Jurassic World Live Tour makes big impression
The biggest attraction likely to ever cross the auditorium floor at PPG Paints Arena will be a 40-footlong, 17-foot-high Tyrannosaurus rex. The self-contained animatronic robot is the centerpiece of a the Jurassic World Live Tour, which stomps here Thursday through next Sunday.
Using cables, motors, remote controls and state-of-the-art electronics, the lifelike T. rex roars through a scripted show with stops in 65 cities. The performance includes 24 smaller, actor-operated dinosaurs; a live cast of 30; jeep, motorcycle and Gyrosphere stunts; and an orchestral score with thundering dino sounds, pyrotechnics and computer-generated film imagery.
In the universe of the 20-year-old $5 billion “Jurassic Park” film series, the show’s timeline falls roughly between the two most recent movies, “Jurassic World” and “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.”
Combining stagecraft and cutting-edge cinematronics, a multigenre production of this scale would have been impossible to stage just a few years ago. The melding of projection and hard scenery transforms arenas into the dense jungle habitat of Isla Nublar, the isolated island home of the dinosaurs.
The story is set during a chaotic day when — you guessed it — a
genetically engineered dinosaur escapes from its enclosure. A team of scientists scramble to unravel a corrupt plot and save an all-new good dinosaur from becoming T. rex’s lunch.
“The huge, life-size T. rex, no one is inside driving it. The driving happens outside and is wireless with a guy using joysticks and a camera,” said Brittaney Talbot, a “dinoteer” who portrays a smaller raptor and controls T. rex’s facial expressions.
“It really looks alive,” she said.
The dinosaurs are modeled to look and act like those in the original “Jurassic Park” movie, with authentic colors, movements and snarls.
Ms. Talbot said she got the job because she had prior acting experience, a degree in puppetry and a stint on the USA triathlon team.
“Being athletic really helped. Those dinosaur costumes weigh 120-150 pounds,” she said. “We run around in them, but we also perform very subtle movements that are difficult wearing these big things.”
Every night, the cast gathers for fight choreography rehearsal and a puppetry call to ensure that everyone knows what’s coming next, Ms. Talbot said.
“There’s some dinosaur and human fights and the large animatronic dinosaur fights with someone in a bipedal dinosaur costume. It would be dangerous if we weren’t so well-trained in every movement in this show. Safety was a huge priority.”
Every artistic genre tells stories in a different way. In a novel, years can pass in the turn of a page. In live theater, the proximity of the cast brings an urgency to the show, and the raising of an eyebrow can communicate volumes in cinema. Jurassic World Live Tour combines genres into a single production.
“I can’t think of anything that compares to this show,” said Ms. Talbot. “The latest technology and true theater bring this immersive story to life.”