Friday, March 29, 2024

Issue 93 editorial: Looking back to the future

by Martin Palicki, InPark Magazine Publisher

While in London for IAAPA Expo Europe in September, I had the opportunity to see Back to the Future: The Musical, which I hate to admit, I wasn’t even aware was a thing until I looked for a show to see. This performance happened to take place only several hours after Queen Elizabeth had passed. As the royal family had insisted, the show was determined to go on as planned. After two minutes of standing in complete silence, the cast and crew put on a spectacular performance. The string of events reminded me how resilient our entertainment industry is, and also how important it is for people seeking escape, or a few moments of joy and happiness.

Without giving too much away, one of the secret stars of the show is the DeLorean time machine car. The combination of projection and LED screen technology with carefully orchestrated movements of the prop car brought scenes from the original Back to the Future film to life. In fact there were several moments during the show where I got what I like to call “creative butterflies.” Those are moments where I get a little giddy experiencing something amazing that our industry helped to create. This tends to happen frequently while watching the sizzle reels for projects highlighted during the annual TEA Thea Awards Gala.

Even though I play no direct role in the creation of these attractions and experiences, I still feel lucky to be connected to this amazing industry of creative professionals. I think all of us – from the folks who process purchase orders to the workers who press ride dispatch buttons – have an awful lot to be proud of. What our industry collectively accomplishes includes putting a ton of smiles on faces around the world.

Alif, The Mobility Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, posed the question: What good is it to envision an elevated technological future if we don’t also consider elevating collective happiness at the same time? I think the themed entertainment industry goes a long way towards achieving that exact outcome of both technological advancement and greater happiness. Along with the entire InPark team, I say a hearty “thank you” to each and every one of you!

Martin Palicki
Martin Palicki
Martin Palicki owns and publishes InPark Magazine. Started in 2004, InPark Magazine provides owners and operators the perspective from "in"side the "park." Martin has also written for publications like Sound & Communications, Lighting & Sound America, Attractions Management and others. Martin has been featured in Time Magazine, CNN.com and Folio. Martin lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.

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