kellymonaghan
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- Joined
- Apr 25, 2000
Here's the new storyline at Poseidon's Fury, at least as experienced during this afternoon's soft opening.
WARNING: Lots of spoilers follow.
Little has changed in the queue except for signage from "Global Discovery Group" telling us that we are in an ancient temple dedicated to Poseidon and that it is believed to contain hidden chambers as yet undiscovered.
As we reach the front of the queue line, we hear a static filled walkie-talkie transmission: "Get out of the temple! If you can hear my voice, get out of the temple!"
Then we are greeted by Taylor a very young and very nervous volunteer assistant to Professor Baxter. The prof seems to have disappeared along with everyone else on the dig while Taylor was on a lunch break. Too bad, beacuse the professor had announced the discovery of a "secret message" but disappeared before he could tell anyone what it was. Taylor, played by a young guy or gal, gamely carries on with our tour.
The first chamber, which Taylor tells us is the Chamber of Sacrifices, now contains an altar and new wall paintings depicting the new storyline. The hole from which the Keeper used to appear is still there but is unused (at least in the version I saw).
Apparently, legend has it that a high priest of the temple, Lord Darkenon (spelling?), seized power from Poseidon sparking a battle in which all perished and that the spirits of those combatants still haunt the ruined temple. There is another, terrified transmission on the walkie-talkie from Professor Baxter after which all the lights go out.
Taylor grabs an ultraviolet lamp for illumination and in so doing reveals the hidden message written on the frieze that circles the chamber. Fortunately, the ancient Greeks had the foresight to write the message in English so Taylor can read it aloud. This turns out to be a big mistake because reading the message aloud awakens the spirit of Darkenon, who opens the secret passage to the next room.
In this chamber, the portal remains but the room has been redone as a cobweb-draped chamber filled with treasure and the skeletons of enormous warrior-guardians. Darkenon seals us in and demands that Taylor find the trident of Poseidon or die. Taylor instead decides to try to pry open the door and, seeking something to use as a crowbar, unknowingly picks up...tah-dah!...Poseidon's trident.
This, in turn, wakens a goddess whose face appears above the portal.She can't grant Taylor's request to send us home but she can admit us to the heart of the temple and the portal begins to turn and open, just as it did in the old show.
The vortex, too, is the same, although it seemed hotter and more humid than I remember it.
When we enter the third and final chamber, the walls are down. (In the old show they were up.) After some more byplay between Taylor and the spirit of Lord Darkenon, there is a (literally) blinding flash of light followed by darkness. By the time our eyes have adjusted the walls have disappeared and we are in the vast chamber in which, in the old show, Zeus and Poseidon battled it out.
This time Poseidon is the good guy. Some of the animated background that in the old show depicted Atlantis has been retained, but Darkenon and Poseidon are portrayed by human actors. Taylor threads his/her away among the rocks, as the Keeeper used to do, and returns Poseidon's trident to the hand of a wobbly white statue of the god. This prompts Poseidon's appearance.
The battle between the forces of Good (Poseidon) and Evil (Lord Darkenon) follows the broad outline of the old one between Zeus and Poseidon. After Poseidon triumphs (Duh!), the underwater city (which is never identified as Atlantis) begins to blow apart (just as in the old show) and Poseidon uses his power to save us. Once more the walls reappear and we exit the show.
I'm not altogether sure if the new show will quiet the complaints of those who didn't like the original. In fact, I would be willing to wager that if you didn't like the old show, you won't much care for the new version. It didn't seem all that much more intense to me, although when I was standing in the very front row for the battle, the fireballs were eyebrow-singeing. I got to see it twice before they shut it down again and both audiences I saw it with gave it a modest round of applause.
I liked it, too. But then I liked the original a lot. And, of course, this was a soft opening so all the elements may not be in place yet. I know that there were some fireballs in the first show that weren't in the second. Even in the old show, I was never sure if I had ever seen all of the intended effects go off in any single show.
One major improvement: Now that the live actor is a young person playing a young person (instead of a young person playing an ancient old man), I am no longer annoyed by the cheap wig and beard.
WARNING: Lots of spoilers follow.
Little has changed in the queue except for signage from "Global Discovery Group" telling us that we are in an ancient temple dedicated to Poseidon and that it is believed to contain hidden chambers as yet undiscovered.
As we reach the front of the queue line, we hear a static filled walkie-talkie transmission: "Get out of the temple! If you can hear my voice, get out of the temple!"
Then we are greeted by Taylor a very young and very nervous volunteer assistant to Professor Baxter. The prof seems to have disappeared along with everyone else on the dig while Taylor was on a lunch break. Too bad, beacuse the professor had announced the discovery of a "secret message" but disappeared before he could tell anyone what it was. Taylor, played by a young guy or gal, gamely carries on with our tour.
The first chamber, which Taylor tells us is the Chamber of Sacrifices, now contains an altar and new wall paintings depicting the new storyline. The hole from which the Keeper used to appear is still there but is unused (at least in the version I saw).
Apparently, legend has it that a high priest of the temple, Lord Darkenon (spelling?), seized power from Poseidon sparking a battle in which all perished and that the spirits of those combatants still haunt the ruined temple. There is another, terrified transmission on the walkie-talkie from Professor Baxter after which all the lights go out.
Taylor grabs an ultraviolet lamp for illumination and in so doing reveals the hidden message written on the frieze that circles the chamber. Fortunately, the ancient Greeks had the foresight to write the message in English so Taylor can read it aloud. This turns out to be a big mistake because reading the message aloud awakens the spirit of Darkenon, who opens the secret passage to the next room.
In this chamber, the portal remains but the room has been redone as a cobweb-draped chamber filled with treasure and the skeletons of enormous warrior-guardians. Darkenon seals us in and demands that Taylor find the trident of Poseidon or die. Taylor instead decides to try to pry open the door and, seeking something to use as a crowbar, unknowingly picks up...tah-dah!...Poseidon's trident.
This, in turn, wakens a goddess whose face appears above the portal.She can't grant Taylor's request to send us home but she can admit us to the heart of the temple and the portal begins to turn and open, just as it did in the old show.
The vortex, too, is the same, although it seemed hotter and more humid than I remember it.
When we enter the third and final chamber, the walls are down. (In the old show they were up.) After some more byplay between Taylor and the spirit of Lord Darkenon, there is a (literally) blinding flash of light followed by darkness. By the time our eyes have adjusted the walls have disappeared and we are in the vast chamber in which, in the old show, Zeus and Poseidon battled it out.
This time Poseidon is the good guy. Some of the animated background that in the old show depicted Atlantis has been retained, but Darkenon and Poseidon are portrayed by human actors. Taylor threads his/her away among the rocks, as the Keeeper used to do, and returns Poseidon's trident to the hand of a wobbly white statue of the god. This prompts Poseidon's appearance.
The battle between the forces of Good (Poseidon) and Evil (Lord Darkenon) follows the broad outline of the old one between Zeus and Poseidon. After Poseidon triumphs (Duh!), the underwater city (which is never identified as Atlantis) begins to blow apart (just as in the old show) and Poseidon uses his power to save us. Once more the walls reappear and we exit the show.
I'm not altogether sure if the new show will quiet the complaints of those who didn't like the original. In fact, I would be willing to wager that if you didn't like the old show, you won't much care for the new version. It didn't seem all that much more intense to me, although when I was standing in the very front row for the battle, the fireballs were eyebrow-singeing. I got to see it twice before they shut it down again and both audiences I saw it with gave it a modest round of applause.
I liked it, too. But then I liked the original a lot. And, of course, this was a soft opening so all the elements may not be in place yet. I know that there were some fireballs in the first show that weren't in the second. Even in the old show, I was never sure if I had ever seen all of the intended effects go off in any single show.
One major improvement: Now that the live actor is a young person playing a young person (instead of a young person playing an ancient old man), I am no longer annoyed by the cheap wig and beard.
