Volume 3, No. 14. July 25, 2003
New Arrivals
It’s
a motion theater!
PassPort Voyages of Discovery announces the arrival of Baltimore Passport
in Baltimore, Maryland, July 16, 2003. Measurements: 10,000 square feet (929
square meters), two theaters, each with four motion platforms of ten seats each
plus ten static seats in one theater and 15 in the other, 15-minute pre-show
and 30-minute motion theater ride. Delivered by International Tourist Attractions.
The
Time Elevator technology already transporting people back in time in Israel,
Rome (THE LOOP, July 27, 2001)
and Cyprus landed on America’s shores with a wholly U.S. slant. One of
the two theaters in the expanded Power Plant Entertainment Complex next to the
National Aquarium in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor shows a custom-produced film,
Time Elevator America, recounting key moments in U.S. history. The other
theater shows Oceanarium 2, an existing ITA film with an altered beginning
so that the audience sails out to the world’s seven seas from Baltimore’s
harbor. However, with ITA’s developing technology, Baltimore Passport can
alter the theaters at a moment’s notice to present either film or any other
film—i.e. from Rome or the Holy Land—in the Time Elevator canon.
To
open Baltimore’s $8.5 million installation, Passport Voyages of Discovery—the
firm representing ITA in North America—called on one of the Time Elevator
America’s stars: Abraham Lincoln. An Abe impersonator boarded a train
in Philadelphia with members of the Boys and Girls Clubs—a media event
in itself—and replicated the real Abe’s inaugural trip to Baltimore.
There, joined by children from the local Police Action League and Maryland’s
First Lady Kendal S. Ehrlich, Mr. Lincoln announced Passport’s opening
before Ehrlich encouraged him to get inside and into the film so that all the
invited guests—including local dignitaries—could enjoy the experience.
Testimony
of the dignitaries and children emerging from Passport indicate they did, in
fact, enjoy the experience, said Peter Comiskey, managing director of Passport
Voyages of Discovery. “(Ehrlich) didn’t really know what to expect,”
he said. “When she came out of it she said it was a wonderful experience.
She was surrounded by kids, and I think the excitement the kids were experiencing
washed off on her.” The children lauded the motion and the special effects
that accompany certain key moments in the film.
The
goal here is equal parts education and entertainment. The motion is subtly programmed
to the film, Comiskey said. “We’re not trying to jar and just move
people around,” he said. His favorite moment in the film is a relatively
sedate one: Lincoln’s train ride that, with the sound effects of clicking
wheels on track, the film showing the passing landscape and the seats gently
swaying along the rails, “for me makes it immersive. That’s magic
to me.”
Will the Time Elevator technology be magic to his pocketbook? Early returns say probably. In the first week, several shows—scheduled at 15-minute intervals—were selling out. And while the venue is primarily aimed at the family market, Baltimore Passport decided to stay open into the evening and is getting the young adult and dining-out crowd, with shows running as late as 11 p.m. (23,00) Comiskey said. “We have been thrilled with the visitation in our opening week,” he said. Already, groups are starting to book week day slots, and Baltimore Passport is fielding calls from neighboring states.
THE LOOP is written and produced by Eric Minton, Minton Enterprises, LLC. To see more examples of Eric Minton's work and Minton Enterprises services, visit www.ericminton.com.
©2003, Minton Enterprises
LLC
All rights reserved