I was a complete sucker to marketing on this show. A month before it came, I was ooing and ahhing at the commercial clips and excitedly talking to my 5- and 3-year-old nephews about dinosaurs. (The five year old is going to be a paleontologist, according to him. He knows the names of more dinosaurs than I do.) So, in spite of a brewing headache, I entered Norfolk Scope on Thursday night filled with anticipation about the coming evening. I’m glad to say, I was not disappointed.

Upon first entering the performance area, I thought the scenery looked a bit bare. I knew that they had to have plenty of room down there to maneuver those very large performers, but I thought they could’ve made it a little, well… prettier. Little did I realize that in making the beginning that bare, they were simply leaving room to grow.

As for the dinosaurs themselves… Wow. Even their eyes move. The smaller dinosaurs (baby T-Rex, raptors, etc) have people inside providing all the movement, but unless you’re looking for it you really don’t notice. The large dinosaurs are also manned, but I honestly only knew that by looking at the “Making Of”. Most of the bulk of these monoliths is supported from underneath by a kind of rolling platform that rolls between the dinosaurs legs. These are definitely visible, but they’re at least the same color as the floor, so it’s not hard to forget they’re there.

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At the beginning of the show, the Huxley introduces us to the beginning of all dinosaurs, namely, the egg. Two tiny dinosaurs (who actually kind of look like something from an alien movie) are born before our eyes. Startlingly, an Utahraptor (pronounced YOO-tah-Rap-tor) comes along shortly after and eats one of the babies. Since I was holding my 3-year-old nephew on my lap at the time, I crossed my fingers and began to pray that the whole show wouldn’t be filled with a lot of gory death. Thankfully, it wasn’t. Aside from the eating of a dinosaur that is already dead, this was the only mildly disturbing moment of the show.

A minor warning for parents of tender-eared young-uns: The Tyrannosaurus roars very LOUDLY. When that big momma lumbers onto the stage, you might want to take that moment to cover young, sensitive ears.

Being a total theatre geek, I was actually the most excited about the lighting. Yes, the dinosaurs were ultra cool, but a good lighting design can just make me salivate. Scope was filled with those lovely $2,000 instruments that can basically do whatever you ask them too. Alone, these lights covered the floor with leafy ferns or brightly covered flowers. At other times, they were buzzing bees or wasps or swooping birds. Add a layer of fog to cover the floor to create a rolling ocean.

The main set was basically a large “rock mountain” that began as one large piece to create Europa, then spilt into three separate pieces when the continents drifted apart. Trees, flowers and other plants were inflated from various places to create the impression of growing before our eyes. Then they wilted when lights, smoke and sound blended to create a fire. It was a really neat effect.

I have only two complaints about the show. One of the dinosaur’s feet didn’t stay firm on the ground when it was moving, so the illusion there was marred a bit for me. This was early on though, so I’d pretty much forgotten about it by the end. Second, a couple of the sequences were just a bit too long. And if they were too long for ME, you can bet they were too long for the numerous children in the audience. The flying Ornithocheirus was the worst case of this. Yes, the soaring dragon-like dinosaur flying over a rolling ocean is a pretty picture, but I don’t need to see it for quite as long as I did.

Overall, Walking With Dinosaurs is definitely a great thing for children of ALL ages, whether they’re planning on being paleontologists when they grow up or now. Catch them quickly (as in, today, Saturday September 29th) before they leave the area to continue their two year tour.