Dinosaur World Live! - Opening Nights

CHANGING THE LIVES THAT CHANGE THE WORLD

Carlos Rodriguez, B.S. Management Information Systems and B.S. Marketing, 2021 Shanquell Dixon, Doctor of Medicine, 2022

DIAMOND LEVEL

PLATINUM LEVEL

HERB & MARY JERVIS

GOLD LEVEL

ERIC & ANDREA FRIALL

BERNADETTE & ROGER LUCA

SILVER LEVEL

LEE HINKLE KEN KATO & NAN NAGY

RON SACHS & GAY WEBSTER-SACHS DR. ADANNA AMANZE JONATHAN BRANTLEY PERINATAL

MIKEY BESTEBREURTJE & WILSON BAKER

BRONZE LEVEL

GUS & AMANDA CORBELLA

IN-KIND SPONSORS & ENDOWMENTS

LOUISE IRELAND HUMPHREY EXCELLENCE FUND

BETH & LAWTON LANGFORD ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS

PHIPPS FARM

LARRY & JO DEEB

CHRIS & BETH CORUM

MARJORIE TURNBULL JANET R. THORNTON

KELLY & LAURIE DOZIER ENDOWMENT FUND

WELCOME FROM THE INTERIM DIRECTOR

Greetings and welcome to the continuation of the 2023–24 Opening Nights at Florida State University Season Offerings. I’m pleased to have the opportunity to monitor the remaining programs for this season while wrapping up the curation of those events that will welcome you in 2024–25.

The Opening Nights staff is solid and working diligently to make certain that your expectations from our performances are met with the highest quality of deliverance.

Recently, Opening Nights sponsored Pink Martini with China Forbes. To say that it was a high energy evening would be a gross understatement. Gus Corbella, the former Chair of the Opening Nights Development Council received a hand-written note from an audience member lauding the concert from the opening notes to the finale which led to a conga line through the aisles of Ruby Diamond Concert Hall. In fact, the line was so long that once it had made its initial loop, it met the end of the line coming towards it. A “head-on conga collision” if you will. The

note indicated that the gentleman had been waiting years to see Pink Martini live, to the point that he drove from Central Florida for the evening. Gus, appropriately sent the note to the entirety of the Development Council with the header “Why We Do What We Do!”

The above couldn’t be better summarized. In essence, why we do what we do is that it’s part of both our personal and professional DNA.

My hope is that why we’re doing what we’re doing is satisfying your value in the live performing arts as a means of communicating cultural riches and offerings in a world that so desperately needs them now.

From my heart, it’s an honor to be back with you.

Warmly,

Michael Blachly Interim Director, Opening Nights

THEATRE TCC! 2023-24 SEASON

COME JOURNEY WITH US!

Something Wicked This Way Comes

By Ray Bradbury

When the carnival comes to town, two boys unearth the terrifying and horrible secrets that lurk within Cooger and Dark’s Pandemonium Shadow Show and learn the consequences of wishes, as a sinister and evil force is at work in Green Town, Illinois.

October 12-14 at 8 p.m.

October 20 & 21 at 8 p.m.

October 22 at 2 p.m.

The Shape of Things

By Neil Labute

A young student drifts into an ever-changing relationship with an art major while his best friend’s engagement crumbles, unleashing a drama that peels back the skin of two modern-day relationships.

November 16-18 at 8 p.m.

December 1 & 2 at 8 p.m.

December 3 at 2 p.m.

Legally Blonde

Book by Heather Hach

Music and Lyrics

By Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin

The ultimate tribute to girl power, Legally Blonde will take you from the UCLA sorority house to the Harvard halls of justice with the timely coming-of-age story of Broadway’s brightest heroine.

April 4-6 at 8 p.m.

April 12 & 13 at 8 p.m.

April 14 at 2 p.m.

Florida State University

Richard McCullough President

Opening Nights Staff

Michael Blachly Interim Director

Allison Jordan Development Director

Grace Atkins Program & Operations Manager

Brad Lister Business & Patron Services Manager

Calla MacNamara Education & Engagement Manager

Noelle Enright Marketing & Communications Associate

Amanda Cole Senior Marketing Designer, University Marketing

Rodney H. Johnson Director of Digital Design & UX, University Marketing

Opening Nights Development Council

Eric Friall, Chair

Ron Sachs, Vice Chair

Gus Corbella, Immediate-Past Chair

Susan Stratton, Secretary

Kathleen Daly

Brooke Hallock

Heather Mitchell

Nan Nagy

Tom Nelson

Florida State University Partners

Office of the President College of Fine Arts College of Music

English Department

Challenger Learning Center

FAMU-FSU College of Engineering

University Relations

UPCOMING PERFORMANCES

University Communications APRIL 6

Akerman LLP is a proud sponsor of Opening Nights at Florida State University, inspiring diverse audiences through extraordinary artistry.

Bruce I. Wiener

Office Managing Partner, Tallahassee 850 224 9634 bruce.wiener@akerman.com

700+ Lawyers, 24 Offices akerman.com

©2023 Akerman LLP. All rights reserved.

Opening Nights, Opening Doors is a partner program of Prime Meridian Bank, FSU Opening Nights, and the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Big Bend. Now in its third year, the program provides on-campus experiences for Club members to inspire a vision of future opportunities in the areas of engineering, nursing, hospitality, and (coming soon) media and the arts.

Herb & Mary Jervis

Congratulations Opening Nights for fostering the Arts in Tallahassee for the past 26 years.

The students, faculty, and staff of FSU and the citizens of north Florida have been enriched by your efforts.

We eagerly await what the next 26 years will bring.

2023–24 MEMBERS

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2023–24 members, cont.

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For more information & to become a member, visit openingnights.fsu.edu/ support/membership or contact Allison Jordan, Director of Development at 850.778.7139 or allison.jordan@fsu.edu.

SATURDAY, APRIL 6

Ruby Diamond Concert Hall • 2:00 PM

Dinosaur World Live!

Dare to experience the dangers and delights of Dinosaur World Live in this roarsome interactive show for all the family. Grab your compass and join our intrepid explorer across uncharted territories to discover a prehistoric world of astonishing (and remarkably life-like) dinosaurs. Meet a host of impressive creatures, including every child’s favorite flesheating giant, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, a Triceratops, Giraffatitan, Microraptor and Segnosaurus! Now an international smash hit, Dinosaur World Live is back by popular demand following its hugely successful 2023 US tour. Dinosaur World Live is written and directed by Derek Bond. The dinosaurs were designed and created by puppet maker Max Humphries, who is known for his experimental mechanisms and novel puppet forms.

Continued on pg. 19

“Entertainment with showmanship, razzmatazz and spectacular puppets.”

Behind the Arts

Sponsor

COMMUNITIES

the Arts since 1895. Capital City Bank proudly supports the 2023-24 Season of Opening Nights. 402.7500

Dinosaur World Live!

Continued from pg. 17

Q&A with Derek Bond, Writer & Director

How would you describe Dinosaur World Live?

Miranda has grown up around dinosaurs on a far-off island, she’s brought some of her friends, and she’d love you to meet them. It’s an inspirational interactive show with giant dinosaurs. Our biggest is nearly 10 metres long, and takes four people to puppeteer it.

What has excited you most about working on the show?

Watching the dinosaurs come to life—there’s a moment in rehearsals when the puppeteers get it right, and this collection of metal, plastic and paint is suddenly alive in front of you. That, and seeing children’s reactions when they see the show!

What qualities were you looking for when casting the show?

For Miranda, we were looking for someone who is a great storyteller, who can improvise when the dinosaurs don’t behave, and utterly believe in the puppets. For the puppeteers, strong hands and the ability to focus completely on the puppet they’re working with. It’s an amazing job—they have to make themselves disappear and allow you to totally forget they are there.

What does the typical dino rehearsal day look like?

We always start with a physical warm up—puppeteering the dinosaurs is hard physical work, and the team have to warm up like dancers or athletes do. Then we’ll look at a scene “unadorned”—that’s where the puppeteers moving around the space without the puppet, but using their hands and legs in the same way they will when they are operating the puppet. We do this

because the dinosaurs are heavy, and you can’t keep stopping and thinking about what to do when someone is holding 25kg on their shoulders! When we have a shape for the scene that we’re happy with, the puppeteers will get inside the dinosaur, and we’ll test the shape out. Laura Cubitt (our brilliant puppet director) will spot the details that will help the puppeteers to make the dinosaur really “live”—it might be a breath, or a look, or a blink. After running it couple of times, we swap puppeteers—all our puppeteers can operate all the parts of each puppet, though they all have their favourites.

How do you and the Puppet Director, Laura Cubitt, work together?

Laura is an expert in making the puppets live, and helping the puppeteers (who might not be able to see each other) communicate and work together like they’re one living thing. I try and keep an eye on things like pacing, relationships between the dinosaurs, Miranda and the guests and what story we’re telling in each episode. Laura will translate that into movements or thoughts that are useful for the puppeteers, and offer ideas when she’s found something that the puppeteers can do with the puppet. We have to work as closely with each other as the puppeteers do!

What do you hope audiences will take away?

My hope is that audiences will come out desperate to know more about dinosaurs, and with their imaginations working on all cylinders. It’s also interactive, encouraging the whole audience to get involved.

Who do you think are easier to direct?

Humans or dinosaurs?

You can tempt them with food, but if they don’t want to do something they can be really stubborn. And the dinosaurs can be hard work too.

Discover more at dinosaurworldlive.com

Janet R. Thornton

Dr. Adanna Amanze

Jonathan Brantley

Proud Sponsors of Opening Nights and champions of arts & education in our vibrant community.

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Jim & Betty Ann Rodgers

Delighted to be experiencing the magic of live performance with you this season.

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Dean Mitchell

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