UNAUTHORIZED ‘JURASSIC PARK’ MUSICAL PARODY
A SHOW 65 MILLION YEARS IN THE MAKING

Dinner theater, in my opinion, never brings to mind a quality production of any sort. Personally, I imagine the blue haired set watching a sloppy show eating an early bird dinner. That’s not the case with live entertainment at Rockwell Table & Stage in Los Feliz where the eats are solid, the entertainment daring and the energy always high.

The current production of The Unauthorized Musical Parody of Jurassic Park is a raucous good time loaded with great songs and hearty belly laughs.

As with any show at Rockwell, there are signature elements of tongue-in-cheek humor injected into this live re-creation of one of the most popular films of all time. Created by Kate Pazakis, the goal of the production is simple.

“It is our goal to take what people love about the film and pair with what people loved about the decade. “UMPO: The Unathorized Musical Parody Of” series is very much, like its source material, a roller coaster of emotions. It is a love letter to what Steven Spielberg created over twenty years ago.”

Backed by a powerful live band and an impressive cast that can dynamically deliver on the well-crafted songs written for the show, Jurassic Park is aptly retooled for a live audience. In this version, Jeff Goldblum’s character really shines—here he’s just called Goldblum. Another scene stealer is Samuel L. Jackson’s character who gets spiced up with some of the actor’s other more memorable roles.

Maybe it’s because I’ve written about live theater for so many years that I’m admit that I’ve seen a lot of disappointing productions. In fact, for a while I was gun shy about live theater—musicals especially. And then I discovered the musical parody. This is an irreverent and gleeful genre that just really works for me. And over the years I’ve seen some great ones—Silence! The Unauthorized Musical Parody of Silence of the Lambs; Re-Animator; and Scream at Rockwell Table & Stage. And this Jurassic Park parody is a carefree good time.

“Our UMPO series has grown its fan base exponentially over the past three years and audiences have been clamoring for the arrival of T-Rex and other creatures to populate the Rockwell stage,” says Pazakis. “So, I’m very excited about this historic, or shall I say, pre-historic production!”

The Unauthorized Musical Parody of Jurassic Park plays at Rockwell Table & Stage through April 28. Click here to buy tickets.

Rockwell: Table & Stage is located at 1714 N. Vermont Ave in Los Feliz.

Story by Jose Martinez