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The Rock Bridge Planetarium will host laser shows today through Jan. 12. Lasers will fly across the ceiling to go along with 40 of the top rock and roll classics. Throughout the day tomorrow, the Planetarium will have a free half-hour preview to the Laser Mania show, which will be on Saturday in the Planetarium.

“Those are real lasers coming from a laser projection unit that has three colors: a red, green and blue laser,” Melanie Knocke, instructor, said. “We are renting it from Prismatic Magic, a laser rental business.”

Although the preview shows during the school day have been free to students, for the hour-long shows, each person will be charged $5 to enter because “we are going to pay for the rental then put the rest towards some new planetarium shows,” Knocke said.

Alp Kahveci, a junior, attended the laser show preview to Laser Mania during Thursday’s Bruin Block.

“I thought that [the laser show] was an original idea with some very creative designs to go along with the music, although the music was a little bit outdated,” Kahveci said. “The best laser work would have to be when they displayed the different athletes running around and performing to a different extent and how that fit with the music in the background.”

On Friday night, there will be two Laser Pink Floyd shows, each one hour long, starting at 7 p.m. and at 8 p.m.

There will be two different shows on Saturday, each showing two times. Laser Mania will be at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. and Laser U2 will be at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m, similar to the Pink Floyd show.

In honor of Black History Month, Knocke said, there will be a free show on Sunday at 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. with parts of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and some classic musicals made by Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Chuck Berry, Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin, with a laser spectacle accompanying each.

In order to attend each show, you must reserve a ticket at the Planetarium website in advance. [box title=”Free Shows Friday”]First Block – 9:30-10 am – Laser Mania preview and star tour Second Block – 10:30-11 am – Laser Mania preview and star tour Bruin Block 1 – 12:10-12:30 – Laser Mania preview Bruin Block 2 – 12:40-1 pm – Laser Mania preview Third Block – 2-2:30 pm – Laser Mania preview and star tour Fourth Block – 2:45-3:15 – Laser Mania preview and star tour[/box] By Abdul-Rahman Abdul-Kafi
Have you seen the laser show? What did you think?