Tied up alongside a pier on the Wilmington river front, the 728-ft. battle ship U.S.S. North Carolina by day looks like just another battleship saved from the scrap heap to serve as a war memorial. But at night she comes alive.
In an hourlong adaptation of the son et lumière technique first developed in France, the North Carolina carries spectators through a dramatized history of its battle-scarred career, from launching to war's end. The production involves 58 stereophonic speakers scattered about the ship and synchronized with 2,000 multicolored lights.
"I am 'The Showboat' of my day, a full ship of the...