Prepare To Be Amazed

Walking With Dinosaurs -- The Arena Spectacular" is, Lynda A. Lavin notes, "a really big show," and not just in the Ed Sullivan sense of the phrase.

Rather, the show, which runs at the Thomas & Mack Center through Sunday, is big because of its stars: an assemblage of life-sized animatronic dinosaurs that walk, snort, bellow and otherwise make the arena floor uniquely their own.

As the show's resident director, Lavin, a Las Vegas resident whose credits include stints as stage manager for several shows on the Strip, finds herself working with -- pardon the pun -- a different breed of actor.

Lavin is asked whether this show represents a bit of a departure from her usual gigs. "Dealing with actors versus dealing with dinosaurs? Yes," she answers with a laugh. "I always say the difference is that the dinosaurs don't talk back."

Lavin's resume includes tours with shows ranging from "Annie" to "Cats" to "Les Miserables" to "Mamma Mia!" and her Las Vegas credits include stints with "Chicago" and "Forever Plaid."

But, when she heard about a directorial opening with "Walking With Dinosaurs" a year or so ago, she was intrigued.

"I'm always intrigued with people who tap into something new and different," she says. "And I had been reading about it, and it seemed like quite an interesting project."

The show, based on the award-winning BBC television series, stars more than a dozen life-sized dinosaurs representing 10 different dinosaur species. It depicts the dinosaurs' evolution and eventual demise, along with, really, the earliest history of our planet. The only visible human character is a paleontologist who "takes you through the whole history," Lavin says.

For all of its entertainment value, the show is "very, very historically correct," Lavin adds. "You're going to leave very educated."

The dinosaurs are operated by a team of actors and puppeteers, and the technology used to create and operate the creatures is "truly state of the art," Lavin says. "They move and breathe and run and make noises. It's so real and so lifelike."

The largest of the pack -- the tyrannosaurus rex and brachiosaurus, for example -- take three people to operate, and the show makes use of remote control technology controlled by puppeteers on the arena floor.

Add in dramatic lighting, scenery, sound effects and music, and the result is, Lavin says, startlingly realistic.

"I have to tell you, people come here and don't know what to expect. Then they come into the arena and they are blown away because the dinosaurs truly are life-sized, which is why we're only playing arenas."

Even those who have seen footage of the dinosaurs in action on TV or on the show's Web site (www.dinosaurlive.com) are surprised, she says. "When they come, holy cow, they want to experience it up close and personal."

By the way, Lavin adds, "we don't want to give anything away, but there might be a little interaction with the audience."

What's the appeal of dinosaurs? Lavin isn't quite sure, but she has witnessed firsthand how much kids do love 'em.

"I'm constantly amazed at how much kids -- and I'm talking like 4-year-old kids -- know about dinosaurs," she says. "I didn't know that when I was their age. I watch them in the audience and I enjoy watching the show through their eyes. They're, 'Oh, there's a stegosaurus' and 'There's a brachiosaurus.'

"I don't know if it's, maybe, because of their size and that they're extinct. You can't ever see them again. That's intriguing, I think, to an adult as well as a child."

One thing's for sure: If a child's only idea of a "dinosaur" is Barney, they're in for a surprise.

"This isn't Barney, believe me," Lavin says with a laugh. "But kids are great. They'll leave and say, 'That's the best thing I've ever seen.' "

Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@review journal.com or 702-383-0280.