Monday, August 09, 2004

Enthusiast Fails Spectacularly to Design Dark Ride Themed After Gounoud's Faust

In what he describes as "an incredible experience," coaster and classical music enthusiast Kirk James failed spectacularly to design an elaborately themed dark ride after attending an presentation of an obscure operatic version of the legendary Faust story.

"I'd seen this kick-ass presentation of the opera at some community college with an amazing viola section, and I started to think, 'Hey, this could work at Islands of Adventure!'" said James in an exclusive ARN&R interview. "So I started some drawings and ended up with a two-inch binder of materials to send down to Universal."

The ride he imagined opened, as did the opera, with Faust wearing, for no identifiable reason, a Klingon mask, only to remove it upon striking a deal with the devil. But instead of launching into, for example, a high-speed coaster-style ride a la "Revenge of the Mummy," reflecting Faust's adventures with the devil on his side, James's design contemplated riders sitting in unmoving seats for approximately seven hours of opera.

James insisted that riders would not get bored, thanks to the surtitles with translations of what was happening on stage. "That makes opera rock, and the kids'll love it! Also, the chick I have in mind to play Faust's girlfriend will smile inappropriately at every moment, including during the time at which she's killing her unborn baby, so that'll be fun too," said James. The ride will conclude with riders taking what James described as "a wild and crazy ride" on an enormous viola bow.

Universal ride engineers, reached for comment, said they did not expect to install the Faust ride at any point during the coming two eons. "But could you have him send in more proposals? That stuff's funny!" they added.

James is reportedly in the process of developing a modified Tilt-A-Whirl to be based on Wagner's Ring Cycle.