The press conference's special guest had cold, leathery skin, an evil gleam in his eye and struck fear into the hearts of children.
Keith Richards announcing a new Rolling Stones tour? No, even older - "Baby T," a Tyrannosaurus Rex brought in to preview "Walking With Dinosaurs," coming to the St. Pete Times Forum in October.
Baby T, actually an actor in a 7 foot tall, 14 foot long costume, gnashed and gnarled at the child-heavy crowd at the Forum, at one point snatching a dinosaur balloon from a child's hand and pretending to eat it.
Based on the BBC program, "Walking With Dinosaurs" features life-size manned and mechanical dinosaurs roaming and occasionally battling on the arena floor.
The Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center is presenting the shows, but lacks a venue large enough, so they will be staged at the Forum.
The production took six years and cost $20 million to create, with 50 workers utilizing a space the size of a 747 hangar.
The show features 17 dinosaurs. Two are puppets, five are actors in costumes, while the 10 largest lizards are controlled by hydraulics and microprocessors.
The largest, the brachiosaurus, stands 36 feet tall, while the ornithocheirus has a wingspan of 38 feet.
Each large dinosaur weights 1.6 tons.
It takes 25 semi trucks to haul the production from venue to venue.
"Walking with Dinosaurs" will play Tampa Oct. 14-18. Tickets, $17-$64.75 plus service charges, are on sale at the Forum and TBPAC's box offices. Call (813) 301-2500 or (813) 229-7827.
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