dinosaurs – Theatre Press

A Spectacular Journey

By Narelle Wood

I’m not sure who was more excited to see Walking with Dinosaurs; my two-year-old nephew or myself. Before the show even started it was clear from the set that the staging and effects were going to be something spectacular and the show did not disappoint.

Walking with Dinosaurs is a trip back in time when dinosaurs dominated and the world was known as Pangaea. The journey is narrated by Palaeontologist, Dr. Huxley (Andrew Blackman). Huxley introduces the dinosaurs and also explains the changes in the Earth’s landscape and how it affected the dinosaurs. I really appreciated the scientific explanations and walked out having learnt lots of new things about the evolution of the world.

The stars of the show are most certainly the dinosaurs, which are awe inspiring. Puppeteers inside the dinosaur control the smaller dinosaurs such as the Utah Raptors. At first glance these dinosaurs look adorable, but the movement is eerily lifelike and their behaviour is clearly menacing. We also met some ‘good’ dinosaurs, herbivores like the gigantic Brachiosaurus, whose sheer size seemed to consume Hisense Arena.

The dinosaurs are exceptionally impressive but so are the other elements that are subtle in comparison to the dinosaurs yet work together to make the show. The musical soundtrack is reminiscent of Jurassic Park and provides a perfect background to all the sounds and roars that you would expect to hear in the Crustaceous and Jurassic periods. The soundtrack is loud and the dinosaur’s roars are even louder and some of the little people sitting around me were a little scared. The backdrops and lighting are used to reflect the changes in the world’s atmosphere and provide really interesting transitions to new scenes.

Walking with Dinosaurs was an arena spectacular; this is one of the most incredible things I have seen. Despite some scary moments, my nephew was still roaring after we left and hands down the mummy dinosaur, the terrifying T-Rex was his favourite dinosaur of the night. For any dinosaur lover, young or old, this is not to be missed.

Venue: Hisense Arena

Season: 27^th March 7pm, 28^th March 11am, 3pm, 7pm, 29^th March 11am, 3pm

Tickets: From $45

Bookings: premier.ticketek.com.au

This comedy cabaret show is the perfect mixture of naughty and nice…!

By Lisa Nightingale

Whimsical, magical and hysterical – Linda Beatty as The UnEnchanted Princess had a cozy audience in stitches while she told us of the obvious yet never-realised truths and ironies about our beloved childhood fairytales.

With the help of her magic harp and imaginary dinosaur friend, Ralph, Beatty was able to take us to a ‘whole new world’ of Disney tales that made me giggle for an entire hour.

Starting with her very well-written Intro Song which got her ‘from the back of the room to the front of the room’, I knew I was in for a good evening.

The stage was set with a green-covered table, a stool and flowers hanging from the distinctive red Butterfly Club stage curtain – we were obviously in a meadow, and I was only waiting for little animated birdies to fly out of the ceiling.

Linda Beatty appeared instead. With her flowing red hair, white flighty gown, fishnets and boots, she had the perfect mix of naughty and nice.

Going into the stories of all of my favourite Disney princesses, Beatty blew me away with her incredible Celtic harp music, which she has played for twenty years… and she is a master at it! The songs throughout the show just exuded quirkiness and fun, and had me smiling so much my cheeks hurt.

My favourite part of the show is when she introduces us to her loveable imaginary Tyrannosaurus Rex friend who is so real that he even has his own solo!

Or it could be her adult’s only rendition of Aladdin’s A Whole New World which has now cleverly twisted the whole meaning of this song forever more.

Both in music and script, Beatty’s well-written comedy is playful, energetic and entertaining and everyone that sees this show will relate to the tales that she tells.

It embraces childhood memories, but also makes you glad that we now are adults to be able to enjoy a new layer to these stories that were once so silly and innocent.

Make sure you get down to The Butterfly Club during 14^th -17^th April for the Melbourne Comedy Festival so you don’t miss this comedy craze.

Tickets can be booked via www.thebutterflyclub.com, and check out Linda’s website too.

Have fun!