A mommy T, rex spends time with her baby. PHOTO BY DAVID SCHEINMANN
We can’t know exactly what life was like during the Triassic or Cretaceous periods when dinosaurs walked the Earth. Science offers some clues, and the entertainment industry has its own approach. Walking With Dinosaurs, which started as a BBC TV series in 1999, has evolved into an impressive stage show, and will visit Southern California this month.
The production Walking With Dinosaurs: Arena Spectacular stops at the Honda Center (2695 East Katella Ave., Anaheim) 7 p.m. Sept. 3-5, 11 a.m. and 3 and 7 p.m. Sept. 6 and 1 and 5 p.m. Sept. 7. The show moves on to Staples Center (1111 S. Figueroa St., L.A.) 7 p.m. Sept. 11-12, 11 a.m. and 3 and 7 p.m. Sept. 13, and 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., Sept. 14.
This award-winning production, which has been updated since its last U.S. tour in 2007, features dinosaur species from throughout the 200 million years that these creatures roamed the Earth. The Tyrannosaurus rex, Plateosaurus and Stegosaurus are among the 10 species represented in this show. The show’s largest dinosaur is the Brachiosaurus, which stands 36 feet tall and measures 56 feet from nose to tail.
Great care has been taken in creating the dinosaurs (a 50-person team created the Brachiosaurus) and the “cast” of this production features updated details, from head crests to tail fans. The show, which chronicles the dinosaurs’ evolution over their million years on Earth, offers striking visual effects including a volcano, a forest fire and a comet. With its awesome animatronic dinosaurs and the impressive staging, Walking With Dinosaurs: Arena Spectacular certainly lives up to the “spectacular” part of its name.
Tickets to the show are $20-$75, and available at www.ticketmaster.com.
Michael Berick is Calendar Editor of L.A. Parent.
