Photo Credit: Jurassic World Live
At first glance, it feels like a circus at Fiserv Forum. Families with lots of children directing (or dragging) the adults straight to the multiple merchandise booths. But that’s where it all starts to feel different. Jurassic World Live is a circus of sorts for the 21st century.
The snow cones are packed inside the head of a T-Rex, jaws wide open, sharp-looking (plastic) teeth front and center. The cotton candy is attached to the head of a Velociraptor, which turns into a cap. And the little boy wearing night goggle vision glasses take us right back to that now memorable scene right before you-know-who crashes—literally—through the perimeter fence. And the fun begins. At least for those of us (myself included) who love dinosaurs.
Yes, the main attraction at this event is dinosaurs. Lots of them. But then, this is Jurassic World Live, and for those who can’t wait for the nest movie installment, this is the show that brings the dinos directly to us human folks. And the 90-minute production (with a 20-minute intermission) delighted and scared and entertained and dazzled with the production values—and, of course, those dinosaurs.
Now, to explain the dinosaurs. There are the animatronic ones controlled by robotics and others handled by “dinoteers” (think puppeteers in really big costumes). And for those keeping track, there were seven species performing last weekend: pteranodon, triceratops, Tyrannosaurus rex, stegosaurus (with baby stego in tow), velociraptor (Blue was the prominently featured raptor) and, new to the Jurassic World dino colony, troodon (her name in the show is Genie). Also featured, the dino-hybrid Indominus Rex, which is technically a human-made creation, even more terrifying the Big T-Rex.
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The storyline pulls from the Jurassic movies and is fairly complicated given the age of the audience. In a nut, er, dinosaur shell: basic bad guys Ingen Corp. is at it again with malevolent mayhem trying to steal a “Dino Decoder” and create a velociraptor army. Genie, the troodon, is the key along with her trainer, Dr. Walker. We watch as, of course, attempts to contain and corral the big lizards fail miserably. But that’s what make this show so much fun!
We’re all there to see the dinosaurs “live” and they lived up to the hype, in part because they are the same size as in the movies. The T-Rex’s roar shook the place at 42 feet high and 17 feet long. The raptors got really close to front row audiences, causing some to lurch back in their seats. There is always that feeling of “what if those mean raptors jump the barrier and come up the aisles for us sitting human prey?” Fortunately, we were in a higher row. Phew.
A big part of the fun of Jurassic World Live is actually the audience, in particular the children. The delight as a new dino came onto the main floor was just as much fun to watch as the dinosaurs themselves.
During the climatic final battle scene, a very courageous little girl nearby turned to her father and said, “If you let me go down there, I’ll save them.” And you know what? I believe her. This is, after all, Jurassic World Live.
