News Release

CHAPEL HILL -- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Morehead Planetarium and Science Center will be rocking with some of the biggest names in music beginning Sept. 2: Laser shows featuring the works of Pink Floyd, the Beatles, Radiohead and the Beastie Boys will return to the center for the first time in almost a decade.

"People have been coming up to me and asking when we were going to bring laser shows back," said Dr. Holden Thorp, Morehead Center director. "We decided that it would be a good idea to bring them back before we start renovations on the building in 2006."

In the center’s Star Theater dome, the shows will engulf the audience with a combination of dramatic laser images and different styles of music to produce a concert-like atmosphere.

"Lasers are a medium unlike any other," said Luke Donaher of LFI International, the laser show provider. "Children especially respond to things they haven’t seen before, and lasers are a medium people don’t come in contact with often."

During their 12-week run, laser shows will be offered Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. and Saturdays at 8 p.m., 9 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Matinee shows specifically geared to a family audience will be offered Saturday and Sunday afternoons, including a laser detective mystery that teaches about the solar system, a humorous program about the science of time and a tribute to the Motown sound. Show times are Saturdays at 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. and Sundays at 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

Admission is $7.50 for adults and $5.50 for children, students and seniors. Morehead Center members receive a $2 discount for each ticket.

More information is available at www.moreheadplanetarium.org or by calling (919) 962-1236.

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Note: High-resolution laser images are available at www.moreheadplanetarium.org. (Key word search: Image Gallery.)

Morehead Center contact: Jeff Hill, (919) 843-7995