Some are disarmingly cute and some well-armed (and well-clawed) and fierce, but all are so deftly performed by the several puppeteers they have their own personalities. They weren’t taught our language, but they make their various expressive sounds, cooings, purrings, chirpings and roarings and altogether convince even as you can see the controllers’ faces as they use their arms, legs and occasional sticks to get the microraptor flying, landing and, quite comically, pestering Amanda.
The show, which has been around the country, to China and Australia and all over Europe, was the winner of a 2024 Olivier Award for Best Family Show and you can well believe it. Amanda has all the kids raising their hands to volunteer, calling on her to notice a displayed egg about to hatch and even sending up their best Giraffatitan roars to compel the attention of a dino Miranda says was “40 metres long” and answers to another Shakespearian name, Gertrude. As for us grownups, Amanda kept up a steady stream of paleontological facts, such that I left the theatre (as she would spell it) knowing the triceratops displaces heat through a bony frill around its neck and that despite its sharp claws, the segnosaurus mainly eats leaves and veggies. They all had terms of existence that dwarf the time humans have been around.
It was an hour that passed by all too quickly, its producers calculating that starting off with the spectacular Winnebago-sized Jules and proceeding then from the blue microraptor Orlando (As You Like It) to the baby triceratops Bea to her big brother Brutus (Julius Caesar) and then Tamorrah the t.rex would keep the kids intrigued. It sure worked on this 53 and 5/6ths-year-old The biggest kahuna showed up at the end after the egg hatches and a heart-warming, awe-striking sight she was.
It was good to be back in the Hempstead Hall Auditorium, which UAHT Chancellor Ricky Tompkins pledges will be busier than it has been of late. The Director of the Hall chose a show that will be a well-remembered paleontological spectacle. Next week, the theater lights up again to show Zootopia 2 on Family Movie Night, hosted by the Chancellor’s Office. Popcorn and cold water will be free and can be enjoyed at your seats.
