls “drawings” created by lasers.
Those graphics — animated taxis, dogs, cats, chickens, flowers, diamonds that matched lyrics from The Beatles’ album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band — flash throughout the show.
“When we first started years ago, it used to take two or three days to produce just one image,” Horkheimer said. “Now we’re able to produce millions of colors and three-dimensional imaging in a matter of minutes.”
Bennett said no two shows are alike and a lot of it depends on the laserist’s artistic input.
“A lot of it is our own creative improvisations but also the style and mood of the music determines the type of laser and multimedia used,” he said.
As the images flashed, “oohs” and “ahhs” filled the air, but for some the main attraction was the music.
“I’m biased because I love The Beatles and this is the closest I’ll get to seeing them live, ” Marin said.
The more popular shows are from rock icons Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin.
Bennett said newer rock bands, like Green Day and A Perfect Circle also attract crowds.
“A lot of ideas come from our customers; if they’re into a band, chances are we’ll consider it,” he said.
Leonardo Ortiz, who brought his family to hear The Beatles, said everyone enjoyed the show.
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