orators of the universe

How two men recreate the spectacle of stars through sight, sound

t’s dark and cool inside, chilly enough to put on a sweater or light jacket. High above on the ceiling is a clear blue sky with scattered clouds, a miniature version of an IMAX theater. Classical music serenades star travelers as they hunt for an angled seat, then crane their necks, anticipating the show. In the middle of the dimly lit room are two projectors—the latest in digital light projection—ready to display the wonders of the universe set to music.

The Sky Theater on the University of North Texas campus is no ordinary planetarium. It does more than reproduce the nighttime sky; it pulls the audience straight into the heart of the universe. With just 100 seats and new digital technology, it is immersive theater. Unlike IMAX, which plays a movie on a curved half-theater dome, the Sky Theater’s digital system can, with a single click, bring alive the universe, taking travelers through Saturn’s rings or on a celestial roller coaster throughout the solar system.

The theater’s resident “star” is Grammy award nominee and planetarium director Ron “Starman” DiIulio, who heads UNT’s astronomy lab. In a tidy office decked out with posters of the universe and Hot Wheel trinkets, DiIulio flashes a childish grin and talks exuberantly about his multiple roles at the planetarium, his work as a Solar Systems Ambassador for NASA, and his status as the go-to man when a fireball streaked across the Texas skies, as it did last February. Starman and his colleague Preston Starr, UNT’s Rafes Urban Astronomy Center manager, quickly found two pecan-sized pieces of meteorite in practically pristine condition near Waco only days after the report.

But the Sky Theater, which opened in the summer of 1999, is Starman’s chief passion. Although the popular Saturday star show “Wonders of the Universe” is pre-made, Ron and planetarium manager Randall Peters now handcraft the script and music for private planetarium showings. They create stories, not stuffy fact-laden shows, with Ron handling the music and words, Randall the view. They are what Randall calls “edu-tainers” (an educator and entertainer all bunched into one). “If something isn’t interesting, it doesn’t matter what you’re trying to convey. If people are asleep, it’s pointless,” he says. “You can always sit there and rattle off the facts. But if people can’t relate with why it’s important to them, they’re not going to pay that much attention.”

Randall, with his gruff voice and slight mischievous twinkle, reigns over the theater from an office crammed with two sets of office furniture, posters of various galaxies and photos of astronomy. He says the theater’s resources, upgraded in the summer of 2008 from an “old hodge-podge of technologies,” now create an “immersive experience” that has attendance skyrocketing. The new computer system can immediately project any object onto the 180-degree dome. “The all-domed format can capture people’s attention to help them understand a bit better,” he says. “If you want to fly through the universe, it’ll make you think you’re flying through the universe.”

The Sky Theater offers programs for every age group, from 8 to 80, and can tailor private showings to each group’s interests and knowledge of the universe. First graders can go to the moon, while third graders get a tour of the solar system. Ron and Randall could, for instance, create a show about the Big Bang Theory for fifth graders. “People want to know that if you’re going into a black hole, you’re going to die. And they want the gory detail, especially kids,” says Randall. “So you throw that in there and they’re going to be grossed out, but at the same time fascinated.”

The “Wonders of the Universe” show, played twice on Saturday, lets the audience peer deep into space through the eyes of the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope, traveling back billions of years to witness the birth of the universe. Slowly but surely Ron and Randall are producing their own work for Saturday shows in hopes of debuting something new in a year or so. One idea: a show based on Ron’s meteorite hunt earlier this year. Tentative title? “How to Catch a Falling Star.” Catchy. Do you think fifth graders would like that?  

by Nancy thai