Erth’s DINOSAUR ZOO LIVE guides your family on a breathtaking tour through pre-historic Australia. You’ll observe, meet and interact with an eye-popping collection of amazingly life-like dinosaurs and other creatures presented in a theatrical performance that will thrill and entertain kids while stimulating their imaginations in ways that will forever connect them to their world. Brought to life by a team of skilled performers and puppeteers, and designed with the help of professional paleontologists, Erth’s DINOSAUR ZOO LIVE’s puppets are so extraordinarily realistic you may feel the urge to run and hide – but don’t! Because you won’t want to miss a minute of this fun, unique, entertaining and educational live show created by Erth Visual & Physical of Sydney, Australia. While it may indeed have been 65 million years in the making, we think you’ll agree, it’s well worth the wait.
ERTH VISUAL & PHYSICAL INC. (Producer) Since its beginnings in 1990, Erth has sought to provide audiences with eye popping visual experiences; giant puppetry, stilt-walkers, inflatable environments, aerial and flying creatures. In demand for events and festivals, the Company inspires audiences with their unique and dynamic vision. Erth have built an Australia wide, and increasingly international reputation based on exceptional work and a distinctive visual aesthetic. Erth’s signature production, Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo is consistently touring through North America, UK and Australia with multiple teams touring simultaneously. Erth’s productions have been presented all around Australia, in venues large and small, from community halls in the remote outback to the Sydney Opera House. Erth is renowned for construction of stunning puppets of all scales, and frequently undertakes bespoke commissions for museums, zoos, theatre producers and festivals around Australia.
Creatures
Team
Creatives
Scott Wright
Director/Writer
Scott is the Artistic Director and co-founder of Erth Visual & Physical, Inc., which began in 1990. He trained as a dancer and choreographer in Victoria in southeast Australia, and is a multi-skilled artist incorporating puppetry (one of his greatest loves), movement, acting, aerial, stilts and pyrotechnics. Currently he is working renowned Italian director Chiara Guidi and has just finished production on Erth;s latest show “Prehistoric Aquarium” in which the audience is submerged in a theatrical ancient underwater environment, witnessing the thrills and spills of aquatic life. Scott has also produced work based upon the last thylacine (the largest known carnivorous marsupial of modern times) kept in Australian captivity. Some of Scott’s personal interests include the survival of indigenous folklore, exploring how ancient stories can be retrieved and presented to new audiences, which has taken him into remote communities throughout Australia. He is also fiercely active in not only making work that is inclusive for children with and/or without disability but also making work with adults with disability as collaborators.
Sharon Kerr
Associate Director
Sharon is Associate Director and a founding member of Erth. Originally trained as a school teacher majoring in drama, Sharon has much performance experience. Prior to helping form Erth, she spent five years in contemporary dance theater with emphasis on improvisational movement. Puppetry became a natural extension of this. Her roles within Erth are many and varied. Contributing to creative and performance direction, Sharon continues to perform whenever she can. Sharon has also steered the company for many years as its key administrator. Some of her performance highlights include her aerial harness and flying work memorable amongst these are from atop the sails of the Sydney Opera House, the spire of St. Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourne and from the 30th floor of the Nge Ann skyscraper in Singapore.
Steve Howarth
Designer
As Head of Design and a founding and full time member of Erth Visual & Physical, Inc., Steve designs for most of the company’s productions and external commissions. From the Erth studio/workshop he supervises a team of artists in the creation of the puppets, sets, props, costumes and the associated elements that are on constant tour around the globe. Over the last twenty years in this principal role, he has worked with a wide variety of people, organizations and across numerous media. He oversees the daily production of giant, teeth-gnashing dinosaurs and inflatable monsters that spring from traditional fine arts and textiles work. Steve also mentors design students from tertiary institutions and assists emerging artists in the implementation of their respective crafts.
Bryony Anderson
Specialist Puppet Design
Bryony is a designer, maker, artist and wannabe scientist based in the forested hills of NSW. Her puppets and constructions for visual performance have toured nationally and internationally with many Australian circus, puppetry, visual performance and theatre companies, as well as appearing in museums, festivals and documentaries. Solo exhibitions have ranged from interactive puppetry installations and handmade projection machinery to intricate illustration, all investigating a salvaged aesthetic. She has conducted community workshops in the Central Desert, rural Victoria, Western Sydney, and across the Mid North Coast of NSW. In 2011 she began working with her local community to seed a creative industry of skilled artisans making high caliber work from frugal resources. A three-year project was spawned that drew in artists, composers, scientists and over 1200 community participants, and resulted in an intricately detailed forest installation made entirely from stuff that was headed to landfill. The Frugal Forest is now on tour. frugalforest.oneoffmakery.net.au
Phil Downing
Composer
Phil has a distinct history working with interactive multimedia. After years spent performing music, Phil set about reinventing his means of expression through music, by creating unique and obscure musical instruments. This inspiration has led to the creation of numerous soundtracks for theatrical productions (1999–2012). Delivery of video and imagery being an obvious progression, Phil has also worked with various technologies to incorporate physical interaction (with performers and audience members) into installations and performances, utilizing technologies such as infra-red, sonar and pressure sensors, Arduino programmable circuit boards and Kinect sensors. Working with Erth, Phil has developed systems for automated delivery of sound, light and visual effects, and has designed stand-alone sound systems for their various creature puppets. “This one’s going to be a mad professor!” his grandma proclaimed upon his birth.…She was possibly correct!
Producers
Red Tail Entertainment
Red Tail Entertainment operates in all facets of the live entertainment experience -promotion, production, marketing, and general management. Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, Red Tail has established itself as one of the industry’s Top 100 presenters with sold out engagements for Tony Bennet, Harry Connick, Jr., Steve Martin & Martin Short, The Wild Kratts, Hip Hop Nutcracker, Cirque Dreams Holidaze and many more.
The company has continued to expand and grow, becoming a leader in producing unique live events. In addition to Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo Live, the company produces tours of Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol, Double Dare Live!, and Erth’s Prehistoric Aquarium Adventures. As live events change, audiences grow and new artists emerge – Red Tail Entertainment continues to soar.
Philip Drayer
Chairman of the Board
Philip has been a key player in the high technology industry for over thirty years. He was named Top CEO by Morgan Stanley Ventures in Silicon Valley in 2000, and one of his companies was named as one of Forbes Top 50 Best Run Companies in the U.S. Mr. Drayer’s philanthropic endeavors include seven years as an executive board member of the Dallas Symphony, and as the organization’s Chief Operating Officer, He served twelve years on the Lamar University Foundation, the Engineering Advisory Council and the electrical engineering department at Lamar bears his name. Mr. and Mrs. Drayer were key in the establishment of the Karen C. Drayer Wild Life Health Center at the University of California, Davis, which has the number one Veterinary School in the US.
Marc Engel
CEO
Marc is a venue management and live entertainment industry veteran with over 30 years’ experience in the management and programming of theaters and performing arts centers. His career includes high profile management assignments in internationally recognized venues including Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, the AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas, and the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach. Over the last 15 years, Mr. Engel has promoted concerts in theaters and arenas in over 100 US Cities. As President of Red Tail Entertainment Marc assembled a team of highly experienced industry professionals to manage booking, marketing and production, and to coordinate the various aspects of live entertainment presentation in the US and three Canadian provinces.
Buzz
“Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo delivers solid science as well as an extraordinary spectacle.”
NEW YORK TIMES
“A delightful and educational date with the dinos that provides visual oomph to rival that of the ‘The Lion King’”.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Voted ‘Best Children’s Show’
By Adelaide Fringe Festival 2014
Adelaide Fringe is Australia’s largest arts event and one of the most diverse arts festivals in the world, renowned for fresh ideas, spontaneity and fun. Artists from around Australia and across the globe participate alongside home-grown talent, in art forms spanning cabaret, comedy, circus, dance, film, theatre, puppetry, music, visual art and design.
“It’s a delight to come face to face with the genuinely unexpected in Australian company Erth’s thoroughly entertaining kids’ show, Dinosaur Zoo.”
TIME OUT LONDON
WHAT MOM’SARE SAYING
“We just saw the show. It was amazing. You are all terrific. Our little one loved it. It’s all he can talk about. Thank you for sharing this amazing performance.”
“Thank you!!! thank you!!! thank you!!! The show in Mesa, AZ was amazing.”
“Sam had soooooo much fun today. He says he’s sorry that he couldn’t put his head into the T-Rex’s mouth, but it was the best day of his life.”
“I saw your tour in Tampa, twice. I loved it!”
“Thank you for helping to make my son’s birthday the best ever.”
“The show was awesome! Please come back soon!”
“My Macaroni Family went to the show Tuesday night and had a blast! The puppeteers did such a great job that we almost forgot that we weren’t looking at real dinosaurs! Erth’s DINOSAUR ZOO LIVE is the perfect combination of entertaining and educational.”
“Thank you all for a wonderful show today in Mesa! My son loved every minute! Well done!”
“The show was AWESOME. My Granddaughter got to go up and meet the babies on stage. She was beyond thrilled. When we left … she said, ‘Gramma, I wanna go back.’ Anyone who has a chance to take a child to see this, ‘GO!’”
“We attended Sunday afternoon’s performance with our boys and were amazed! They absolutely loved it.”
TOUR dates
