High-Flying, Fire-Breathing Dragons Embark on Worldwide Tour High

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High-Flying, Fire-Breathing Dragons Embark on Worldwide Tour

MEDIA ENQUIRIES: ROGERS & COWAN Lorraine Osmundsen 212.878.5028 [email protected] | Lauren Wilsman 212.878.5007 [email protected] Jenny McGirl 212.878.5006 [email protected] High-Flying, Fire-Breathing Dragons Embark on Worldwide Tour On the Heels of Smash Hit Run in Australia & New Zealand Tickets On Sale May 11, 2012

New York, NY– May 10, 2012 – This summer, audiences across North America will experience the magic of fire- breathing dragons that soar through arena skies in DREAMWORKS’ HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON LIVE SPECTACULAR. DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. (Nasdaq: DWA), Global Creatures and S2BN Entertainment today announced HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON LIVE SPECTACULAR will embark on a worldwide tour following its critically-acclaimed debut in Australia and New Zealand. The tour will be produced by RZO Dragon Productions to deliver 23 dragons, some with wingspans of up to 46 feet, Viking warriors and world-class circus artists and acrobats, to perform against a state-of-the-art, wall-to-floor immersive projection measuring more than 20,000 square feet.

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON LIVE SPECTACULAR was created by DreamWorks Animation, producers of the Academy Award®-nominated film,How to Train Your Dragon, which grossed approximately $500 million at the worldwide box office and opened as the #1 film in over 30 countries and Global Creatures, the masterminds behind the international phenomenon Walking with Dinosaurs, the #1 grossing world tour of 2010.HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON LIVE SPECTACULAR’s worldwide tour is exclusively promoted by S2BN Entertainment and delivers some of the most ambitious theatrical technology to ever tour the arena.

The North American tour launches for a one-week engagement in Wilkes-Barre, PA, on June 27th. The tour schedule can be found at www.dreamworksdragonslive.com with tickets on sale to the general public beginning on Friday, May 11. Ticket prices range from a low of $24.50 to a high of $89.50, with an average ticket price of $58.00. A limited number of premium seats and special VIP ticket experiences and family packages are also available. Catch a sneak peek of HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON LIVE SPECTACULAR on the TODAY Show airing May 11 and www.today.com.

The live production rolls fire-breathing action, epic adventure and heartfelt laughter into an original captivating story set in the mythical world of Vikings and wild dragons. Based on the book by Cressida Cowell, it centers on Hiccup, a Viking teenager who doesn’t fit in with his tribe’s longstanding tradition of heroic dragon slayers. Hiccup’s world is turned upside down when he encounters a dragon that challenges him and his fellow Vikings to see the world from an entirely different point of view. The story presents a vision so grand in scale that only DreamWorks Animation and Global Creatures could bring How to Train Your Dragon to life in front of a live audience.

“In our film, audiences around the world were transported to the mythical world of Vikings and dragons… and now, we are excited to immerse them in a one-of-a-kind live event in HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON LIVE SPECTACULAR,” said Jeffrey Katzenberg, Chief Executive Officer of DreamWorks Animation. “The innovative team at Global Creatures and the creative storytellers at DreamWorks Animation have done an inspired job in every imaginable way to present this story on an unprecedented scale that will take global audiences to unforgettable new heights. We are happy to be working with Michael Cohl and his team at S2BN Entertainment to promote and take this show around the world.”

MEDIA ENQUIRIES: ROGERS & COWAN Lorraine Osmundsen 212.878.5028 [email protected] | Lauren Wilsman 212.878.5007 [email protected] Jenny McGirl 212.878.5006 [email protected] Global Creatures Chief Executive Officer Carmen Pavlovic added, “With DreamWorks we have forged a relationship with one of the world’s leading entertainment companies. The collaboration fuses our own world-class technology with the vision and dedication of a company renowned for its cutting-edge creativity and storytelling skill. We are excited to expand the boundaries of public expectation by creating a show that combines dynamic creatures, world class performers and incredible staging to not only thrill and intrigue, but to engage audiences on an emotional level as well.”

Michael Cohl is the founder and chairman of S2BN Entertainment , global promoter for HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON LIVE SPECTACULAR, and serves as lead producer of the Broadway’s smash hit Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. Cohl commented, “HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON LIVE SPECTACULAR is the next logical step for me after Spider-Man: to be back in arenas where I’ve always been, and where the most exciting things happen. We are thrilled to be setting a new gold standard for live family entertainment while utilizing the full scope and scale of the arena floor and fly space. The show delivers cutting-edge production values which tell an incredible story and create an unforgettable and magical experience. This show will mesmerize children and parents alike.”

“A visual and technical work of mind-boggling proportions.” – Australian Stage

Sponsored by HP, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON LIVE SPECTACULAR is brought to life through state-of-the-art technology unlike anything ever seen before in a live event experience. Through DreamWorks Animation’s ongoing strategic relationship with HP, HP technology is part of the digital backbone for the production, providing family audiences across the globe with the most captivating live entertainment possible.

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON LIVE SPECTACULAR breaks every rule of theatrical entertainment to fully immerse audiences into the show in ways that have not been attempted before. Barely contained within the arena, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON LIVE SPECTACULAR utilizes the full venue, maximizing every dimension of the performance space to transport audiences into a mythical world of fire-breathing dragons who soar overhead at great speeds. The state-of-the-art animatronic technology and large-scale cinematic projections interact seamlessly with the live actors, who bring DreamWorks Animation’s heart-warming story to life through theatrical storytelling, martial arts and acrobatics.

“Nothing less than sensational.” – Aussietheater.com

Young Hollywood actor Riley Miner, an accomplished dancer and musical theater performer, will play the lead role of Hiccup. Joining Miner to share the role of Hiccup is Rarmian Newton, who won a Helpmann Award for his performance in the Australian production of Billy Elliot The Musical (2008). American stunt performer Gemma Nguyen, a third degree Black Belt and six-time world champion in Tae Kwon Do, plays Astrid. Sharing the role of Astrid is 19-year-old Queenslander Sarah McCreanor who has starred in her own comedic productions and performed in a range of musicals and comedy shows. Stalwart Australian actor Robert Morgan plays Stoick, Hiccup’s father and the rough and ready old-school chieftain of the brawny Viking tribe. American Will Watkins, an accomplished fencer, will star as Gobber; French Kung Fu champion and stuntman Godefroy Ryckewaert plays Snotlout and Texan hip-hop dancer and rapper Dexter Mayfield will play Fishlegs. Australian hip-hop and break-dancer Virackhaly Ngeth has been cast as Ruffnut and Sydney break-dancer Frace Luke Mercado, a founding member of SKB (Street Kulture Breakers), as Tuffnut.

The cast of performers is assisted by an international technical team who has collectively created many of the world’s most memorable spectacles. The team is led by award-winning director Nigel Jamieson, who won the 2011 Helpmann Award as Best Director for his production of Opera Australia’s La Fanciulla del West, as well as production designer Peter England and costume / projection designer Dan Potra. The dragons themselves are created by Sonny Tilders and his team at The Creature Technology Company, whose work includes Walking With Dinosaurs – the Arena Spectacular. The cast of 23 dragons pays homage to all of the favorites from the DreamWorks Animation film, including the single largest animatronic creature ever made by The Creature Technology Company. The stunning score features compositions from Icelandic singer-songwriter Jónsi from Sigur Ros and Oscar®-nominated British film composerJohn Powell, who created the original score for the feature film.

6/27 - 7/1 Wilkes-Barre, PA Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza On Sale 5/11 7/4– 7/8 London, ON John Labatt Centre On Sale 5/12 7/11 – 7/15 Worcester, MA DCU Center On Sale 5/11 7/19 – 7/22 Washington, DC Verizon Center On Sale 5/11 7/25 – 7/29 Chicago, IL United Center On Sale 5/11 8/1 – 8/5 Uniondale, NY Nassau Coliseum On Sale TBD 8/8 – 8/12 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre On Sale TBD 8/15 – 8/19 Montreal, QC Bell Centre On Sale TBD 8/22 – 8/26 Pittsburgh, PA CONSOL Energy Center On Sale TBD 9/5 – 9/9 Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena On Sale TBD 9/12 – 9/16 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center On Sale TBD 9/19 – 9/23 Buffalo, NY First Niagara Center On Sale TBD 9/26– 9/30 East Rutherford, NJ IZOD Center On Sale TBD 10/3 – 10/7 Albany, NY Times Union Center On Sale TBD 10/10 – 10/14 Columbus, OH Jerome Schottenstein Center On Sale TBD 10/17 – 10/21 Detroit, MI Joe Louis Arena On Sale TBD 10/24 – 10/28 Milwaukee, WI Bradley Center On Sale TBD 10/31 – 11/4 Saskatoon, SK Credit Union Centre On Sale TBD 11/21 – 11/25 Winnipeg, MB MTS Centre On Sale TBD 11/29 – 12/2 Seattle, WA KeyArena at Seattle Center On Sale TBD 12/5 – 12/9 San Diego, CA Valley View Casino Center On Sale TBD 12/12 – 12/16 Oakland, CA Oracle Arena On Sale TBD 12/19 – 12/23 Fresno, CA Save Mart Center On Sale TBD 12/26 – 12/30 San Jose, CA HP Pavilion at San Jose On Sale TBD

2013 1/2 - 1/6 Sacramento, CA Power Balance Pavilion On Sale TBD 1/9 – 1/13 Salt Lake City, UT Energy Solutions Arena On Sale TBD 1/16 – 1/20 Anaheim, CA Honda Center On Sale TBD 1/23 - 1/27 Bakersfield, CA Rabobank Arena On Sale TBD 1/30 – 2/3 Spokane, WA Spokane Arena On Sale TBD

Visit: www.dreamworksdragonslive.com FOOTAGE and IMAGES available NOW at: URL - https://dragons.sharefile.com/ Email - [email protected] Password - dragon$1

MEDIA ENQUIRIES: ROGERS & COWAN Lorraine Osmundsen 212.878.5028 [email protected] | Lauren Wilsman 212.878.5007 [email protected] Jenny McGirl 212.878.5006 [email protected] DRAGONS VIKINGS NIGHT FURY HICCUP The rarest and most intelligent of the dragon species, the It’s not easy being the brainy son of a brawny Viking Chief, Night Fury is distinguished by its dark color and piercing but Hiccup is too smart to waste time feeling sorry for eyes, as well as its smaller size, heavy chest and short neck. himself – he’s going to become a Viking warrior his own Possessing the largest wing-to-body ratio of all dragons, it way. Unfortunately, in the crude world of Vikings, Hiccup’s can fly higher, faster and longer than any dragon. sophisticated observations and wry sense of humor only serve to make him even more of an outsider. When Hiccup GRONCKLE befriends his vicious enemy, an injured wild dragon, he The Gronckle is distinguished by its robust body and begins an exhilarating and complicated double life. relatively tiny wings that can flap with velocity, endowing it with the ability to fly backwards or sideways.ASTRID While attacking, the Gronckle smashes and crushes enemies with Striking, energetic and tough, Astrid embodies the Viking its extendable tail, or by using its head as a battering ram. way. Her competitive, determined persona makes her hard to impress, but Hiccup can’t help but be smitten. When NADDER Hiccup begins to show the strain of leading his secret Don’t be fooled, because the beautifully colored Deadly double life, Astrid is the first to become suspicious. Nadder is also extremely dangerous. It is flighty, aggressive, and has a quick and explosive temper, which is made all STOICK the worse by its preening vanity. Stoick is the old-school chieftain of the brawny Viking tribe. A reluctant and confused parent at best, he doesn’t MONSTROUS NIGHTMARE understand his clever son. Hoping to bring out the man The flagship of the dragon species, the Monstrous Nightmare in his boy, Stoick sends Hiccup into Dragon training, a is the most visually terrifying and iconic of known dragon dangerous test of battle strength. species. Its greatest weapon is a kerosene gel fire. GOBBER Gruff, grump, and crass, Gobber is the seasoned warrior appointed to drill the new recruits. Gobber means well, but he’s full of bad advice, which he dispenses freely and comically. FISHLEGS Fishlegs is big in size but small in brains. If everyone else is on the same page, you can bet that he has the wrong book. And it’s probably upside down. SNOTLOUT He’s mean, he’s strong, he’s dumb, and he smells horrible… in other worlds, he’s the perfect Viking. In village where ‘Only the strong can belong!’ he belongs, big time. But when ‘his girl,’ Astrid begins paying attention to ‘Hiccup the Useless,’ Snotlout swears vengeance. RUFFNUT & TUFFNUT Tuffnut and Ruffnut are twins. Both are fiendish thugs with ferocious intents and foul tempers, especially regarding each other. Viking adrenaline-junkies, no situation is too risky for their kind of outrageous fun.

THE MOST TECHNICALLY ADVANCED • There are more automation cues in the TOUR INTEGRATING ANIMATRONICS, opening sequence alone than a Broadway PROJECTIONS, LIVE CAST AND NEW musical has in a night. • The first-ever fully immersive live experience TECHNOLOGIES. with projection spanning more than 20,000 • Global Creatures & DreamWorks have partnered square feet throughout the entire arena. The to bring the Academy-Award® nominated film to back projection wall is equivalent to 9 movie life with real flying, fire-breathing dragons. screens combined. • The production is four years in the making. • The production has the largest number of THE DRAGON FACTS & FIGURES. animatronics ever to tour the globe. • Produced over a two-year period in • The Red Death Dragon is the largest animatronic Melbourne, Australia ever built by Creature Technology Company at • 23 Dragons over 40 feet high and 60 feet wide. • 12 Different Dragon Species Represented • Dragon wings span up to 46ft HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON LIVE SPECTACULAR • Each large dragon weighs over 2.6 tons IS THE LARGEST FAMILY TOUR EVER PRODUCED! (the size of a family car) • Travels in over 30 18-Wheeler Trucks (52’ each) • Over 2 miles of “Dragon Skin” was created with a touring cast & crew of 85. • Together the show weighs over 200,000 pounds. HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON LIVE SPECTACULAR • It would take one person over a year to load in FOLLOWS ON THE HEELS OF THE HUGE SUCCESS OF the production. WALKING WITH DINOSAURS! • Takes over 160 people to set up the production • Before Walking With Dinosaurs, no free- in each city (the equivalent of one person working roaming animatronics of this scale existed. 24 hours over 70 days). • Creature Technology Company has become • If all the cables in the production were laid out end a world leader in animatronic technology. to end, they would stretch from Los Angeles to • Walking With Dinosaurs was #1 in Worldwide New York City. Ticket Sales in 2010, ahead of Bon Jovi, AC/ DRAGONS TAKE TO THE SKY WITH DC and Black Eyed Peas with over 6.5 million tickets sold worldwide to date. GROUND-BREAKING TECHNOLOGY! • The production created the first-ever touring flight track system that weighs over 28 tons. THE TOURING COMPANY IS MADE UP OF: • The flight track uses a proprietary barcode system. The creatures scan a barcode strip as they fly around the track which tells them (and us) TOURING where they are at all times. • Toothless weighs over 7,500 pounds and flies CAST & CREW over 1.2 miles throughout the performance which is equivalent to a Range Rover soaring through the arena. 85

MEDIA ENQUIRIES: ROGERS & COWAN Lorraine Osmundsen 212.878.5028 [email protected] | Lauren Wilsman 212.878.5007 [email protected] Jenny McGirl 212.878.5006 [email protected] RARMIAN NEWTON – ‘HICCUP’ Best known for his starring role in the Australian Production of Billy Elliot the Musical (2008) Rarmian is a talented actor, singer and dancer. Winning a Helpmann Award at just fourteen, Rarmian has also starred alongside Hugh Jackman in The Boy From Oz, and showcased his dramatic acting ability in the television miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s Nightmares and Dreamscapes. Already a triple-threat performer, Rarmian is also skilled in acrobatics, having performed as an acrobat and flyer in the 2006 Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony at the young age of 12. His starring role in the worldwide tour of How To Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular will see Rarmian exercise all of these skills to their fullest potential.

RILEY MINER – ‘HICCUP’ A triple-threat performer, 18 year old Riley Miner has trained and worked in world-class cities New York and Los Angeles. Mentored and trained at Bobby’s School of Performing Arts, Riley has also been choreographed by the likes of Mandy Moore. He has treaded the boards in LA, been a finalist in multiple national and regional dance conventions and starred in TV commercials and an American talk show. Riley is excited to take on the role of Hiccup in How To Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular!

SARAH MCCREANOR – ‘ASTRID’ Sarah is a vibrant young actress skilled in dance, circus and acrobatics. A graduate of Brisbane’s prestigious high school for the Performing Arts, the Queensland Academy for Creative Industries, Sarah’s natural talent and strength as a performer has been honed by appearances in numerous Musical Theatre productions in her home town as well as performances with the dance/comedy duo Mitch and Max. Her creative flair and charisma has won her a starring role in the worldwide tour of the DreamWorks Theatricals and Global Creatures co-production How To Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular. GEMMA NGUYEN – ‘ASTRID’ Third degree black belt and six time martial arts world champion Gemma Nguyen will bring her worldclass skills to the arena floor ofHow To Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular. Also an accomplished stuntwoman, Gemma has showcased her skills on MTV, music videos for Flo Rida and Rammstein and done hair-raising stunts for a host of TV commercials and at events such as the Taurus World Stunt Awards. Hailing from Los Angeles, Gemma has also worked as a stunt woman on a range of Hollywood productions. ROBERT MORGAN – ‘STOICK’ Robert’s illustrious career spans three decades in theatre, television and film, and includes memorable performances across multiple genres, from roles in comedic productions The Craic and Hollowmen to gritty performances in feature filmsLife and The Proposition. No stranger to the small screen, Robert has appeared in Killing Time, Hollowmen, Canal Rd, Secret Life of Us, The Micallef Program, Wildside, Sea Change, Blue Murder, Corelli and Waterfront. Robert was awarded and AFI Best Guest Role in a TV Drama for his performance in Secret Life of Us. A stalwart Australian actor, Robert will bring his powerful performance skills to the role of Stoik, leader of the Vikings, in How To Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES: ROGERS & COWAN Lorraine Osmundsen 212.878.5028 [email protected] | Lauren Wilsman 212.878.5007 [email protected] Jenny McGirl 212.878.5006 [email protected] WILL WATKINS – ‘GOBBER’ Will Watkins is a multidisciplinary artist, actor and director from Seattle, Washington. Will has been chosen from 1000’s of hopefuls for his acting prowess, powerful physicality and outstanding performance as Gobber, the seasoned warrior who dispenses dragon-training to the new recruits in How To Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular. He is thrilled to be part of such a fine cast and wonderful production. GODEFROY RYCKEWAERT – ‘SNOTLOUT’ Godefroy Ryckewaert is an accomplished French martial artist and stunt specialist. At 18, he travelled from his home in France to undergo five years of intensive kung fu training in China. Godefroy then returned to Paris to undertake stunt training, incorporating acrobatics, falling, human torches, wrestling and fighting. Also a consummate fencer, Godefroy has performed at stunt shows and major events throughout France. Godefroy will apply his considerable stunting and kung fu skills to fight the dragons in the worldwide tour of How To Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular. VIRACKHALY NGETH – ‘RUFFNUT THORSTON’ A song called Freestyler by Bomfunk MC’s inspired Virackhaly to break into hip hop at the young age of 12. Since then he has busted his way into a coveted professional career in breakdancing, hip hop, skateboarding and acrobatics. Having appeared on prime time television as a Top 20 contestant in the premiere season of So You Think You Can Dance Australia, as well as on numerous TV commercials, music videos and at many high profile events and festivals, Virackhaly is a one of Australia’s most adept hip hoppers. He has also formed a local group by the name of JUSE (Just US Elements) and has been going strong for the last 11 years. Breaking onto an arena-sized stage for the worldwide tour of How To Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular will see Virackhaly take his hip hop skills to a new level. FRACE ‘LUKE’ MERCADO – ‘TUFFNUT THORSTON’ Frace ‘Luke’ Mercado discovered B-Boying (breakdancing) as a young teenager, imitating music videos he saw on TV. His determination, persistence and energy have seen him forge his way from local competitions to competing at a world class level. A founding member of SKB (Street Kulture Breakers), Australia’s number one breakdancing crew, Frace has competed in world championships and the Grand Final of Australia’s Got Talent 2011. His professional career has seen him appear in feature films, star in music videos and TV commercials as well as at blockbuster events such as the Australian Grand Prix, Urban Music Awards and the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards. Frace is excited to bust out arena-sized moves in the larger-than-life worldwide tour of How To Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular. DEXTER MAYFIELD – ‘FISHLEGS’ Expect the unexpected when it comes to Dexter Mayfield. Dexter, born and raised in Dallas, Texas, began his dance career in one of the most positive and encouraging settings any performer can start their journey, in church. Dexter rediscovered his love for dance and performing at Powerhouse of Dance and the Centre for Dance, and where he also realized that regardless of your age, gender, race or size, talent is TALENT, and should be recognized and appreciated no matter what. And after only 3 months of technical training, Dexter attended the one event that would change his life forever, the Monsters of Hip Hop Dance convention in Dallas, TX, where he received the Ailey Extension Scholarship. Dexter also served as Co Director of Planet Funks Jr. Slam Squad in Houston, Texas. With an open mind, open heart, optimistic outlook on life and a fresh new style, Dexter Mayfield hopes to inspire others to accept themselves for who they are and embrace the talent within themselves. Dexter will take his talent and inspirational mission around the world with How To Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES: ROGERS & COWAN Lorraine Osmundsen 212.878.5028 [email protected] | Lauren Wilsman 212.878.5007 [email protected] Jenny McGirl 212.878.5006 [email protected] DREAMWORKS ANIMATION GLOBAL CREATURES DreamWorks Animation creates high-quality entertainment, Global Creatures is an international entertainment group including CG animated feature films, television specials that develops new and exciting theatrical productions to and series, live entertainment properties and online virtual take to audiences around the world. The animatronics arm, worlds, meant for audiences around the world. The Creature Technology Company, invents and deploys the latest in animatronic design. Their hugely successful DreamWorks Animation is the largest animation studio in production Walking with Dinosaurs – The Arena Spectacular, the world and has released 23 animated feature films, which based on the award winning BBC TV series, represents a have enjoyed both critical and commercial successes. These new entertainment genre all on its own. The production include the franchise properties of Shrek, Madagascar, is a spectacle of unprecedented size and quality, which Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon. DreamWorks captivates young and old alike. The Walking with Dinosaurs Animation became the first studio to produce all of its feature tour was the number one tour worldwide in 2010. Global films in 3D and in 2010 became the first Company to release Creatures is producing, with the National Theatre of Great three CG feature films in 3D in a single year. Britain, the Australian production of the Tony Award-winning The Company has been named one of the “100 Best play WAR HORSE, opening in December 2012. The company Companies to Work For” by FORTUNE® Magazine for four will stage the World Premiere of King Kong, produced in consecutive years. In 2012, DreamWorks Animation ranks co-operation with the estate of “Kong” creator Merian C. #14 on the list. Cooper, in Melbourne in June 2013, and they have formed DreamWorks Animation was a division of DreamWorks a partnership with Bazmark (the multi-media company SKG until October 2004, when it became a publicly traded founded and owned by Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin) company. In 1994 DreamWorks SKG was co-founded by to produce a stage musical adaptation of the first movie Jeffrey Katzenberg, who currently serves as the Company’s of Baz Luhrmann’s ground-breaking Red Curtain Trilogy, Chief Executive Officer, together with Steven Spielberg and Strictly Ballroom. David Geffen. DreamWorks Theatricals was established by DreamWorks Animation in 2007 to develop and produce live stage and RZO DRAGON PRODUCTIONS arena show productions inspired by the Company’s franchise properties. Current productions in development – including The RZO Companies group was formed on July 1, 1988 How To Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular and Kung Fu through the merger of Sound Advice, Inc. and Joseph Panda Arena Spectacular – are one-of-a-kind, global tours Rascoff & Company, Inc. by their principals William Zysblat and immersive entertainment experiences for the whole and Joseph Rascoff, respectively. For over twenty-five family. DreamWorks Theatricals productions are guided years, RZO and its predecessor organizations have been by much of the creative leadership team that develops the actively involved in the music business as tour producers studio’s award-winning feature films. and full-service business managers. RZO has represented such illustrious music artists as Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Sting, U2, The Police, Luis Miguel, Patti LaBelle, David Byrne and many others. The Company also represents personalities such as Carson Daly and Iman along with the Estates of John Lennon and Ira and George Gershwin.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES: ROGERS & COWAN Lorraine Osmundsen 212.878.5028 [email protected] | Lauren Wilsman 212.878.5007 [email protected] Jenny McGirl 212.878.5006 [email protected] S2BN ENTERTAINMENT S2BN is an entertainment company specializing in the production of family oriented shows for theatres and arenas. Currently, S2BN has three successful shows in operation, the record breaking smash hit Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark on Broadway, Rock of Ages now in its 4th year on Broadway, recently opened in London, touring throughout North America and on June 1st, 2012 a major Warner Brother Picture Release, and thirdly, Fuerza Bruta, also in its 5th year in New York and touring throughout the world. For 30+ years S2BN’s leadership have been dominant and innovative forces in the international concert touring industry, working in exclusive partnerships with renowned, global artist such as The Rolling Stones, Barbra Streisand, U2 and Pink Floyd amongst many others. In that time they have also created and/or promoted a wide range of unique family entertainment attractions in tennis, figure skating, motorsports, boxing and wrestling as well as theatre, opera and symphony.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES: ROGERS & COWAN Lorraine Osmundsen 212.878.5028 [email protected] | Lauren Wilsman 212.878.5007 [email protected] Jenny McGirl 212.878.5006 [email protected] NIGEL JAMIESON: STAGE ADAPTATION & DIRECTOR Nigel began his career in London, where he was a founder and director of the international touring collective Trickster Theatre. He went on to work at the Royal National Theatre, founded both the London Festival of New Circus and the London International Workshop Festival and receive a Greater London Arts Award for outstanding contribution to London’s Arts. Moving to Australia in the 90’s, he directed Tin Symphony for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Opening Ceremony and created eight segments for Today 2000, the worldwide 24 hour Millennium Broadcast. The following year he co-directed The Yeperenye Federation Festival, a historic gathering in Central Australia involving some 2000 indigenous performers from 40 different language groups. In 2002 he directed the Closing Ceremony of Commonwealth Games in Manchester, and created a show at Ankor Wat in Cambodia, featuring 400 Buddist monks, the Royal National Cambodian Dance Troupe and Jose Careras. From 2003 to 2005 he was Artistic Director of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, during the development phase of the event. More recently he directed an epic outdoor show for Liverpool, to celebrate its year as European City of Culture. In addition to such large scale projects, Nigel’s theatre work tours the world. It includes multi-award winning works such as his Indonesian collaboration The Theft of Sita, Clearance, All Of Me, Homelands and Wake Baby which have all toured extensively throughout Australia, Asia , Europe and the US. Other productions have included ‘In Our Name’, created in association with the Albaddy family, which told the story of their young children’s five year imprisonment in Australian detention centres and Honour Bound, about the detention of Australian David Hicks in Guantanamo Bay, named Best Mainstage production and Best New Australian Work at the 2006 Sydney Theatre Awards. It has toured to festivals in Vienna, Amsterdam, Wellington and London. The following year his production of the opera Dead Man Walking received seven Helpmann nominations and three Awards. More recent projects have include Minutes of Separation for the Sydney Theatre Company and IWC Switzerland, featuring Cate Blanchett, Joseph Fiennes, film, aerialists, live performance and animation and the creation of Galipoli , also for the Sydney Theatre Company. In 2010 he directed Sydney Festival First Night, which won the Helpmann award for Best Australian Special Event, and in 2011 received a further Helpmann for Best Direction of an Opera, for his production of Pucini’s La Fanciulla. Most recently he created As The World Tipped with Wired Aerial Theatre, a large scale outdoor event about Climate Change which toured the UK through the summer of 2011 and played at this year’s Sydney Festival. Nigel’s contributions to Australian cultural life have been recognised with the award of an Australian Federation Medal in 2002 and the 2007 Sydney Myer Individual Performing Arts Award.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES: ROGERS & COWAN Lorraine Osmundsen 212.878.5028 [email protected] | Lauren Wilsman 212.878.5007 [email protected] Jenny McGirl 212.878.5006 [email protected] SONNY TILDERS: CREATIVE DIRECTOR Sonny Tilders has spent the past two decades designing and making unusual bespoke contraptions and special effects for both the film and theatrical industries. With a degree in Graphic Design (Swinburne University) Sonny began his professional career at Australia’s foremost models and effects company, Mothers Art Productions. For ten years he worked at this Melbourne based company on dozens of TV commercials, television series and feature films. Leaving in 1998, he devoted his freelance career to the specialized field of “animatronics” (the world of high-tech puppet making). He went on to work on US feature films such as Peter Pan, Ghostrider, The Chronicles of Narnia and Star Wars -The Revenge of the Sith as key animatronics engineer. His television credits include being a lead animatronics engineer for the US science fiction series Farscape. Although focusing on film and television Sonny has also made puppets for Australian theatrical touring productions of The Hobbit and The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. In late 2005 Sonny was approached to head up a workshop to develop and build the dinosaurs for Walking with Dinosaurs – The Arena Spectacular. The success of this venture soon lead to the formation of The Creature Technology Company (CTC). Sonny is currently the Creative Director of CTC and sits on the Global Creatures board.

PETER ENGLAND: PRODUCTION DESIGNER Peter England received a Bachelor of Performing Arts in Design from the National Institute of Dramatic Art, 1994 and a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (Hons.) from the University of New South Wales, 1986. He has won multiple awards including: Helpmann Award for Best Set Design in 2001, 2002 and 2004, Green Room Award for Best Opera Design in 1998 and 2002, Green Room Award for Best Dance Design in 2005. In 1997 he won a Mike Walsh Fellowship and he was a finalist in the Pentagon Memorial Design Competition (with Room 4.1.3) in 2002. Peter has designed over 50 event and theatrical productions including: For Bangarra Dance Theatre: Fire, Mathinna, Boomerang (Green Room Award 2005), Unaipon (Helpmann Award 2004), Bush, Walkabout , Skin and Fish. For Opera Australia: Sweeney Todd (Helpmann Award 2002, Green Room Award 2002), Simon Boccanegra, La Bohème and Madama Butterfly (Green Room Award 1998). For The Australian Ballet: Amalgamate, Aesthetic Arrest and The Rite of Spring. For the Shakespeare Theatre (Washington DC): Titus Andronicus, Richard III and Hamlet. For Sydney Theatre Company: The School for Scandal, Betrayal, The Virgin Mim, Victory, Tot Mom and Bloodland. For the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Closing Ceremony: Sydney Handover. For the 2004 Adelaide Festival of Arts: Universal Playground. For the Sydney 2000 Olympic Opening Ceremony: Awakenings (Helpmann Award 2001). For the Victorian Opera: Orpheus and Eurydice. For Global Creatures: Walking with Dinosaurs The Arena Spectacular. And for the City of Sydney: Millennium NYE Celebrations on and around Sydney Harbour. Peter is currently designing sets for the Global Creatures stage production of King Kong.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES: ROGERS & COWAN Lorraine Osmundsen 212.878.5028 [email protected] | Lauren Wilsman 212.878.5007 [email protected] Jenny McGirl 212.878.5006 [email protected] DAN POTRA: COSTUME AND PROJECTION DESIGNER Dan was born in Romania. He studied traditional animation techniques and design while a student at the N. Tonitza Arts High School of Fine Arts in Bucharest and studied art in both Europe and Australia, graduating in design from NIDA in 1991. Dan has worked as a designer on over 120 productions in Australia, Europe, USA, Russia, Asia and Africa. Amongst Dan’s many career highlights include designing the now famous Deep Sea Dreaming and Tin Symphony segments in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games opening ceremony for which he won the 2001 Helpmann Award for Best Costume Design. Following this success, Dan designed many other large scale sporting and cultural events, including the opening and closing ceremonies for both the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games and the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, production design for the opening of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and the 2008 opening and closing ceremonies of the Liverpool European Capital of Culture directed by Nigel Jamieson. This ceremony involved the creation of hand drawn one-off animations projected over huge spaces in Liverpool and 13 regional centres in the UK. Dan is a designer across the full spectrum of the arts, designing sets, costumes, concepts and animation for opera, theatre, large scale events, dance and film. He received five Helpmann Award nominations for his design work in opera and theatre in Australia including being awarded Best Scenic Design in 2008 for Dead Man Walking at the State Theatre in Sydney. Dan is currently developing the design for a new opera about Walt Disney by Phillip Glass for the English National Opera/ Teatro Real de Madrid.

GAVIN ROBINS: MOVEMENT DIRECTOR & ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR Gavin draws inspiration from a broad spectrum of theatre and performance experience. His work focuses on the biomechanics of the actor and the animation of the actor for both stage and screen. He has toured internationally as a physical performer with Legs on the Wall and has created large-scale visual and aerial performances in many theatre festivals throughout the world. He was instrumental in the training and choreography of the Tin Symphony in the Opening Ceremony of the 2000 Olympics. Currently Gavin is working as the aerial/circus director of the Global Creatures production of King Kong scheduled to open in Australia in 2013. As director, his credits include High Flyers for the Sydney Festival , The Opening of Ferrari World , At First Sight for the National Institute of Circus Arts and Wicked Bodies , La Boite Theatre Co .As Movement Director and Choreographer, he has worked for The Sydney Theatre Company , Opera Australia, The Queensland Theatre Company, Company B , and The Bell Shakespeare Company amongst others. For Television and Film, his credits as movement director include Farscape Series 2, the 2001, 2002 and 2004 ARIA Awards, The AFI Awards, and Australian Idol (series 1, 2 and 3); Australian feature film Prime Mover and the TV series Spirited. Gavin is a teacher of movement and acting at a host of our leading performance training institutions.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES: ROGERS & COWAN Lorraine Osmundsen 212.878.5028 [email protected] | Lauren Wilsman 212.878.5007 [email protected] Jenny McGirl 212.878.5006 [email protected] PHILIP LETHLEAN: LIGHTING DESIGNER The Dragon LX design project was a dream engagement for Philip. The pleasure of collaborating again with Nigel Jamieson, the challenge of integrating lighting and special effects with projection, and of course Dragons. Based in Melbourne Australia, Philip’s thirty years of design experience encompasses lighting, puppetry, circus, theatre, architecture and events. Many of his works have enjoyed extensive international touring. International projects include lighting design for the Australian Pavilion for Expo 2010 in Shanghai China and Expo 2005 in Japan; Citrawarna for the Malaysian Govt; the award winning Dragon Child for Beijing Children’s Theatre; Circus Oz in New York, Stockholm, New Delhi & Bogota; the English National Ballet in Shanghai and ‘Bali Agung’ a Hindu epic with 150 performers, elephants, hornbills and more in Gianyar, Bali. Australian projects include Philipe Genty’s Stowaways; Melbourne Theatre Company’s The Seagull , Life x 3 and Rockabye. Chunky Move’s Two Faced Bastard; the Melbourne Commonwealth Games opening; Opera Australia’s production of Puccini’s La Fancuilla del West; the Australian indigenous bicentennial celebration Yeperenye; Handspan Theatre’s production of Picasso’s Four Little Girls and Cho Cho San; Fruit Fly Circus’ Helpmann award winning ‘The Promise”. Philip is a recipient of a Creative Fellowship awarded by the Australia Council for the Arts and has received numerous Helpmann and Green Room nominations and awards.

PETER HYLENSKI: SOUND DESIGNER Grammy®, Tony® and Olivier award nominated. Selected Broadway Designs include: Shrek the Musical (New York, US Tour, London), Rock of Ages (New York, London, Toronto, Australia, US Tour), The Scottsboro Boys, Lend Me A Tenor, Elf, Wonderland, Cry Baby, The Times They Are A-Changin’, The Wedding Singer, Sweet Charity, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, Little Women, Brooklyn. Other credits: Le Reve at Wynn Las Vegas, Ragtime (London), Walking with Dinosaurs, Mame, Opening Doors, Annie. He’s designed for Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden and The Kennedy Center. Architectural projects include the Plaza Hotel (New York City), Wynn (Las Vegas), Chicago Auditorium Theater and the American Museum of Natural History. Peter is also a producer and engineer for film, album and television projects. He’s engineered television commercials for Sony, Levi’s, General Mills, Kia and Mercedes Benz, to name a few. He co-produced the cast album of Shrek, the Musical and was the re-record mixer on his fourth film for the American Museum of Natural History titled Journey to the Stars. He holds a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES: ROGERS & COWAN Lorraine Osmundsen 212.878.5028 [email protected] | Lauren Wilsman 212.878.5007 [email protected] Jenny McGirl 212.878.5006 [email protected] JOHN POWELL: COMPOSER British-born composer John Powell’s is one of Hollywood‘s most prolific film composers. His versatile music can be heard in animated films, comedies, action films and dramas including Face/ Off, Kung Fu Panda, Antz, Chicken Run, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, The Italian Job, The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum, United 93,I Am Sam and X-Men: The Last Stand, Fair Game, and Knight and Day. Powell’s recent credits include Rio, Kung Fu Panda 2, Happy Feet 2, and the upcoming Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax. Powell is currently in production on Ice Age 4. John Powel is the recipient of four Ivor Novello Awards for Shrek, Ice Age: The Meltdown, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and How To Train Your Dragon. Last year, Powell was nominated for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for his score to How To Train Your Dragon. He was nominated for a Grammy in 2008 for his work on Happy Feet.

JÓNSI: COMPOSER Jón þor (jónsi) Birgisson is an Icelandic musician, best known as singer of Sigur Rós, a band he co-founded as a teenager 18 years ago. With Sigur Rós he has released six studio albums, which have taken the band on a journey from obscurity to a position as one of the biggest ‘underground’ bands on the planet. Sigur Rós’ beautifully atmospheric and frequently darkly dramatic work continues to defy categorization, attracting a broad spectrum of admirers, among them the many film makers who have used their music to startling effect in films such as ‘Life Aquatic’, ‘127 Hours’ and ‘Vanilla Sky’. Elsewhere Sigur Rós have written music for the Merce Cunningham dance company; composed and performed a full orchestral works based on the Icelandic sagas; and made a celebrated film of a tour of their homeland in ‘Heima’, directed by none other than ‘How To Train Your Dragon’s very own Dean DeBlois. As a live band they have honed their set to become players of rare emotional heft, performing at festivals and concerts all around the world. Meanwhile, Birgisson, the solo artist, has released ‘Go’, his first collection of songs under the name Jónsi, which only enhanced his reputation for stunning live representation; and ‘Riceboy Sleeps’, a collaborative ambient record with his partner Alex Somers; with whom he also stages exhibitions of drawings and paintings. As a film composer Birgisson first work was to write the end title song to ‘How To Train You Dragon’, followed last year by the score for Cameron Crowe’s ‘We Bought A Zoo’.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES: ROGERS & COWAN Lorraine Osmundsen 212.878.5028 [email protected] | Lauren Wilsman 212.878.5007 [email protected] Jenny McGirl 212.878.5006 [email protected] BASIL HOGIOS: ADDITIONAL COMPOSITIONS & ARRANGEMENTS Basil is an award-winning composer, musical director, arranger and producer. He has collaborated with some of Australia’s theatre greats on mainstage productions for Sydney Theatre Co., Melbourne Theatre Co., Company B, Bell Shakespeare. He collaborated with Nigel Jamieson on Wrong Skin, a devised dance/drama piece featured at the Adelaide and Darwin Festivals, featuring the famed Chooky Dancers. He received the Sydney Theatre Award for Best Score, for the critically acclaimed Three Furies directed by Jim Sharman (original director of Rocky Horror Picture Show). He also composed and conducted live music for Dream Masons, a devised outdoor theatrical spectacle which opened Tasmania’s Ten Days on the Island to 12 000 people, featuring a 18 piece ensemble and choir. Basil has scored over thirty films, many of them screening in international film festivals and winning awards. He composed the score for the critically acclaimed feature film Romulus My Father, starring Eric Bana and Franka Potente, for which he received an AFI nomination. Recently he completed writing songs for Andy X, a surreal exploration of Andy Warhol’s life, also directed by Jim Sharman. His score and sound design for the short film Apricot won international acclaim when the film was voted Best Narrative Film at the Vimeo Awards, and his orchestral score for the music-driven art-film SUB- won Gold at the Park City Film Music Festival. Originally trained as an architect, his collaborations with video and visual artists explore relationships between music/sound, image, narrative, and architectural space. Basil also has produced albums and tracks for singers, songwriters, and bands.

MAX LAMBERT: MUSICAL SUPERVISOR Max Lambert is one of Australia’s most talented composers, arrangers, musicians and musical directors. His composing credits include work for the Sydney, Melbourne and Queensland Theatre Companies, the Sydney Dance Company and The Australian Ballet. Max has recorded albums with Kate Ceberano, Wendy Matthews, Grace Knight, Vince Jones, Judi Connelli, Renee Geyer, Paul Kelly, Iva Davies and Icehouse. Max was the pianist on the ABC’s Playschool from 1991 to 2000. Max has been involved in films such as George Miller’s Happy Feet, Jane Campion’s Sweetie and Gillian Armstrong’s The Last Days of Chez Nous. Notable musical theatre credits have included David Atkins’ critically acclaimed production of Hot Shoe Shuffle and Musical Supervision on the ARIA award winning The Boy From Oz. In the realm of Dance Max co-composed and performed in Berlin for the Sydney Dance Company and co-wrote Tivoli for The Australian Ballet. Max’s Musical Directorship credits include the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of The XXVII Olympiad, the Commonwealth Games held in Manchester in 2002 and the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar in 2006. Max has also overseen the 2007, 2008 and 2009 New Year’s Eve Celebrations in Sydney and the Australia Plays Broadway concerts in New York in 2008 and 2009. Max was Musical Supervisor on the musicals Hairspray and Fame and the Director of Music for the Opening Ceremony of World Expo in Shanghai in 2010. He is currently working on the Global Creatures production of King Kong.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES: ROGERS & COWAN Lorraine Osmundsen 212.878.5028 [email protected] | Lauren Wilsman 212.878.5007 [email protected] Jenny McGirl 212.878.5006 [email protected] CRESSIDA COWELL Cressida Cowell is the author of the bestselling ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ book series. Cressida grew up in London, U.K, and on a small, uninhabited island off the west coast of Scotland. The house in Scotland was lit by candle-light, and there was no telephone or television, so she spent a lot of time drawing and writing stories. In the evening, her father told her tales of the Vikings who invaded the island archipelago twelve hundred years before, of the quarrelsome Tribes who fought and tricked each other, and of the legends of dragons who were supposed to live in the caves in the cliffs. In 2002, Cressida began to write and illustrate a book for children. She remembered the stories she had written on the island as a child, and turned these ideas into the book ‘How to Train Your Dragon.’ There are now nine books in the series and she is currently working on the tenth. The How to Train Your Dragon books have been translated into over 30 different languages. In 2006, Cressida received the Nestle Children’s Book Award. She is an ambassador for the National Literacy Trust in the U.K. Cressida still lives in London. She is married to Simon Cowell (not THAT Simon Cowell), and she has three children, Maisie (13), Clemmie (11) and Alexander (8).

HERALD SUN THE AUSTRALIAN “These dragons will knock your socks off” “Delightful” “Jaw Dropping” THEATREPEOPLE.COM.AU THE AGE “Considerably Impressive” “Visually astonishing” “Fantastically Done” “A dizzying triumph” “Seamless, clever and Inspiring” “Kids will love it” “A fantastic production” “A unique and entrancing spectacle” “brilliantly done” “A lustrous world premiere Melbourne “Ten thumbs up” can be proud hosting” “The most technically impressive I have ever seen” AUSSIETHEATRE.COM “Extraordinarily beautiful” ARTSHUB.COM.AU “Nothing less than sensational” “By god the Dragons are breathtaking” ”Incredible” ”Spectacular” AUSTRALIAN STAGE “A visual and technical work of mind KATE HERBERT boggling proportions” (HERALD SUN – ONLINE BLOG) “Turns the dial on visual spectacle up to 11” “Awe Inspiring” “Truly cutting edge” “Dazzling” “Extremely impressive” “Simply amazing” “Truly impressive” “Astonishing”

MEDIA ENQUIRIES: ROGERS & COWAN Lorraine Osmundsen 212.878.5028 [email protected] | Lauren Wilsman 212.878.5007 [email protected] Jenny McGirl 212.878.5006 [email protected] SYDNEY MORNING HERALD STUFF.CO.NZ “Eye-Popping” “Hundreds of children – and their parents – laughed, “Clever” gasped and looked on in wonder as winged beasts and Vikings took to the skies.” “This production marks a significant step forward in the evolution of this kind of stadium-sized story telling” “How To Train Your Dragon is an adventure for the entire family and is worth every cent.” Sunday Telegraph “Dragons is a show with a lot of heart and a great story at “Spectacular” the centre of it….” “Brilliantly Clever” “Visually entrancing” “Stunning spectacle” THE AGE “Genuinely touching” 4.5 ★ “A massive achievement” HANDS up if you hate dragons. No one? Thought as much. Now, through cutting-edge animatronics, the ultimate fantasy creatures monster the stage, taking flight in an arena spectacular from the team behind Walking NEW ZEALAND HERALD With Dinosaurs. “Wonderfully enchanting” While the dinosaurs impressed with their massive scale, that event had almost no narrative. How to Train Your “The technological wizardry is impressive” Dragon is even more visually astonishing. Harnessing “Awesome special effects of a movie blockbuster” high-tech puppetry, this show’s wonders are no longer “Might represent the future of theatre” earthbound. And, based as it is on the phenomenally popular 2010 film - grossing second only to the Shrek films in Dreamworks’ animated stable - it has a story worth telling. HERALD SUN Hiccup (Riley Miner) is a brainy Viking lad born into a world of brawn. He comes from a long line of dragon Reviewer: Kate Herbert hunters, and certainly can’t compete with the ferocious Stars:★★★★ Astrid (Gemma Nguyen), the toughest dragon slayer in school. When Hiccup finds himself face-to-face with FORGET DINOSAURS! IT IS FIRE-BREATHING Toothless the Night Fury, he befriends the dragon rather DRAGONS that now rule the earth, and they were alive than killing it. and flying, terrorising and charming the 5000 audience. The show is a dizzying triumph of theatrical and cinematic This arena spectacular, directed ambitiously and deftly by design, pitching us into a world of fire, stone, and steel, Nigel Jamieson, began its global tour in Melbourne AND of towering cliffs and tranquil forest glades, rolling seas marries with puppetry, projections, pyrotechnics, aerial and lava-strewn mountains. Jonsi’s atmospheric Icelandic and ground acrobatics, martial arts and hip hop. These composition complements the lush landscapes, and the fantastical creatures come to life develop personalities, merger of interactive animation and aerial tricks gives it engage with their human friends and even fly on there the feel of an immersive video game in three dimensions. backs over our heads. How to Train Your Dragon is a big leap forward in making The other collective star is the jaw dropping 3D the technology serve theatrical storytelling, rather projections by Dan Poteta. Characters are hurled into than substituting for it. a vivid, magical landscape of Viking villages, oceans, forests, mountains and the fiery dragon’s lair. Nigel Jamieson marshals an incredible design team to effect. And kids will love it - my five-year-old nephew’s Based on the animated movie, it tells the story of Hiccup eyes were popping out of his head. – a young Viking (a role shared by US actor Riley Miner and Australian Rarmian Newton). These dragons will It’s a unique and entrancing spectacle, and a lustrous knock your socks off. world premiere Melbourne can be rightly proud of hosting.

It’s impossible to not love a life-sized, fire-breathing, doe-eyed dragon. Surely I could have a small one as a pet?

How To Train Your Dragon: The Arena Spectacular is based on the DreamwWorks 2010 film. Created in Melbourne by the same team who made Walking With Dinosaurs: The Arena Spectacular, its home town is first to see the new spectacle that will spend the next years travelling the world.

If you haven’t seen the super-gorgeous computer-animated DreamWorks film, Hiccup the Viking doesn’t live up to his dragon-slayer dad’s expectations and wants to impress the village by slaughtering a scaly critter, but when he captures his first dragon, he can’t bring himself to make the kill and begins to realise that his new friend Toothless and all dragons aren’t as monstrous as they believed. When he wins the right to kill a dragon at a festival (and impress his rival slayer and love interest Astrid), he’s faced with choosing between his smoking new friends or his family and village.

Unlike Dinosaurs, humans clearly cohabit with dragons and the giants are joined by a large cast whose circus skills and flying impress even the most jaded tweens. And who prove that old-school puppetry is as wonderful as any animatronic as an extraordinarily beautiful shadow puppets nearly outshines the giants and some of the most loved critters were hand puppets.

But the stars remain the dragons. Created by Sonny Tilders and his Creature Technology Company team, the animatronic and puppet creatures are nothing less than sensational, with details like hand-painted skins and blinking and moving eyes that instantly make you ignore any visible technology, and movement so fluid that it’s easy to forget that they can’t follow you home.

What takes this show beyond a circus ring of spectacular creatures, is the incredible animation by Dan Porta and production design by Peter England. The animation is not like the film, with a hand-drawn and darker feel to it. Projected onto a wall bigger than any screen, the animation creates movement that feels like a whizz-bang computer game rather than a film and works to make the huge audience feel more a part of the action.

Feeling close to the characters and having any subtlety of story is a tough call in spaces made for sport and with such how-do-they-do-that co-stars. Director Nigel Jamieson is no stranger to massive events, having directed several Commonwealth and Olympic ceremonies, and he uses technology to tell remarkably intimate stories on our main stages (Honour Bound). The How To Train Your Dragon film is a story about Hiccup and his family, the Arena Spectacular, almost by definition, needs to be a story about Toothless and the dragons. Much of the emotion of the story still relies on knowing the film, but it works without that back up and I suspect that changes will continue to be made, so when they saddle up the dragons to leave Melbourne, there won’t be any moments when the technology is more interesting than the story.

How To Train Your Dragon: The Arena Spectacular is as spectacular as it claims to be. If you know little fans of the film, it’s worth it. My favourite moment was watching a bank of children waving as Toothless flew to them. But be warned that the merchandise is ridiculously cute, so be prepared for sulking if you’re not willing to buy $30+ toys.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES: ROGERS & COWAN Lorraine Osmundsen 212.878.5028 [email protected] | Lauren Wilsman 212.878.5007 [email protected] Jenny McGirl 212.878.5006 [email protected] NATIONAL BUSINESS REVIEW (New Zealand Review. 04/19/12) But his dad finds out about this unnatural friendship How to Train your Dragon: a Wagnerian tale better which brings on a final drive to exterminate the dragons. than awesome. Hiccup comes to the rescue with the outrageous notion You would have thought a bunch of fire breathing that dragons and humans could be good friends and dragons would have had the kids terrified and neighbours, and live peacefully. screaming, but last night these amazing creatures had At the centre of the story are the amazing dragons in them totally transfixed and spellbound. various sizes and levels of ferocity. They are brilliant hi- How to Train your Dragon Arena Spectacular is an tech constructions, belching fire and smoke and roaring. extraordinary combination of technology, wizardry and They also display personalities with the droop of their superb theatrics which transports us back in time and head, the flick of a tail or the blinking of an eye. into another realm. Their skin is like crocodile hide speckled with jewels Despite the fact that dragons have never existed, they and their movements are generally fluid and lifelike, play an important part in the culture of most societies. even though they are mounted on motorised platforms They suggest all sorts of hidden powers, supernatural interventions and our fear of the unknown. Giving the show a real sense of drama and adventure are the lights, music and amazing visual projections. Dragons is a tale of youth attaining manhood, winning the girl and saving the village by transforming society The laser lights which sweep the main stage can through following the path of truth and honesty. provide a sparkling seas, underwater realms, rocky highlands, fields of molten lava and cloudscapes. It’s universal tale featuring big journeys, battles and the final solution. In one sequence, Hiccup’s goes on an impressive journey, like vast computer game where he gives the While it has all the great dramatic components, much of impression of dodging rocks, leaping chasms and the time it seems to be a reworking of a great Icelandic ascending collapsing ladders. saga produced by Cirque du Soleil and Monty Python. This is done by bringing together hi-tech visuals, with It has drama, humour and spectacle which appeals the actor suspended on wires taking him on his hectic to all ages. Some will see it as a Wagnerian epic and and heroic journey. others as a huge 3D animated computer game. When Hiccup has a go at drawing Toothless, his Somewhere way up north, the Vikings are having a real sketches are shown on a vast scale, which seems to problem with dragons. transform him into a young Leonardo da Vinci, and his They destroy their village mainly by blasting them with drawing take on a life of their own. fir but they also manage to set up huge earthquake The other Vikings are great actors and acrobats, and tremors, presumably from their underground lairs. their battles with the dragons are inspired pieces of How to control the dragons is much on the mind of lunatic choreography. the Vikings and Stiok, the leader of the Vikings, and There are other sequences which use old-style his followers know the best way to deal with them is theatrical techniques such as a shadow puppet-style to destroy them. presentation on the different dragons, and there is It is a battle which has been waged for years and all the beautifully conceived procession of Viking ships, the young men aspire to become dragon slayers and paraded as large paper lanterns. rid the land of the terrible beasts. This mixture of the high technique, the conventional and And then there is Hiccup, Stoik’s son. He wants to be great acting come together to make what the kids were a dragon slayer but after capturing one he can’t bring saying was “just the best”, “totally cool” and “better himself to actually kill it. than awesome”. Instead, cute Toothless becomes his friend and they have some adventures.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES: ROGERS & COWAN Lorraine Osmundsen 212.878.5028 [email protected] | Lauren Wilsman 212.878.5007 [email protected] Jenny McGirl 212.878.5006 [email protected]