What if things at a 1990s movie theater went wonderfully, mysteriously wrong?
That’s the premise behind Atlas9, the interactive art experience that’s catching attention nationwide, most recently landing the No. 2 spot for Best New Attraction in the United States in USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards.
“It sounds corny, but there’s kind of something for everybody here,” says Randall Statler, executive creative director for Atlas9. “You’ll find infants who are wide-eyed and a 90-year-old will also be wide-eyed and bewildered by what they’re seeing, for very different reasons, but all unified through the splendor.”
At its core, Atlas9 is a walkthrough attraction where visitors explore themed environments (including a 1940s jazz club, retro arcade, speakeasy and pizza parlor), each representing scenes from fictional movies that once played at the theater. Guests can choose their level of engagement: treat it as a visual art installation to wander through, or become an investigator piecing together what happened to the theater by examining clues and uncovering storylines.
To add another layer, live performers from Quixotic appear in structured shows and also weave through the attraction. “You may take a blind corner and all of a sudden you’re eye to eye with a woman performing in a science fiction costume,” Statler says.
Front-of-house staff play “agents” from FACADE (Field Agency for the Control of Aberrations and Divergent Energies), a fictional organization that helps guests navigate through the experience. “It’s performative hospitality,” Statler says. “Guests can really tell that the staff enjoy and love their jobs.”
The experience is the brainchild of Dimensional Innovations, an Overland Park-based company that Statler affectionately describes as “a Willy Wonka factory meets Home Depot.” For more than three decades, the firm has designed everything from sports stadium signage and museum exhibits to children’s hospital installations and corporate experience centers. Their portfolio includes work at SoFi and Mercedes-Benz stadiums and practically every major arena in the country.
But Atlas9 marks something different: a venture in creating an attraction for themselves. The project’s beginnings date back to the Covid pandemic, when the company reflected on its ability to make experiences in their own right.
“We had a long history of making things for other people,” Statler says. “We decided, could we do something ourselves, for ourselves?”
The venue also seats a 240-seat movie theater with 180-degree projection mapping and a stage for live performance, creating what Statler calls a “chassis” that can accommodate film festivals, fundraisers and community events. On February 21, Atlas9 will host Cinemorphia, a regional student-driven animated film festival that Statler sees as major for the venue’s potential. Limited tickets will be available to the public in early February at tickets.atlas9.com.
As for the future, Atlas9 plans to continue evolving its narrative, borrowing from the playbook of cinema. “We want to have plot twists, story changes, character developments, sequels,” Statler says.
The USA Today recognition honors the countless individuals who have brought Atlas9 to life. “Whether you’re an engineer or an artist or an illustrator or a fabricator or installer or electrician—there are countless skill sets,” Statler says. “The validation and recognition means a lot to the people who put their lives into this place.”
Whether you want to commit to unraveling the mystery of Atlas9 or simply soak in the grandeur of it all, the attraction delivers something rare: a one-of-a-kind experience that proves KC can hold its own in the world of immersive entertainment. 1100 N. 98th St., KCK. atlas9.com.
