Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo Live leads you on a breathtaking tour that begins in prehistoric Australia. Meet and interact with an eye-popping collection of larger-than-life dinosaurs presented in an entertaining and educational live theatrical performance.
Tickets
Adults (ages 13+): $10
Children (ages 2-12): $8
Children (under 2): Free
FONZ Member Adults (ages 13+): $8.50
FONZ Member Children (ages 2-12): $6.80
Have more dinos in your group? Add additional tickets at a discounted rate. For groups of 10 or more, please contact Group Sales at 866-868-7774 or segroupsales@si.edu.
Please Note: All tickets are for general admission to the theater. Seating is not assigned.
FONZ members: Check your May 1 or May 3 email from FONZ for instructions on accessing your discounted tickets. If you joined or renewed on May 1 or later, please check your email confirmation for this information. Not a member? Join today.
On-site ticket sales start June 1. Check back soon for details.
Accessible seating is available and can be reserved upon ticket purchase.
Showtimes
June 1 - Aug. 31
Tuesday - Sunday* | 10:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
Runtime: 30 minutes
Location: National Zoo Theater
This air-conditioned venue is located inside the Visitor Center near the Zoo's main pedestrian entrance on Connecticut Ave. and close to Parking Lot A (see Zoo map).
*Please note that the theater is closed on Mondays.
About the Show
Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo Live guides your family on a breathtaking tour that begins in pre-historic Australia, where you’ll observe, meet and interact with an eye-popping collection of lifelike dinosaurs and other creatures.
"Visual oomph to rival 'The Lion King'"
The Chicago Tribune
This 30-minute theatrical performance 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 that you may feel the urge to run and hide ... but don’t!
"Solid science as well as an extraordinary spectacle."
The New York Times
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.
Erth's Dinosaur Zoo Live is suitable for all audiences but recommended for children ages 3 and older. Please note that at times this live production features loud sounds, theatrical stage lighting and other special effects.
Meet the Dinos
The Erth's Dinosaur Zoo Live team put together some fun facts about a few of the dinosaurs you'll meet during the show.
Triceratops
How to say it: Tri-ser-ra-tops
Name means: Three-horned face
Period: Late Cretaceous (66-70 million years ago)
The triceratops was a very large and distinctive dinosaur. It grew up to 11 feet tall and 29.5 feet long, and weighed 6 tons. The triceratops is named for the three sharp horns on its head. This dinosaur is classified as a cerapod. It was a plant eater and was one of the last dinosaurs to live on Earth.
Tyrannosaurus
How to say it: Tie-ran-o-sore-us
Name means: Tyrant lizard king
Period: Late Cretaceous (66-70 million years ago)
The Tyrannosaurus rex, or T. rex, might be the most well-known dinosaur. It was first discovered by Barnum Vrown in 1902 and soon captured the public imagination. The T. rex is a type of theropod dinosaur. It grew up to 13 feet tall and as long as 46 feet, and it weighed 7.7 tons. The tyrannosaurus was one of the first giant, meat-eating dinosaurs to be put on display in a museum and was thought to be the largest dinosaur at the time. Since its discovery, scientists have learned that even larger carnivorous dinosaurs existed.
Titanosaur
How to say it: Tie-tan-O-sore
Name means: Titanic lizard
Period: Cretaceous (65-96 million years ago)
Titanosaurs were the largest animals ever to roam on land; they were sauropod dinosaurs that survived to the end of the Cretaceous period (most sauropods went extinct at the end of the Jurassic period). Titanosaurs grew to sizes far in excess of their earlier relatives; hence, they are named after the mythological Titans, who were gods of ancient Greece. The biggest that we can factually estimate the size of was the argentinosaurus. It grew up to 114 feet 9 inches in length! Titanosaurs discovered in Australia include Wintonotitan wattsi and Diamantinasaurus matildae.
Meganeura
How to say it: Meg-a-NEW-ra
Name means: Large-nerved
Period: Carboniferous (300 million years ago)
Meganeura was a gigantic primitive dragonfly with a wingspan of more than 2 feet (possibly larger). It flew to hunt flying insects above tropical forests and had swiveling multi-faceted eyes like headlamps, which were quick to spot movement and sharp enough to allow it to pounce on flying prey. Meganeura flew by beating two pairs of wings stiffened by "veins."
It dashed to and from in forests, changing speed and direction almost instantly, grabbing insects with its legs and bringing them up to its mouth to feed. Meganeura were around in the late Carboniferous period (355-295 million years ago), but not in either the Jurassic or the Cretaceous period. However, there were still large dragonflies in both these periods. Present day dragonflies are descended from these.
Leaellynasaura
How to say it: Lee-el-in-a-sore-rah
Name means: Leaellyn's lizard
Period: Early Cretaceous (104-112 million years ago)
The leaellynasaura is one of many dinosaurs whose partial remains have been dug (and blasted) out of the solid rocks of Dinosaur Cove in the southeast of Australia. Evidence of leaellynasaura is known from a well-preserved skull. This dinosaur was a small, turkey-sized herbivorous ornithopod. In early Cretaceous times, they resided in areas of Australia that were well within the Antarctic Circle, where the climate was extreme with very limited sunlight for many months of the year.
Its skull has unusually large eye sockets, suggesting that leaellynasaura adapted to the long winter darkness of the Antarctic, which therefore implies that it could withstand low, perhaps even sub-zero temperatures. To do this, leaellynasaura would have needed some way of generating body heat, which some paleontologists have taken as evidence that dinosaurs were, in fact, warm-blooded.
Meet the Cast
Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo Live is written and directed by Scott Wright, the co-founder of Erth Visual and Physical Inc. and its artistic director since inception in 1990.
Sharon Kerr is the associate director for Erth. Steve Howarth is their head of design and works very closely with specialist puppet maker Bryony Anderson in the creation of the dinosaurs, puppets and flora that make up the set. Phil Downing is the show’s composer.
The company of Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo Live will be led on stage by "host" Miles Portek with Miron Gusso, Joe Aholt and Eryn Malafronte as puppeteers.
The North American tour of “Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo Live” is produced by Red Tail Entertainment.
