Marathon Petroleum Company LP to Sponsor New Nighttime Show at Cedar Point

SANDUSKY, Ohio, March 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Marathon Petroleum Company LP (Marathon) will add even more dazzle to Cedar Point when it sponsors a spectacular new nighttime music and light show this summer at the Sandusky, Ohio, amusement park resort.

Called American Portrait, the new attraction will feature exciting music, high-def digitized video, advanced lighting system and an extensive display of colorful pyrotechnics that will illuminate the evening sky.

"American Portrait is dedicated to the Spirit of America," said John Hildebrandt, vice president and general manager of Cedar Point.  "It will combine patriotic and contemporary music with unique images of American life.  The program will be fast-paced, uplifting and will be enjoyed by everyone in the family."

The 15-minute program will be presented nightly beginning Friday, June 3 through Sunday, Aug. 21.  American Portrait will be shown on the park's huge 3,600-square-foot projection screen located on the Iron Dragon Midway.  On most nights, American Portrait is scheduled to be shown at 10 p.m.

The park's first nighttime sound and light show, The Summer Spectacular, began in 1995 as part of Cedar Point's 125th anniversary celebration.

"We are proud to join Cedar Point in bringing this patriotic salute to the park," said Tom Kelley, Marathon's Senior Vice President Marketing.  "The brilliance and high energy of the new American Portrait nighttime show will be the perfect ending to a visit to Cedar Point."

In addition to American Portrait, Cedar Point will also have a new show in the Jack Aldrich Theatre plus live music in two other theaters, an ice skating show featuring the PEANUTS characters, a thrilling stunt show with inline skaters and skateboarders and sing-a-longs with Snoopy and his friends.

Marathon is an integrated international energy company engaged in exploration and production; oil sands mining; integrated gas; and refining, marketing and transportation operations. Marathon, which is based in Houston, has principal operations in the United States, Angola, Canada, Equatorial Guinea, Indonesia, Iraqi Kurdistan Region, Libya, Norway, Poland and the United Kingdom. Marathon is the fourth largest United States-based integrated oil company and the nation's fifth largest refiner.

For more information, please visit http://www.marathon.com or cedarpoint.com.

SOURCE Cedar Point