Hear me roar: Royal Sask. Museum looking for T-rex star for summer show
If you ever dreamed of being a dinosaur, this summer may offer you the chance.
The Royal Saskatchewan Museum is looking for someone to star in its new Tyrannosaurus rex stage show this summer.
The person needs to be under 30, in accordance with the Canadian Summer Jobs Program, and the museum is looking for people with a background in theatre, dance, movement or education.
"We're looking at how you would actually embody the T-rex," said Sarah Schafer, visitor experience supervisor at the museum.
"We're looking for movement, so how people bend and move."
This dinosaur was closely related to birds so Schafer suggested people interested in auditioning should look at bird movements for inspiration.
The timing is linked to the latest exhibit to come to the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, Scotty the T-rex, with the T-rex gallery opening on May 17. Applications for the T-rex stage actor are due on April 28.
The museum's plan is to have the show start in June for schools and July for the public.
What's bigger than a T-Rex on stage?
The show comes as part of the museum's plan to use its 300-person auditorium for more programming, Schafer said.
"And because it is a rather large auditorium and it's something on the stage, it's got to be kind of big," she said. "We thought, 'What's bigger than a T-Rex?'"
The costume depicts a younger T-rex, aged about two to three-years-old. It's still big enough to offer a bit of a scare, according to Schafer.
"We're trying to be a little bit dramatic," she said. "It's definitely a large costume and it's definitely realistic-looking. We definitely want moments of audience engagement and we want people to have fun and to laugh."
At the core, they hope to educate people about the T-rex and what Saskatchewan was like during the Cretaceous period when the T-Rex was alive.
"We just want to offer as many ways to learn about this creature and its habitat as possible."
And while there may be a new T-rex on the scene, along with plans to add another smaller T-Rex down the road, Schafer hopes that people don't forget about the museum's original resident T-rex, Megamunch.
"We're hoping that Megamunch doesn't get too jealous of all these new T-Rexes coming into the building. So we are reminding people to give a little love to Megamunch during this time of adjustment," Schafer said with a laugh.
