Friday, March 27, 2009
By JOHN BENSON vindicator correspondent
For toddlers and preschool-age kids (obviously not reading this), the “Playhouse Disney Live!” touring production, making its Youngstown debut Sunday at Chevrolet Centre, is nothing short of a theatrical Rat Pack event for their generation.
Featuring characters from “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse,” “Little Einsteins,” “Handy Manny” and “My Friends Tigger & Pooh,” “Playhouse Disney Live!” is as if The Beatles and The Rolling Stones ever toured together back in the day. It’s peanut butter meeting jelly. Yes, it’s beyond special. And to what do we owe the honor of combining the Disney Channel’s daily morning show characters?
“This is the first show that has actually featured these four TV properties,” said co-producer Alana Feld, calling from New York City. “It’s definitely an all-star group. These characters are so popular, and what’s great about this show is there are so many characters and there is really something for every child, whether you have a daughter who relates to ‘Little Einsteins’ or loves Mickey and Minnie, or you have a son and he loves ‘Handy Manny’ or Tigger. There is really something for everybody.”
Billed as a fun-filled sing-along event, “Playhouse Disney Live!” brings all of the aforementioned characters together for an adventure with the franchise’s popular mouse leader.
“It’s an original story line where, basically, Mickey Mouse is having a music party and he’s inviting all of his friends,” Feld said. “Basically, all of these characters go on a quest to find the perfect piece of music to bring to the party, and by the end of the show the message is that music is sort of a universal language and it doesn’t matter where you’re from, what language you speak; music is something everyone can share. It’s about that experience of sing- ing,
dancing
and clapping.”
She added, “The other thing that’s really special about it is how interactive it is. There really aren’t five minutes that go by where the audience isn’t getting involved. They’re singing, helping the characters to create a song, getting up to dance. They do the ‘Hot Dog’ dance and they get up to bounce as Tigger. They are really involved and participating the entire show. “
Feld stresses that “Playhouse Disney Live!” features the top-notch entertainment level that people have become accustomed to experiencing with both Feld Entertainment and Disney.
“What’s great about Disney characters and ‘Playhouse Disney Live!,’ there is really nowhere outside of a Disney theme park and Disney on Ice where kids can see these characters,” Feld said. “When it comes to value, we’re really bringing these characters and the magic of Disney to you and to the family. So I think that’s something that’s really special for families to spend the time together and have memories for a lifetime.”