The famous facade of the Cathedral of St. Paul has served as the back drop for the Red Bull Crashed Ice extreme sport spectacle.
Now it's going to become a holy drive-in theater.
Thanks to the Cathedral Heritage Foundation, a large-scale sound-and-light show designed by a British company, Luxmuralis, will be projected on the granite walls of the church for three nights this month.
The 12-minute show, "Cathedral Illuminated: The Manger," will tell the story of the birth of Jesus Christ and will be available to be seen by the public from their vehicles while parked along Summit Avenue.
The show will run on a continuous loop from 6 to 9 p.m., Thursday through Saturday. During that time, police will direct traffic so that Summit Avenue will have two lanes going north toward the front of the Cathedral, but one lane the opposing direction.
Vehicles will be able to park on the road to watch the show while listening to an original score broadcast on a hyperlocal radio frequency at 103.3 FM. Spectators are asked to remain in their cars, and pedestrian traffic in the area will be restricted.
The animated images in the show will feature stained glass windows from churches around the world and will conclude with an image of the "Black Madonna and Child" stained glass window from Our Lady of Assumption church in Charlotte, N.C.
According to the Cathedral Heritage Foundation, the image was chosen in remembrance of George Floyd and to honor Black mothers and children everywhere.
The show in St. Paul will run concurrently with the same production projected on the Lichfield Cathedral in England.
The show also will be streamed live on the Cathedral Heritage Foundation's Facebook page from 6 to 7:30 p.m. each night.
Richard Chin • 612-673-1775
