Goodness, gracious, here they come!: No reason to panic. Just think of them as giant parakeets that could swallow you whole.
Courtesy Mark RyanNo, this isn’t about the herds of conventioneers descending upon the Saintly City for the Republican National Convention next fall. That would be disrespectful. I’m talking about the dinosaurs coming in June for five days at the Xcel Energy Center in a show called “Walking with Dinosaurs: The Live Experience“.

These aren't the same dinos that overran the Twin Cities last year during the Science Museum's 100th anniversary celebration. These latest dinosaurs are from Immersion Edutainment, an Australian company that uses a mix of computers, hydraulics, puppets, and actors to create a live show based on the highly acclaimed BBC television series by the same name.

And just in case you’re worried, these aren’t going to be cuddly and lame purple dinosaurs dancing about on ice, or jerky, hard-cased theme park animatronics, or even colorful plaster statues– no siree Bob – these are going to be scientifically accurate Mesozoic behemoths complete with life-like flexible skin, rippling muscles, swinging tails, snapping jaws, and heart-pounding sound-effects that will shake your popcorn right out of its box.

During the 90-minute show, a “paleontologist” serves as ringmaster and narrator, offering scientific insights into the world of these fantastic creatures. Geological concepts such as plate tectonics and continental drift help put things in perspective, as ten dinosaur species are presented in their proper order from the late Triassic to the late Cretaceous, including two enormous Brachiosaurs and everyone’s favorite, Tyrannosaurus rex. This is going to be one really BIG show!

Music and video projection will add to the dramatic content of the presentation and the program is deemed appropriate for all ages although some scenes could be a bit too intense for some very small kids.

Hoards of Australians evidently flocked to this thing when it toured sports arenas there. Performances here run June 11-15 at the Xcel Energy Center. And if 90 minutes of dinosaurs running amok aren’t enough for you, after the show, you can scoot across the street to the Science Museum and see the remains of some real dinosaurs. What could be better than that?

All the information you need about “Walking with Dinosaurs: The Live Experience” can be found at the Immersion Edutainment website.

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