South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
‘All Systems Are Go’ show features ‘Peanuts’ gang, puppets at space center
A new show at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex will involve Artemis, puppetry, jazz, laser projectors and characters from the “Peanuts” comic strip.
The “All Systems Are Go” experience is set to debut March 24.
In the attraction’s story, Snoopy and Woodstock are called by a launch director to assist with a NASA mission.
The 20-minute show will be produced in the complex’s 300-seat Universe Theater, which has been updated with screens, lights and projectors.
The show will use more than a dozen 4- to 5-foottall articulated characters operated by puppeteers to represent Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, Sally, Marcie, Franklin, Snoopy and Woodstock.
The characters narrate the story from the stage and interact with video mapping and the soundtrack.
“We have been working hard to make sure that our multigenerational appeal extends to our youngest space explorers,” Therrin Protze, chief operating officer of Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, said in a news release. “This new show will delight guests of all ages as it features the lovable Peanuts characters and Snoopy, who has contributed to the excitement for NASA human spaceflight missions for more than 50 years.”
The show’s concept, story and music were created by Ella Louise Allaire and Martin Lord Ferguson of the Montreal-based production company, Monlove.
It also produced “Ice Age Live! A Mammoth Adventure” and the upcoming theatrical and musical stage show “Bugs Bunny’s Great Big Musical Extravaganza — A Looney Tunes Spectacular.”
The joint effort “is a fantastic avenue for fans to learn about Peanuts and NASA’s storied history as well as experience Charles Schulz’s iconic characters in a new and exciting way,” Craig Herman, vice president, global brand experiences and publishing for Peanuts Worldwide, said in a news release.
The visitor complex’s last major addition was Gateway: The Deep Space Launch Complex, which opened last spring.