More Adventures Await Moviegoers At

Connecticut’s IMAX Theater This Summer

SOUTH NORWALK — The IMAX Theater at The Maritime Aquarium is known for taking audiences into the depths of the Amazon, the top of Mount Everest or the beaches of the Galapagos. This summer, audiences visiting 10 North Water Street can enjoy two more adventures — going into the heart of rock and roll and journeying into one of Earth’s last unexplored frontiers.

All Access: Front Row. Backstage. Live! is a concert film currently being screened every Saturday and Sunday at 5 pm in the state’s only IMAX theater.

Weave through the arena parking lot filled with tour buses, semis and performers’ limousines and step through the door of the Artists’ Entrance, marked “Authorized Personnel Only!” Follow a security guard as he walks down the winding hallways beneath the stage, climbs the stairs past the lighting consoles and steps over snakes of cable on the floor.

Pass electricians adjusting speakers, musicians tuning their instruments, sound engineers in front of their mixing boards and sit right on stage during Sound Check. Listen in on dressing room conversations between artists as they warm up their voices, pull on their stage clothes, stretch their muscles and prepare for the show.

All Access provides unrestricted behind-the-scenes admission to rehearsals, sound checks, dressing rooms and conversations between the likes of Carlos Santana, Sting, Al Green, George Clinton, B.B. King, Dave Matthews Band, Moby, Sheryl Crow, Rob Thomas (matchbox twenty), Mary J. Blige, Kid Rock, Macy Gray, The Roots, Trey Anastasio of Phish and Cheb Mami. The film is a collection of live performances and revealing backstage moments featuring an eclectic mix of platinum-selling recording artists.

Until now, the only way to get this kind of access to such musical greats was with a coveted backstage pass. Performances were filmed in Los Angeles, New Jersey, New York and Chicago.

The film’s producers, brothers Jon and Peter Shapiro of Ideal Entertainment, say their desire was to make the “ultimate music-driven film.” That desire was fulfilled not only through solo performances but also collaborations most people would never have the chance to see in real life.

With a mutual love of the giant screen film format and complementary backgrounds — Peter is the owner of the popular live music venue Wetlands Preserve in New York City and has filmmaking experience (Tie-Died, American Road), while Jon is a Hollywood-based feature film producer (Richie Rich, Big Brass Ring and the upcoming Curious George) who has also worked in music production — the brothers decided to pool their efforts and realize their vision by featuring the best live performers in music on the giant IMAX screen.

“A lot of people told us we could never get major artists to participate in this film, that only a big movie studio or record label had the clout to pull it off,” said Peter Shapiro. “Well, it took a lot of hard work and tenacity, but here we are. I think the artists also realized they would be somewhat immortalized in an IMAX film and could reach fans — existing and new — throughout the world without having to tour far and wide.”

In addition to presenting top artists in virtually every genre of rock music popular today, the Shapiro brothers also devised a theme for All Access that they thought would help set it apart.

“We wanted to offer audiences a collection of collaborative performances that they would never get to see again in real life,” Jon explained. “We believe IMAX films have the strongest impact when they take you to places you would never get to go in real life, whether that’s scaling Mt Everest, flying on the Space Shuttle, or being a VIP at the ultimate rock concert.”

Moviegoers can witness the collaborations between B.B. King, The Roots and Trey Anastasio. The legendary bluesman, the hip-hop group and the singer and guitarist (and frontman of the band Phish) join forces for an unprecedented and updated performance of King’s classic “Rock Me Baby.”

Afternoon rehearsal melds seamlessly into a live evening performance before an audience of 10,000 as pop superstar Sting performs his chart-topping song “Desert Rose” with rai singer and popular European star Chai Mami.

The sultry Sheryl Crow turns in an intimate, heartfelt performance of her hit “If It Makes You Happy.” Seated along on a rehearsal stage, clad in jeans and a velvet jacket, the singer-songwriter accompanies herself on acoustic guitar in a memorable unplugged performance of her hit song.

Seven of the nine musical performances in All Access were shot in controlled environments — with camera and microphone placement optimized for the IMAX film. However, Sting’s duet with Mami and Dave Matthews Band’s performance with Green were captured during actual concerts during ongoing tours in New Jersey and Chicago, respectively. IMAX audiences benefit from the presence of five large-format IMAX cameras at each live performance.

The movie also features interviews conducted by Anthony DeCurtis, who is widely recognized as one of the leading rock and roll journalists today. He is a contributing editor for Rolling Stone magazine.

The superior visual impact of the IMAX screen is complemented by six channels of Digital Surround Sound amplified by 12,000 watts of power, thereby offering concert-scale sounds that is perfectly mixed and distortion free.

Tickets for All Access are $12 and can be purchased in advance by calling 203-852-0700, extension 2206, Monday through Friday between 9 am and 4:30 pm, or at any Aquarium ticket counter.

Journeying Into Caves

Infinitely mysterious and radical by definition, caves are one of Earth’s last unexplored frontiers. For those compelled to push their limits in the world’s most hostile environments, the risk of fatal dancer and the thrill of new discovery are the everyday factors that make cave exploration such an awe-inspiring experience.

For its 25th giant screen film, MacGillivray Freeman Films has released Journey Into Amazing Caves, which invited moviegoers to experience the mysterious world of the underground: the amazing world of caves. (MacGillivray Greeman was also the production company that made large-format history with its ground-breaking IMAX adventure Everest, which continues to be presented on weekends at The Maritime Aquarium.)

Journey Into Amazing Caves is an expedition with a new breed of scientists who boldly explore places once thought off limits to human presence, let along IMAX cameras. For this movie, scientists joined with a team of intrepid filmmakers to bring back unprecedented footage from unique and forbidding ice caves, underwater caves and terrestrial caves.

For the first time, audiences in the comfort of a movie theater can squeeze into Earth’s alien, hidden realms while guided by two female cavers on the quest of a lifetime: Daring to enter caves so remote and so threatening that exploring them is like exploring a new planet.

During the screening of Journey Into Amazing Caves, audiences wriggle through tiny, twisting passages, drop into gleaming blue labyrinths of ice, swim through flooded underground vaults, and enter a world so extreme the microscopic creatures who live there are called extremophiles. Audiences also circle the globe, stopping in the hot, lush Yucatán; dropping into barren, frozen Greenland; and flying above the primitive red rock Arizona desert.

Expedition leaders Dr Hazel Barton and Nancy Aulenbach rappel down steep cliffs into unmapped chambers, hoping to bring back startling new discoveries that may unlock new cures for human disease.

The film is narrated by the internationally acclaimed actor Liam Neeson and features new songs and performances by the classic rock band The Moody Blues. In addition, the band’s Justin Haward recorded guitar overlays for the orchestration of earlier Moody Blues songs, including “Nights in White Satin.”

“We think audiences will walk out of the theater feeling they were part of an incredible caving expedition,” says director Steve Judson. “Audiences will learn about the sport and science of caving, they’ll visit fascinating places and meet colorful characters, and, most of all, they’ll get a first-hand look at some of the world’s most extreme and exciting environments.”

Through Labor Day, Journey Into Amazing Caves is being presented daily at 11 am, noon, and 1, 2 and 3 pm. Tickets for this film are $6.75 for adults, $5.75 for seniors, and $5 for children ages 2 to 12. Discounted combination tickets that include aquarium admission are also available.

For more information about The Maritime Aquarium, its IMAX movie presentation, or other details, call 203-852-0700 or visit www.MaritimeAquarium.org.