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Happy Birthday Tutter! ~ Bear In The Big Blue House Live Surprise Party!Nov 16 '02 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line If there's a Bear In The Big Blue House fan in your house you MUST go see the show!
Its funny how being a parent changes a person. On the way to Bear In The Big Blue House Live! last weekend my husband asked me, “If the Dixie Chicks and Bear In The Big Blue House were both playing at the same time, which would you choose?” I had to hesitate, hmmm, I’ve already seen the Dixie Chicks (one of the best concerts I’ve ever attended) but I haven’t seen Bear. “I’d choose Bear, because I’ve already seen the Dixie Chicks,” I told him. “But what if you hadn’t seen the Chicks?” he asked. “I don’t know, I honestly don’t know what I’d do! Don’t make me choose!” I told him. So, who’s Bear and what’s so special about him? If you have children under the age of six, you probably already know who Bear is. For those unfortunates out there who don’t know who Bear is, if you have children in your life, sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, little brothers or little sisters, you need to know this. From the Bear In The Big Blue House website: Bear in the Big Blue House features a charming cast of Muppets that educate and entertain through childhood exploration. The series introduces a group of wonderful new characters. Bear, the host of the half-hour show, is exuberant, playful, curious, funny and filled with civility and concern. He speaks directly to the audience and invites them into his home each day to play, learn and sing with his friends Tutter, the mouse; Ojo, the little bear; Pip and Pop, two otters; Treelo, the lemur; and Luna, the moon. Together they explore such diverse concepts as art, water, shapes, gravity, friendship and safety. It’s a wonderfully entertaining show with lots of singing, dancing, and learning going on! My daughters (ages seven and four) and I have been enjoying the program together daily for several years. We sing, we dance, we do the Bear Cha Cha Cha, and we have a ton of fun watching together. When we heard that Bear was coming to town we knew that we had to get tickets! The amazing coincidence was that the show was about Tutter’s surprise birthday party, and the show was coming to town two days after BabyGirl’s fourth birthday! They could celebrate their birthdays together! So we plunked down thirty dollars a ticket, and ended up with tenth row centre seats for Mom, Dad, SoccerGirl and BabyGirl. Dad wasn’t going to miss Mom’s reaction to Bear! Programs…Get your Programs here! We opened the door to the theatre and were quickly invited to purchase our programs, before we even had a chance to get our tickets out. Well, a program would definitely be a nice souvenir, and for ten dollars it wasn’t a bad deal. Thirty-four large pages, detailed quite nicely, bright photographs and some colouring pages as well, we had to get one for BabyGirl! Once inside we discovered that there was only one concession stand for souvenirs, ably attended by two people who were quick, to the point, and kept the waiting to a minimum. Cash only! I found the prices to be quite reasonable. Items offered for sale: Bear In The Big Blue House Live! T-shirts (sizes 2-4 and 10-12) $10.00 Bear Flashlights $10.00 Programs $10.00 Glow In The Dark Posters (Luna and Bear) $ 9.00 Bear In The Big Blue House Live! Pennants $ 8.00 Bear In The Big Blue House Live! Sport Cups $ 8.00 Bear In The Big Blue House Live! Helium Balloons $ 7.00 Plush Bear $15.00 I didn’t find the prices to be outrageous, pretty much what you’d pay if you purchased these items in the store. So BabyGirl got a t-shirt and a sport cup as well as her keepsake program, and SoccerGirl got a poster and a pennant. It’s Show Time! The show started a little late; just a couple of minutes, and it was probably a really good thing that it did! People were still coming in in dribs and drabs, the weather outside was frightful, snow, icy road conditions, it was slow going getting to the theatre! They announced that the show would be starting in three minutes, and true to their word, three minutes later Bear came onstage! The show ran for approximately an hour and a half, with a fifteen-minute intermission. The show centres around Tutter’s surprise birthday party. We all know how hard it is to keep a surprise party a secret, and when the other participants in the planning of the party are two rapping, energetic otters, an excitable and sometimes hard to understand lemur, and a little girl bear who loves to play make believe, keeping that secret can be quite a challenge! Add to that Tutter, who is amazingly persistent and wants to know everything that goes on all the time, and that secret is darn near impossible to keep! In the end, cooperation takes hold, “Chef” Ojo bakes a cake, Pip and Pop decorate with balloons and streamers (ensuring the decorations have the proper “feng shui”), and Treelo wraps (and unwraps, and rewraps) Tutter’s birthday present. What was his present? Well, what would you give a mouse for a birthday present? Cheese of course, from the Cheese of the Month Club! Of course, Shadow and Luna come by to visit, and the party is a smashing success! Songs performed during the show: What’s That Smell? Good Morning The Welcome Song That’s My Name What’s in the Mail Today? Friends Forever Love Is Incredible It Takes Cooperation Magic In The Kitchen Otter Love Rap What’s Mine Is Yours Shadow Happy Happy Birthday The Bear Cha-cha-cha The Goodbye Song There was a lot of singing and dancing onstage, as well as in the audience. Participation was encouraged by the cast of muppets, as well as by the two young men and women who were onstage singing and dancing and helping the story move along. There were also several interviews done by these four young people with youngsters in the audience. These were shown on a large screen on Bear’s Blue House, and it was quite amusing to see the toddlers nervously talking to their interviewers. Our Reaction Throughout the entire show my four year old kept telling me “I’m excited Mommy!” and kissing me. She danced in my lap, she sang as loud as she could, and I’m sure her face hurt from smiling so much! My seven-year-old was beaming throughout the entire show, and sang along at the top of her lungs. Yes, I did too! I hate to admit this, but I cried when Bear came onstage. How sad is that? I was so very happy to see my daughters’ faces when Bear came out, so glad I was able to bring them to the show and give them a memory they won’t forget for a very very long time, and honestly, I was excited too! There is one thing that really angered me. Our tickets stated on them “No Cameras No Recording Devices”. I called the theatre beforehand to enquire if that did indeed mean no still cameras as well as no video cameras, and they informed me that no cameras of any kind were allowed. So I didn’t bring one. When we got there I was quite dismayed to discover that one out of four families had still cameras and happily snapped away throughout the show. I really would have loved to have gotten some pictures of the show, but more importantly, I wanted pictures of my daughters’ reactions to the show. We don’t have those photographic memories, so we’ll have to make do with the ones we’ve stored in our minds and hearts. High points of the show? Otter Love Rap! Bear is so funky, sounds so “Barry White” when he sings along with Pip and Pop! Made me laugh uproariously! Watching my seven year old’s face when Pip and Pop would “pop” up here, then there, then over there! “How do Pip and Pop move so fast!?!?” she kept asking. There’s a small part of her that still believes that those characters are real, not muppets. It touched my heart! The best best best part of the show? Bear asked who was having or just had a birthday in the audience. My four-year-old had her hand up faster than anyone else in the audience did. Her face was glowing with excitement and she was yelling “Me, Me, Me!!!” The cast and everyone in the audience sang “Happy Happy Birthday” to all the kids in the audience having a birthday, and I’m quite certain that my daughter thought they were singing it just for her! Another “choked-up mom” moment! They also shot some streamers and confetti out into the audience and my girls managed to snag some. (Well, dad managed to snag streamers for them, and they were so excited about it!) The really hard part of the day was saying goodbye to Bear, Ojo, Treelo, Tutter, Pip and Pop, and Luna. BabyGirl started to cry, she didn’t want the show to end at all! But she bravely waved goodbye to her friends, and called out to them “See you soon!” I have promised her that if Bear comes back we will go to see him again. It’s a promise I won’t break! We left the theatre holding hands, my girls clutching furiously to their souvenirs and prized streamers. If you’re interested in seeing Bear In The Big Blue House Live! check out http://www.bearinthebigbluehouselive.com/tourdates.asp for tour dates! We highly recommend the show!  |
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