A magical phenomenon is stomping into Omaha this week; dinosaurs will once again roam the earth as never seen before. Based on the award-winning BBC Television Series, Walking with Dinosaurs the Arena Spectacular will make a theatrical entrance at CenturyLink Center Omaha for a 3-performance engagement on November 4 and 5.

“It tickles me to say this,” said Terey Summers, spokesperson for Walking with Dinosaurs. “It is genuine. It is really a spectacular show. It’s a full-length theatrical show, not just an exhibit, not a parade of magnificent dinosaurs. These dinosaurs are absolutely stunning. It takes your breath away. In terms of a bang for your buck, it is backed by years and years of research. It’s truly a great family show that appeals to the whole family from ages 3 to 93.”

Walking with Dinosaurs, backed by six or more years of research and 20 million dollars, is a full-length production that will take you through the three periods that dinosaurs lived. The majestic beasts range in size from 8 feet to 56 feet tall, representing the Tyrannosaurus Rex, the Plateosaurus, Liliensternus, Stegosaurus, Allosaurus, Torosaurus, Utahraptor and the largest of all, the Brachiosaurus.

Hosted by a paleontologist wearing a safari suit, life-sized dinosaurs parade through the stage gnashing and cavorting, interacting with each other, evolving and fending off predators. On stage you will witness the earth’s continents split, the arid desert transition to the Triassic period then to the Jurassic period, oceans form, volcanoes erupt and a forest catch fire – all creating the massive comet that struck the earth, forcing the extinction of the dinosaurs.

The audience is taken on a journey back in time to see how the dinosaurs actually looked, lived and survived – with all the roars, snorts, flesh and blood the earth witnessed millions of years ago.

“No matter where you sit, you are able to look them in the face,” said Summers. “They move and look authentic. You feel the rumble in your seats. You get the presence of the dinosaurs.”  

A tremendous amount of work, creativity and boldness goes into a show of this magnitude, taking about 100 individuals to bring this to fruition. Months of rehearsal, 60 people travel, and 20 semi-trucks roll into town with each production. It’s bigger than a rock show.

Dinosaurs could weigh up to 20 tons when they roamed the earth. To make the show’s dinosaurs appear their weight, ‘muscle bags,’ made from stretch mesh fabric and filled with polystyrene balls, stretched across moving points on their bodies, allowing the creatures to contract and stretch.

The dinosaurs are controlled with a state of the art animatronic puppetry. Puppeteers inside the dinosaurs operate ‘voodoo rigs’ that make the massive creatures move, which are interpreted by computer and transmitted by radio waves to help maneuver the dinosaur around the arena. The best way to describe it, said Summer, is it’s just magic.

“The dinosaurs are breathtaking,” said Summers. “It dispends your disbelief. It’s a spectacular show; the perfect marriage between science, entertainment and education.”

Tickets are available at ticketmaster.com. For more information, please visit www.dinosaurlive.com.