Nostalgia is a big drawcard for the 1.1 million visitors who stream through the grinning entrance of Luna Park Sydney every year.
The heritage-listed amusement park could probably just coast on past glories and its harbourside location, but the venue’s management is keen to innovate.
Luna Park’s Dream Circus is an immersive show enabled by a $15 million high-tech fitout of the Big Top.
Its newest exhibit, Dream Circus, is opening on Friday in the Big Top. The multimedia experience designed for Luna Park by Artists in Motion is expected to attract 50,000 people over summer.
In a juxtaposition of old and new, the exhibit is next to Coney Island, purportedly the only surviving 1930s funhouse in the world. Similarly, while Dream Circus deploys the latest visual and auditory technology, its storyline and aesthetic harks back to mid 20th-century circuses.
There are screens at the front and sides and projections on the floor and ceiling, and the 3D technology for the main screen is deceptively effective. Sometimes I had to remind myself that it was a recording, not actual live performers standing on stage behind a mesh barrier.
The ride on the rollercoaster was stunningly realistic, simulating both the speed and perspective as you climb the rise and then plummet down. It’s a great way to experience the thrill without the fear of whiplash.
My favourite parts were stylised rather than realistic. I loved a beautiful scene where two people were in a rowboat in the middle of an ocean. The swirling waves were in the style of mechanical theatre set props painted in art deco style, and the clouds were drawn in a similar style with silver outlines, filled in with different shades of grey and blue. I’m no artist, but it made me want to bust out some coloured pens and pencils and draw.
A scene with vintage planes and aerial acrobatics in Dream Circus.
I also loved a scene with acrobats performing somersaults on the wings of vintage planes, and another with colourful octopuses performing a synchronised swimming routine. I was less convinced by the magician growing a forest because the giant spiders were a bit off-putting. If you’re in the front row, they appear to scuttle over your feet.
The thrill without the whiplash: Luna Park’s new attraction is a dream
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21.12.2023
Nostalgia is a big drawcard for the 1.1 million visitors who stream through the grinning entrance of Luna Park Sydney every year.
The heritage-listed amusement park could probably just coast on past glories and its harbourside location, but the venue’s management is keen to innovate.
Luna Park’s Dream Circus is an immersive show enabled by a $15 million high-tech fitout of the Big Top.
Its newest exhibit, Dream Circus, is opening on Friday in the Big Top. The multimedia experience designed for Luna Park by Artists in Motion is expected........
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