Life-Size Dinos, ‘Tough Art’ and More Highlight Kids’ Season
By Kellie B Gormly
For the next few months, families will have plenty to do to keep their children busy and entertained. The fall schedule of children’s activities and entertainment includes everything from live musicals to dinosaur workshops, hands-on art displays and bird shows. Some highlights:
Life-size dinosaurs will settle into Mellon Arena for eight shows of “Walking With Dinosaurs: The Live Experience” from Dec. 3-7. The dinosaurs walk, blink, chew and flick their tails in life-like fashion as a narrator takes the audience through their reign, decline and extinction. Utahraptors stalk prey. A 42-foot T-Rex charges loudly onto the arena floor when it senses its baby is threatened. The 10 animatronic dinosaurs include a 31-foot, saw- backed Stegosaurus, a 43-foot-long Allosaurus and a long-necked Brachiosaurus, an herbivore that stands 36 feet tall and 56 feet long. Five smaller creatures are operated by actors in dino-suits.
Children’s classic stories are part of Pittsburgh International Children’s Theater’s five-show season. “If You Give a Pig a Pancake and Other Stories” — a musical by Theatreworks USA based on the hit book and other children’s favorites — will play at various times and locations from Oct. 19 through 27. “The Velveteen Rabbit,” a musical by The Enchantment Theatre Company based on the beloved book by Margery Williams Bianco, plays Nov. 19 through 23.
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is putting on several children’s shows and activities in the fall. “Magic Tree House: The Musical,” which will play Oct. 3 and 4 at the Byham Theater, brings The New York Times best-selling children’s books by Mary Pope Osborne to life onstage. Before the 2 p.m. Oct. 4 performance, ticketholders can experience a carnival as Kids Day is held in the Cultural District — with jugglers, clowns, puppeteers, face-painters and tattoo artists.
The classic tale about a feisty red-headed orphan, “Annie,” comes to Heinz Hall in time for Christmas — Dec. 23-28. The Broadway show with a “never give up” theme features popular songs such as “Tomorrow” and “It’s the Hard-Knock Life.”
Four artists will be display their art, which is tough enough to withstand kid handling, at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh. “Tough Art — Ready for Anything” will open Saturday and remain through Jan. 18. It features a fantastical forest of light by local artist Ben Bigelow; a 10-foot-tall puppet kinetic sculpture by David Butts of Portland, Ore.; abstract works that focus on suspension, floating and the unknown by local artist Rick Gribenas; and “Bullies in the Woods,” a wooden structure with vines, brooks and buses by local artist Wendy Osher.
Other Children’s Museum events include the Black Sheep Puppet Festival on Oct. 11 and 12; the Fall Festival of Children’s Books on Oct. 17 and 18; and a museum 25th birthday bash Dec. 13.
The Carnegie Museum of Natural History will sponsor two Sunday parent-child workshops this fall. At “Dinosaur Dig” on Oct. 26, participants can explore the “Dinosaurs in Their Time” exhibit and take part in a hands-on fossil-wrapping activity. At the “What’s in a House?” workshop Nov. 16, kids can learn more about American Indian cultures of the Tlingit, Hopi, Iroquois and Lakotan tribes.
The National Aviary will celebrate the Halloween season every Saturday in October with “Owl-o-Ween” activities. The special days include Halloween treat bags, candy, crafts and interactive activities with the North Side Aviary’s birds. Visitors can participate in daily hand-feedings, watch bird shows and more.
Also at the Aviary, the new FliteZone Indoor Bird Show begins Oct. 11 and will play at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. every Wednesday through Sunday through the end of the year. The show features many of the same birds as the summer outdoor show, but will perform their flights and tricks inside the Atrium. The cast includes blue- fronted Amazons, a buzzard and penguins.
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