Dinosaur show holds ageless attention

Thu, Dec 11, 2008    to del.icio.us

GRAND RAPIDS — In a spectacular display that had children and adults alike sitting on the edge of their seats, dinosaurs returned from extinction and put on an awe-inspiring show Wednesday evening at Van Andel Arena.

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From the stunning size of the mother brachiosaurus — at 36 feet tall and 56 feet long, her massive head nearly grazed the lighting and speakers suspended over the arena floor — to the spine-tingling roar of the 23-foot-tall tyrannosaurus rex, the show, "Walking With Dinosaurs: The Live Experience," brought over a dozen dinosaurs to life for the thousands who packed the downtown Grand Rapids arena.

The show is based on the BBC television series that drew 770 million viewers from the time it first aired in 1999. A two-year tour of the $20 million production began in 2007 and will continue through April 2009.

An actor playing the role of Huxley, a paleontologist, guides the show — which begins in the Triassic Period, and moves its way through the Jurassic and into the Cretaceous, when the dinosaurs' 500-million-year reign on Earth came to a close.

While Huxley provides plenty of insight, and a bit of humor, it's the dinosaurs that rule the show.

The performance begins with a lilIensternus attempting to raid the nest of a plateosaurus, only to be chased off by the 31-foot-long mother herbivore. As the first dinosaur — the small lilIensternus — emerges from the shadows, the crowd of 5,000 people let out a collective gasp. Less than 8 feet tall, the dinosaur looked extraordinarily lifelike. It walked with jerky, swaying movements — and the human legs protruding out of the bottom of the life-like costume were barely noticeable.

My three children — ages 6, 5 and 2 — sat captivated, unable to take their eyes off the dinosaur as it skittered across the floor of the arena in search of a meal. Then the mother plateosaurus appeared, bellowing and swinging its long tail, saving its recently hatched babies from the nimble little carnivore.

Later, a trio of utahraptors emerged from the mist and feasted on a dead dinosaur. An allosaurus — a carnivore that resembles a smaller version of the famed T. rex — attempts to take down a juvenile brachiosaurus, which even at a young age stands nearly 30 feet tall and stretches 48 feet from nose to tail. The allosaurus is well on its way to a meal before the mother brachiosaurus thunders onto stage and rescues its child.

A pair of male torosaurs, similar to a triceratops, engaged in a territorial battle to become the alpha male of their herd. The victorious torosaur was then joined by an anklyosaurus, a 12-foot-long armor-covered dinosaur with a 150-pound club for a tail. Those two brave herbivores corner a baby T. rex, which stands 7 feet tall and lets out a high-pitched billow to convey its fright.

The highlight of the show ensues as the mother tyrannosaurus rex bursts onto the scene, unleashing ear-bursting roars that rose the hair on the back of the neck of most in attendance.

It's rare that any type of performance can hold the undivided attention of young and old viewers alike, but that's exactly what "Walking with Dinosaurs" did.

My 5-year-old son was entranced with the entire show, and even my 2-year-old son who never sits still was captivated by the performance. A few moments left him wide-eyed and heart pounding; but there aren't any real acts of violence, only shows of force. Earthquakes and exploding volcanoes add to the atmosphere, helping transport you back to the days of the dinosaurs.

We left the arena after the 90-minute show thrilled with the performance and wishing for more, and I'm sure the conversation around my house from now until Christmas will center around raptors, stegosaurs and T. rexes.

The show continues with performances tonight through Sunday.