KEY POINTS:
Buzzy Bee's Big Day Out stage show ticks all the boxes for family entertainment with catchy pop songs, likeable characters and a story that combines life lessons for kids with quirky Spike Milligan-style humour that appeals to all ages.
With its own heated big top tent and a production team that includes many of the country's best musical and theatre talents, Buzzy Bee's Big Day Out is a high-quality treat for the pre-school set.
Thanks to the involvement of children's author and educator Alan Trussell-Cullen the show has subtle educational messages including everything from not telling lies and sharing to the importance of believing in yourself and supporting your friends.
The kid-pleasing quirk factor comes courtesy of director Ben Crowder, who also directed the Silo Theatre hit production of Badjelly the Witch. His trademark silliness includes references to fish lamingtons and budgies who can recite the alphabet backwards.
There are 17 songs in the show and pretty much all of them are instantly hummable thanks to music by Michael O'Neill and Peter van der Fluit of Screaming Meemees and Liquid Studios fame.
Buzzy Bee's primary coloured world is vividly realised by John Verryt's multi-layered toy village set and Elizabeth Whiting's costumes. Their design skills take references to the original toys and make them fresh in a 3D world.
The energetic young cast does a great job of engaging the audience and bringing their characters to life. They give new meaning to the words "hard working" given that they must act, sing and dance all the while encased in larger-than-life padded costumes.
In the lead roles Nicholas Foo makes Buzzy Bee a likeable and venerable hero and Kate Simmonds makes Mary Lou a girl power icon for the under-5s.
Nicole Thomson is a stand-out as Dorable with one of the best singing voices in the cast and a great stage presence.
The real show stealer is Trygve Wakenshaw, who plays Buzzy Bee's best friend Oscar Ostrich with an infectious goofiness that lights up the stage in all his scenes.
As Trikey Tom, Donovan Graham's rap and break-dancing number is a show highlight, and Joanna Pascoe and Chris Tempest make the best of their less-heroic characters - scary but shy Elle-gator and gruff Driver Don.
Rounding out the cast are the youngest and cutest members, Erdenetsetseg Batsuir, Munkshur Munkhsaikhan and Tuvshin Bayasgalan, who play Dorable's darling little ducklings.
Overall, Buzzy Bee's Big Day Out is an impressive new show that should win over young and old alike. My daughter and her preschool friends were transfixed for three-quarters of the show and older kids in the audience were dancing in the aisles.
But if anything, there is too much good stuff in this show, with 17 songs and a plot jam-packed with storylines for each of the eight characters. Careful editing and a shorter running time would make for a less restless audience and finish the show on more of a high.
Given time Buzzy Bee could become a musical phenomenon.
