The Wiggles
Pop Go The Wiggles! Sydney Entertainment Centre to December 23, 2007; phone: 1300 883 622 and Ticketmaster
The Wiggles phenomenon is now in its 16th year and long ago went global. Their earnings are astronomical and their following among the anklebiter set is even more so. Thousands have flocked to this year's national tour and when you get into the entertainment centres - filled with goggle-eyed kids and their adults - it becomes clear why this is so.
The Wiggles - Anthony, Jeff, Murray and new boy Sam - are like big kids in their colour-coded skivvies and big grins. Even the most timid child is quickly won over. The familiarity of the characters: Dorothy Dinosaur, Henry the Octopus, Wags The Dog and the Wiggly Dancers, are part of the magic. The songs - sing-alongs that range from nursery rhymes such as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to the all-time Wiggle fave Hot Potato - are equally fun and unthreatening.
And the best thing about the non-stop spectacle of oversize jumping castle set, big red car and the energised, friendly company, is that it there isn't one pelvic thrust, jiggling cleavage or budgie-smuggling crotch to be seen. In other words, The Wiggles is that rare and remarkable thing: a kids' show that is deliberately and totally non-sexual.
If you shuddered at Jon-Benet Ramsay and her sad little sisters; if you found the popularity of Little Miss Sunshine just a bit creepy; and if maybe you squirmed through your kid's end of year dance school "jazz ballet" (8-year-olds aping Kings X poledancers), then you probably know already why The Wiggles appeal to littlies and their carers alike.
At the Sydney Entertainment Centre on December 21, my companions, Felicity, 4, and her brother James, 2, were enchanted from go to woe. Felicity is a veteran of Opera House shows, but for James it was the first time. His eyes were like saucers and at the end he said it was "Great."
Felicity said it was "Brilliant and much better than the DVDs and I really like Sam, he's the new one, you know." She danced, twirled, sang and knew every move. She really liked it when the lights went down and the "moon" lit the arena. "It's a disco ball, you know that don't you Di-Di? It's not really the moon but I said it was because it was beautiful and the stars are really mobile phones. You turned on your phone when Murray asked, didn't you? You weren't frightened were you? I wasn't frightened."
Felicity may well become a scientist, or an artist, or prime minister of Australia. Who knows. However, although she doesn't realise it yet, she witnessed something unique in theatre this morning: a request from the stage for the audience to turn their mobile phones ON!
