“Hold Onto Your Butts" at the University of Dubuque -- October 29.
Thursday, October 29, 7:30 p.m.
University of Dubuque's Heritage Center, 2255 Bennett Street, Dubuque IA
A wildly inventive tour-de-force of comedy, physical theatre, and live Foley artistry will be presented at the University of Dubuque's Heritage Center on October 29, the venue hosting a touring production of the internationally lauded, and live, Jurassic Park spoof Hold Onto Your Butts.
Sixty-five million years ago, dinosaurs ruled the earth. More than 30 years ago, a movie about dinosaurs ruled the box office. This year, two actors and a Foley artist will perform, at the University of Dubuque, a live, shot-for-shot parody of the greatest dinosaur film of all time. After a decade of sold-out performances in New York City, Hold Onto Your Butts had its United Kingdom premiere in 2024 at the Fringe Festival, garnering rave reviews. The show transferred to London’s Arcola Theatre for a five-week holiday, then toured the United Kingdom before landing on the West End in summer 2025. Hold Onto Your Butts enjoyed an encore season at the Fringe in 2025 and a limited off-Broadway run in winter 2026. It has been performed around the United States in Chicago, Denver, Indianapolis, Massachusetts, and Virginia, as well as a January 2026 showing in Dubai at Al Quoz Arts Festival. Everywhere Hold Onto Your Butts goes, audiences talk about the joyfulness of the production, the extraordinary skill of the performers, the delight of seeing a live Foley artist on stage, and the show’s broad appeal to audiences of all ages.
Released in June of 1993, Jurassic Park, of course, was a blockbuster hit that went on to gross more than $914 million worldwide in its original theatrical run, surpassing Spielberg's own E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial to become the highest-grossing film of all time until the release of 1997's Titanic. The film received critical acclaim and won three Academy Awards for technical achievements in visual effects, sound design, and sound editing. Following its 20th anniversary re-release in 2013, it became the oldest film in history to surpass $1 billion in global ticket sales and the 17th overall. Since its release, many film critics and industry professionals have regarded Jurassic Park as one of the greatest summer blockbusters ever made. Its groundbreaking use of computer-generated imagery is widely seen as a turning point that shaped the visual effects techniques used in modern cinema, and in 2018, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” The film spawned a multimedia franchise that includes six sequels, video games, theme park attractions, comic books, and various merchandise.
Hold Onto Your Butts will be performed in the John & Alice Butler Hall of the University of Dubuque's Heritage Center on October 29, admission to the 7:30 p.m. performance is $36-41, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)585-7469 and visiting Dbq.edu/heritagecenter.
