Children's Science Show

The show covers a wide range of basic principles, specifically involving gravity and light, and will put emphasis on their applications in space. The kids will learn how stars and planets are formed, the importance of black holes, the link between orbits and gravity, how light travels (and it’s delay from stars to our eyes), how amazing our planet is, and many more things. The information is given out via a bunch of different characters--Newton, Einstein, Schrodinger, and more--that I all play, and is full of comedy. Underneath the show's emphasis on the grandeur of the universe, it ends with on a message to treat the world and others in it with compassion (the justification being that all we have now is our planet) and to never stop dreaming. Oh, and it will be full of fun, laughs, and heavy on audience participation.

This show is accessible to all ages. If you are worried about the science going over kids heads, many test runs have show a good retention of knowledge among kids. The main goal of this show is to inspire the next generation of kids to ask questions, seek answers, and love science. If one kid in the audience can, for just the briefest moment, understand somtehing complex--have that "aha" moment--then they will know they can be a scientist!

Dallas Akins (aka Prof. Universe) is a scientist, teacher, and performer; he has combined his three passions into a whimsical and educational show about the universe for kids of all ages, adults, and even aliens! The show teaches the audience all about light, gravity, star formation, and many other cool things. What sets this show apart is that Dallas plays a multitude of characters, such as Erwin Schrödinger and Mr. Photon, to tell the story of the universe, employing puppetry, interpretive dance, mini plays, and tons of audience participation and volunteers!

Dallas couldn't decide if he liked physics more than acting, so he double majored in Physics and Theatre at Trinity University. Performing since he was four years old, Dallas has over 30 productions under his belt, has been on HBO, produced a one-man clown show, and has formed seven improv groups. In the science realm he has been lucky to work in Rome for a summer on gravitational wave detectors for the National Science Foundation, was part of the team for the Rosetta comet mission, researched quasars using the VLBA (an Earth-sized telescope), and (unsuccessfully) constructed an atom trapper in the hopes of detecting dark energy. He has made a living working with kids age 3-18 the past year and has loved every minute of it!

Ideal minimum stage area would be 20' x 10', however I can make smaller spaces work if need be. Very flexible. If patrons are not paying for the show and the show is a public even, afterwords I would like to sell merchandise and provide the option to hand out business cards and collect email information for people who want to stay up-to-date with the tour. I bring everything else.