Every year around this time, movie theaters, like the AMC at Easton Town Center, are packed with holiday shoppers who are looking for a couple hours break from the crowed stores and streets. With holiday blockbusters in full swing, traditional movie theaters might not be that breath of fresh air and relaxation one is looking for.

But for a short period of time, COSI is offering another substitute with their winter series in the Dome Theater. According to COSI’s Web site, the Dome Theater seats 221 people and features a “unique, tilted 60-foot projection dome” on which the movies are played.
 

“It’s a room where you sit back in a nice, comfortable seat and you’re sitting under a 180-degree, curved half sphere,” said Kate Storm, the director of experience development at COSI. “The projection screen is the entire dome above you, and the images completely cover that. We’ve got surround sound in there and nice, bright images.”
 

Storm said the dome, also known as the planetarium, has been closed the past several years. But from Nov. 27 through Jan. 3, COSI will be showing three different presentations in the dome: “Holiday Music Magic,” “Mystery of the Christmas Star” and “Universe.”
 

It’s Storm’s job to help develop the traveling, temporary and permanent exhibits at COSI. For the traveling shows, she researches what traveling exhibits already exist, and then makes recommendations to a team of people about what could be successful at COSI.

However, if COSI is looking to produce something original, prototypes of potential learning experiences are made before developing any exhibits.
 

“For the holiday season this year, we rented some really cool full-dome projection equipment, and we installed it in the dome theater,” Storm said. “It’s got this very cool, immersed effect.”
 

Storm said there are only a couple of companies that provide dome theater equipment, and COSI was able to obtain some of the best. Evans and Sutherland, a digital planetarium system provider, rented the projectors and produced the “Universe” and “Mystery of the Christmas Star” shows. The Clark Planetarium produced the “Holiday Music Magic” show. Both organizations are located in Salt Lake City, Utah.
 

The “Holiday Music Magic” show is entirely computer animated and synchronized to Christmas music, Storm said.
 

The show “takes you through a house and town, and all these crazy things come to life,” she said. “It’s all fun, crazy stuff in a sort of cartoon style. It’s got some traditional holiday music, but it’s also got some of the more popular ones you hear on the radio this time of year.”
 

Some of the musical artists include Mannheim Steamroller, Burl Ives and Brenda Lee. Each show lasts about 40 minutes.
 

“Mystery of the Christmas Star” analyses a possible scientific explanation for the star that the biblical wise men followed to find the baby Jesus. The show investigates recorded sightings of important astronomical events in the period Jesus was born.
 

The “Universe” show takes a historical look at ancient sites that have astronomical significance. Audiences are then shown what modern scientists and space explorers are seeing in the sky.
 

Before each show begins, Storm said the audience is shown a live picture of the sky, in which, depending on the weather and astrological alignment they will be able to see stars and even planets that they would otherwise miss.
 

Tickets are $4 per person for each show, and a list of show schedules can be found atcosi.org/dometheater.