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DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE ONLINE MAGAZINE
Destination Solar System Celebrates 10 Years of Shows in the Gates Planetarium
This Live Show Takes You on a Funny, Educational Trip Through Our Solar System
Educator Performer Kenya Fashaw performs as Jesse in the Destination Solar System show in the Gates Planetarium. (Photo/ Kelsi Cowan)
I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Led by live actors, you can take an immersive trip through our solar system in the Museum's Gates Planetarium multiple times per day, every day of the week. Here you will experience the wonders of the cosmos – from methane rain falling on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, to the immense depths of Valles Marineris on Mars, the largest canyon in the solar system – along with many other fantastic destinations beyond our Earth's atmosphere.
Set in the year 2096, the show Destination Solar System takes place at a time when technology has advanced to the point where space tourism is a thing and you get to travel up out of the atmosphere with an inexperienced tour guide “Jesse” and their talking computer assistant “Max.”
Educator Performer Kristina Hasselkus has been playing Jesse Museum since the show started over a decade ago. The role is a challenging one to learn because it requires memorizing a 45-page script that's carefully timed to line up with Max’s pre-recorded dialogue and the show’s visuals and sound effects.
Destination Solar System is a live show in the Gates Planetarium that takes guests on an imaginative and educational journey through the solar system. (Photo/ DMNS)
Though the show relies on humor and imagination to take passengers on a journey to the nearest planets, the science is all very real: “There really are volcanoes on Io and, you know, there really is Valles Marineris on Mars, so there's lots of real facts in there,” said Hasselkus.
Every two years, the Museum typically will add at least two new Jesses to the show. Program Coordinator Kelsi Cowan explained that the Museum now boasts a total of 16 trained Jesses and that each one of them has added their “own spin” to the role.
To commemorate the 10-year anniversary on Nov. 15, the Museum’s Educator Performers team gathered as many of the actors who have played or are currently playing Jesse as possible to hold “Jesse Olympics games” and share memories of their years together working on the show. The show requires costume changes, and each Jesse has their own delivery for the punchlines and dramatic action, so the actors competed in a series of challenges to show off their individual approach to the character.
Educator Performer Jose Zuniga competes in the “Jesse Olympics games” to commemorate 10 years of Destination Solar System shows. (Photo/ Kelsi Cowan)
Hasselkus particularly enjoyed how the children who see the show, especially the third and fourth graders, can easily enter a world of imagination where their flight into space has really happened.
“You always have the kids at the end and they're like, did we really go into space? And you have to be like, yes, we really went to space.” said Hasselkus. “They want to believe.”
While the show originated at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science is one of the few institutions that still puts it on as a live performance. While there are many live performances at the Museum throughout the year, Destination Solar System is one of the most accessible ones you can catch on a daily basis.
For Cowan, it’s humbling to think that over a quarter million guests – not including school groups – have enjoyed the show over the past decade: “Destination Solar System represents the very best of what we do: making science exciting, imaginative, and fun for everyone.”
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Destination Solar System, the Museum’s Educator Performers team brought together past and present actors who have played Jesse for Museum guests. (Photo/ Kelsi Cowan)
One day, space travel may be part of everyday life. Until then, children and families from across the Front Range and beyond can embark on an imaginative journey into the stars at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, traveling alongside Jesse and Max in the Gates Planetarium’s Destination Solar System.
Learn more about all of our upcoming Gates Planetarium shows, here!
