Beautifica 360 - A Review
- 11 hours ago
- 3 min read
Last Saturday, we went to a show at the Neag Planetarium at the Reading Public Museum in Reading, PA called James Hood's Beautifica 360 - A Celebration of Life.
James Hood is a Grammy-nominated composer and musician who was at one time the drummer for the band, The Pretenders. He is a creator of ambient and electronic musical projects including Moodswings, Mesmerica 360 and Beautifica 360
A little about the venue: The Neag Planetarium is located at 500 Museum Rd, Reading, PA, very close to the Reading Hospital in West Reading. As expected, they do planetarium shows like Earth, Moon and Sun, Unseen Earth, Messengers of Time and Space and seasonal shows like Jack Frost and the Skies of Winter. Additionally, they occasionally do classic rock albums visual and music shows like:
Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here
Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon
Pink Floyd: The Wall
Upcoming Pink Floyd shows are February 27 and March 27 starting at 7PM. For information and ticket sales for those shows, check out this link: Neag Planetarium Floyd Final Fridays | Reading Public Museum
Outwardly, the Planetarium doesn't look like much:
It opened in 1969 with seating for about 100 people, depending on the show.
Geekspeak: In 2006, it received an upgraded full dome Spitz Scidome HB and in 2018, a Scidome IQ 4K system. The dome itself is about 40 feet across with a laser Phosphor video system. They hold shows daily and can be rented out for work conferences and special events like weddings:
According to the promotional website, James Hood's Beautifica is described as "a 360 journey through worlds real and imagined, from mind blowing particles fields to unashamedly euphoria fantastic environments almost impossible to describe." (Beautifica 360)
It's currently being shown throughout nineteen (19) Cities within the United States, three (3) locations in the UK and also in Vancouver, BC. Closest locations outside of the Reading show would be Lancaster, PA, Staten Island NY and Randolph NJ. Over 400,000 tickets have been sold for this show to date.
Here's a link to from the website to view a little bit of the show: https://stream.mux.com/FrZ93KcGm2d3002wuas9kyQZvbOX5Cp8bWG1VqtsYQoo.m3u8?max_resolution=720p&redundant_streams=true
Our experience was a good one. Tickets for the Reading show were $39.50 each per adult with discounts for students, seniors (60+) and Military to $34.84 each. There is an offer for "VIP" priority seating that jacks the prices up about $10.00 each and promises early entry into the theater but I wouldn't recommend paying the extra fee for VIP because there really isn't a bad seat in the house because of the 360 dome and the fact that they seemed to let everyone in all at once at the show we attended. There are also opportunities to purchase premium souvenir programs, digital wallpapers and a soundtrack album if desired.
The show itself is about 45-50 minutes in length and there is a disclaimer that one the show starts, the doors close and no one will be allowed in or out of the theater. Again, we saw people coming in late and leaving to go to the bathroom and coming back in and it didn't really detract from the show, so take the "warning" with a grain of salt.
I'd describe the "intensity" of the show as mild and calming rather than jarring or outrageous. The sound system was excellent and not overly loud (I'd have preferred a little louder, but I like heavy metal music) and flowed well with the visuals. When you first go in, the dome and room itself seem somewhat small and cramped but the seats were sufficiently far apart so you weren't sitting on your neighbor's lap. But the real magic of the planetarium is that once the show starts, the room seems ENORMOUS and you're transformed into another dimension. There are photographs meshed with lasers and stars and skies. At one point, it appeared we were traveling THROUGH a vein or artery, which was especially cool.
Here's a link to listen to a preview of the music you'll hear:
I'd recommend this show to anyone. The age group present for our show varied from little kids to senior citizens in wheelchairs and everyone seemed to enjoy it.
If you decide to go to the Reading location, upcoming shows are February 15th, February 21st, and March 1st.
If you decide to go, I'd love to hear about your experience. Please feel free to email me at bobgehman@yahoo.com.
Enjoy!
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