“Walking with Dinosaurs” narrator expects to be upstaged by giant reptiles
A mother Tyrannosaurus-Rex protects her young while Huxley, the show’s paleontologist/narrator, played by James Roberts, looks on in a scene from “Walking With Dinosaurs: The Arena Spectacular.”
A version of this story appears in Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
‘Walking with Dinosaurs’ offers flashback to prehistoric times
Actor narrates show featuring massive animatronic creatures
He may have the only speaking part in his current show, but actor James Roberts fully expects to be upstaged at every performance.
“It’s almost like working with children and animals. They say you’re never supposed to follow those, so I’m not sure ever if anyone notices that I’m on the stage after the Tyrannosaurus comes on,” he said with a laugh.
Roberts plays Huxley the narrator in “Walking with Dinosaurs: The Arena Spectacular,” the live show bringing life-size animatronic dinosaurs to the Ford Center this weekend. He started touring with the show about a year and a half ago, and after more than 200 shows, he’s still amazed at how close to living, breathing creatures the dinosaurs appear.
“It’s not something that’s on my resume previously. Something about 40-foot-tall Brachiosaurs just doesn’t really work into the general training program at schools,” joked Roberts, 44, who has been acting since he was 7. “I’m caught up in that vortex between crowd and creature, so it’s hard not to feel the wave excitement coming off the 10,000 8-year-olds.”
Roberts isn’t a paleontologist, but he plays one knee-high to a T-Rex. He guides audiences through the show with the warmly manner of the uncle while dispensing scientific information about the dinosaurs. He said researching the role was educational.
“I don’t know of any young person that at some point in their life is not a dinosaur freak, and so that initial curiosity that I had when I was a 7- or 8-year-old boy … carried through into my adult life,” he said. “So, it’s been a delight.”
He describes the storytelling role, which he takes turns in with another actor, as “part MC/part circus ringmaster/part television personality.”
“I’ve done a lot of musical theater, I’ve done a lot of stage work, I’ve done television, I’ve done film, and this one involves all of those disciplines,” he said during a recent phone interview. “You’re taking on a role as a character, then you have to sometimes play to the cameras, sometimes you’re just playing to the crowds.”
The dinosaurs, which are controlled by puppeteers and drivers, interact with Huxley. Roberts refused to give away details, but said the role requires him run, jump and climb as well as walk with the dinosaurs. After all, the dinosaurs are not tame.
“It’s hard to prepare to share a stage with a dinosaur, but I’ve determined that after this that I will never, ever feel upstaged by anything again,” he said with a laugh. “It just goes to show that there’s always something new.”
Going on
“Walking with Dinosaurs: The Arena Spectacular”
Oklahoma City
When: 7 p.m. today; 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday; and 1 and 5 p.m. Sunday.
Where: Ford Center, 100 W Reno.
Sponsored by: The Oklahoman and Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History.
Tickets and information: (800) 745-3000 or www.okfordcenter.com.
Tulsa
When: 7 p.m. Jan. 28-29; 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. Jan. 30; 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Jan. 31; and 1 p.m. Feb. 1.
Where: BOK Center, 200 S Denver.
Tickets and information: (866) 726-5287or www.bokcenter.com.
-BAM
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment