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| A family of penguins is featured on the 2004 FIRST NIGHT admission button. |
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The west campus skyline will take on new dimensions this New Year’s Eve, thanks to a laser light show developed by a University research technician and an area artist.
Two high-powered lasers will project a full-spectrum of color images, complete with music, as part of the festivities planned for the annual FIRST NIGHT celebration in Akron. The schedule of activities includes nonstop entertainment on more than 30 stages around the downtown area.
The University is again hosting some of the activities for FIRST NIGHT Akron, which is a program of the Downtown Akron Partnership, Inc. E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall and The Polsky Building will provide venues for entertainment.
Among the performers will be UA’s Steel Drum Band. Under the direction of Larry Snider, professor of music, the band will perform at The Polsky Building from 5 to 7 p.m., and at Thomas Hall from 9:30 to 10:15 p.m. and 10:30 to 11:15 p.m.
Hard Day’s Night, a Beatles tribute band, will perform in Thomas Hall from 7:30 to 8:15 p.m. and 8:30 to 9:15 p.m. The Kyng Henry’s Touring Company will be in the Thomas Hall lobby between 6 and 10:30 p.m. In The Polsky Building, the Zen Room will perform from 7:30 to 8:15 p.m. and 8:30 to 9:15 p.m., and Mary Martin will perform from 9:30 to 10:15 p.m. and 10:30 to 11:30 p.m.
The light show is the work of Steve Roberts, a research technician in the College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering, and Jim Lehman, an area artist who specializes in computer-generated images. The show will be projected from the 10th floor of the Goodyear Polymer Center to the front of E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall from 6 p.m. to midnight.
Roberts, who has done laser light shows around the United States for years, will be using a combination of his own equipment as well as equipment on loan from a friend. While he handles the technology and obtains the required permits from the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Aviation Authority, Lehman has been creating the laser scans that will become images in the show — a multi-step process — one scan requires hours to complete.
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| "Laser Zippy" will be part of FIRST NIGHT this year. |
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“It can be tedious, but it’s fun and the end result is really cool,” says Lehman, who is creating a variety of original images for the show, including Zippy and greetings for FIRST NIGHT audiences.
Lehman’s work will be combined with existing laser images, such as the Beatles and a yellow submarine, accompanied by, what else, their song “Yellow Submarine.”
The type of show audiences will see depends on atmospheric conditions, says Roberts.
“What we’re doing is painting with a dot of light — the laser beam itself. “If it’s clear that night, we’ll be able to project our graphics onto the face of Thomas Hall. But if we have snow, the light will bounce off flakes and people will see three-dimensional shapes in the sky.
“I think it’s neat that a band will be inside Thomas Hall playing Beatles music and we’ll be projecting them on a wall outside,” adds Roberts.
Other FIRST NIGHT Akron locations include the Akron Art Museum, Akron Civic Theatre, Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron, Main Atrium; City Hall; FirstMerit Bank Tower Building; John S. Knight Center; National Inventors Hall of Fame; Neurosurgery and Neurology Association Inc. (outside park); Ocasek Government Office Building; The O'Neil’s Building Lobby’ Orangerie Mall at Akron Centre; St. Bernard’s Church; St. John/St. Paul Lutheran Church; Zion Lutheran Church; and Summit ArtSpace.
Admission buttons are $10 for adults and children age 9 and under are free when accompanied by a button-wearing adult. Buttons can be purchased at participating Acme Fresh Markets, FirstMerit branches, Akron Beacon Journal Customer Service Desk, Borders in Chapel Hill, Canton Centre Mall Customer Service Desk, the Library Shop on Main (at the Tallmadge Avenue location), Stage Left Boutique at Akron Civic Theatre, The Word Christian Resource Centers (Parma Heights, Brunswick and Chapel Hill), and Country Diner on East Market Street.
Northeast Ohio native Dan Cuthbert designed this year’s button. A self-taught artist, he says he wanted to portray families enjoying themselves on New Year’s Eve — no matter what the weather.
“Penguins know how to have fun,” he says of his illustration of a penguin family being carried away by a blimp to downtown Akron and the FIRST NIGHT celebration.
Parking will be free for the evening at University-owned lots and decks as well as in most downtown city and county parking facilities. Metro buses will run the FIRST NIGHT loop all night at no charge.
For more information, call 330-762-8568 or visit www.downtownakron.com .
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