Anyone with a child five and under knows the song, "We just figured out Blue's Clues." Now parents and children in New York City have a chance to sing along with Steve, Blue and the rest of the "Blue's Clues" gang April 19-30, when the national touring production makes a stop at Radio City Music Hall.
In the interactive spirit of the Nickelodeon TV show, Blue's Clues Live! brings children and parents into a search for the most spectacular place. All the programs familiar characters, like Tickety Tock, Slippery Soap, Mailbox and of course, the doggie heroine, Blue, are there to help human host Steve (played by Thomas Mizer) find the clues to the most spectacular place.
"Blue's Clues’" creators Angela C. Santomero and Gip Hoppe wrote Blue's Clues Live! with Hoppe directing. Hoppe's name might be recognized by those in the Broadway know: he wrote and directed the puppet-filled play, Jackie: An American Life.
Broadway designer David Gallo (You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown, Little Me) did the sets with costumes from Side Show's Gregg Barnes and puppet designs by Yvette Helin, who worked on The Lion King.
Asked if there was a difference between designing for “legit” theatre and Blue’s Clues, Gallo told Playbill On-Line, “The TV show came with an established look; we needed to give the live production an analogous look. In the show, we go to Steve’s house, the back yard, the bedroom, the kitchen -- bringing to life the computer-generated animation aspect of the show in a live stage environment. My work on You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown was somewhat similar to that... In Blue’s Clues, the designers also made a conscious decision to do a “Skidoo” -- that’s a term from the TV program, where the characters transport themselves to different places -- which have a different look from the television show. That’s when our own individual stamp or style came into the piece. The TV show does have a certain degree of repetition, so we didn’t just want to recreate the aesthetic of the television show. It was great fun.” Tickets are $41-$26. Radio City Music Hall is located at 1260 Sixth Avenue at 50th Street. For tickets, call (212) 307-7171. Blues Clues Live! is on the web at http://www.nickjr.com/bluesclues/bluesclues_live.
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Following New York, Blue's Clues Live! will travel on to:
May 3-7: Detroit, MI; Fox Theatre
May 10-14: Minneapolis, MN; Orpheurn Theatre
May 17-21: Denver, CO; Buell Theatre
May 24-28: Phoenix, AZ; Grady Gammage Memorial Aud
May 31-June 4: Seattle, WA; Paramount Theatre
June 7-11: San Diego, CA; San Diego Civic Theatre
June 14-18: Los Angeles, CA; Universal Ampitheatre
June 21-25: Costa Mesa, CA; Orange County PAC
June 28-July 2: San Jose, CA; San Jose CPA
July 6-9: Sacramento, CA; Sacramento Community Center Theatre
July 12-16: Kansas City, MO; Municipal Auditorium Music Hall
July 19-23: Nashville, TN; Andrew Jackson Hall
July 26-30: Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Broward CPA
Aug. 2-6: Miami, FL; Jackie Gleason PAC
Aug. 9-13: Tampa, FL; Tampa Bay PAC
Aug. 16-20: Orlando, FL; Bob Carr PAC
-- By Christine Ehren
and David Lefkowitz
