Walking with Dinosaurs - The Arena Spectacular
Gordon Barr, Evening Chronicle
DINOSAURS will once again roam the earth in a spectacular theatrical arena show heading for Newcastle next week.
Walking With Dinosaurs – The Arena Spectacular is based on the award-winning BBC Television series and will see dinosaurs come to life in one of the most exciting and groundbreaking shows ever seen in the UK.
It originated in Australia and proved such a sensation that the American tour was fast- tracked.
It will arrive at the Metro Radio Arena from Tuesday next week to July 12.
Ten species are represented from the 200 million-year reign of the dinosaurs.
The show depicts the dinosaurs’ evolution, complete with the climatic and tectonic changes that took place, which led to the demise of many species.
Walking With Dinosaurs has been brought to the UK by The Creature Production Company, an Australian firm headed by Carmen Pavlovic, who says: "The BBC series was a brilliant blend of special effects, escapism, excitement and information.
"Our show brings together all of that, plus something extra – it’s live!
"In this production, 15 roaring, snarling dinosaurs mesmerise the audience – and are as awe-inspiring as when they first walked on earth.
"The dinosaurs are life-size, making the show so immense, it could only fit in arenas.
"It’s a £10m arena spectacle of unprecedented size and quality that captivates young and old alike.
"With Walking with Dinosaurs, we really believe we have created a new genre in entertainment and we hope to continue to bring the new product to arenas for years to come."
The show includes the Tyrannosaurus Rex, the terror of the ancient terrain, as well as the Plateosaurus and Lilienstemus from the Triassic period, the Stegosaurus and Allosaurus from the Jurassic period and Torosaurus and Utahraptor from the awesome Cretaceous period.
The largest of them all, the Brachiosaurus, is 36ft tall, and 56ft from nose to tail. It took a team of 50 engineers, fabricators, skin makers, artists, painters, and animatronics experts a year to build the original production in a Melbourne Docklands workshop big enough to park a 747.
