The unveils its $9 million "Power of Rock" theater Saturday, which features a seat-rumbling film of inductees by director Jonathan Demme.
The new theater is bathed in purple light and dwarfed by speaker columns, which ties in with with his now-legendary performance of The Beatles鈥� 鈥淲hile My Guitar Gently Weeps.鈥� The short film is the centerpiece of the 鈥淧ower of Rock鈥� experience. Lead designer Christian Lachel says visitors will see footage they鈥檝e never seen before from 32 years鈥� worth of induction ceremonies.
鈥淓ven though you may have seen , if you go in and actually look at the cut and you look at the different cameras, a lot of these have never been seen by the public. There鈥檚 just shots that would make no sense, but emotionally they made sense.鈥�
Jonathan Demme is best known for "Silence of the Lambs," "Philadelphia" and the Talking Heads' documentary "Stop Making Sense." His short film on Rock Hall inductees was his final work before he passed away from cancer earlier this year.
Glenn Hughes, bassist for , was on-hand for the preview, and said the theater helps showcase the healing power of music.
鈥淚 know for a fact that this extremely incredible place that I鈥檓 standing in right now changes the lives of many people around our planet. And I鈥檓 so honored to be part of this establishment. This is the Power of Rock experience: let you freak flag fly.鈥�
The Power of Rock is the gateway to a set of interactive exhibits in which visitors can share their stories. The backlit glass walls featuring inductees' signatures have been retired, and will be replaced with a new exhibit in time for next spring's induction ceremony in Cleveland.
