THE WIGGLES The Wiggles
shake their stuff
Goofy grins, silly songs, an octopus in shiny shoes and a pirate who tickles folks with a feather sword will all be a part of the Wiggles performance at the Hawai'i Convention Center on Thursday.
Never heard of 'em? Maybe because their true fans are about 4 or 5 years old.
The Wiggles
Where: Hawai'i Convention Center
When: 1, 4 and 7 p.m. Thursday
Admission: $20 and $25. Tickets available at Ticketmaster locations
or online at www.ticketmaster.com
Call: 1-877-750-4400 to charge tickets by phone
Note: "The Wiggles" airs at 8:30 a.m. and noon Mondays through Fridays on Disney
The Wiggles are the Down Under human equivalent of "Teletubbies" and "Barney." Concertgoers will have an opportunity to learn their "Monkey Dance," do the twist or sing along to "Hot Potato" with the Australian entertainment group. Much like "Barney and Friends" and other children's shows, "The Wiggles," which airs at 8:30 a.m. and noon Mondays through Fridays on Disney, combines live action, costumed characters and audience interaction to teach children about values and diversity.
Three of the four troupe members -- Anthony Field, Murray Cook and Greg Page -- met while studying early childhood education at Macquarie University in Sydney.
Field said they were inspired by their studies. "We always wanted to offer something of quality and something new to children in the world of music to allow them to discover things about themselves and the world around them."
Jeff Fatt, who had worked with Field in a 1980's band called the Cockroaches, completed the quartet.
Page plays the yellow Wiggle; Field, the blue; Cook, the red; and Fatt, the purple Wiggle. Page is the lead vocalist, who also loves to dance and perform magic tricks. Field plays guitar and drums. He also loves to eat, and his favorite food is fruit salad.
The colors were easy to come up with, according to Page. "Jeff and Murray already had purple and red shirts, so Anthony and I went shopping and just picked out some bright colors."
The result, he said, is that it's easy to get dressed in the morning, knowing exactly what they're wearing any given day.
Cook sings and plays the guitar, and has a lot of goofy facial expressions, but his favorite is a wide, happy smile. Fatt plays keyboards and sings but can't help falling asleep because he loves to dream. Kids learn to regularly shout, "Wake up, Jeff!"
Although their on stage antics might be deemed outrageous or downright embarrassing by other adults, Page said they never feel shy about acting out.
THE WIGGLES
Captain Feathersword, left, and Red Wiggle Murray Cook work the audience, on one of the Wiggles' international tours.
"When you are an early childhood teacher, it is like you're a performer. Your class is the audience. You have to lose all inhibitions and capture their imaginations and their attention because this is how children learn."
The Wiggle entourage also includes several costumed characters. Dorothy the Dinosaur is a friendly green creature with yellow spots. She dons a white floppy hat and enjoys eating roses. Henry the Octopus is a fun-loving purple critter who wears checkered clothes, a straw hat and a black polished shoe on each of his tentacles. Henry lives under the sea and makes bubbly music with the Underwater Big Band.
Wags the Dog is large, brown and furry with floppy ears. When he's not doing the tango, one of his favorite activities is digging in the garden.
Then there's Captain Feathersword, a friendly pirate who tickles everyone with a sword made of feathers. Naturally, he sails the seven seas on "The Good Ship Feathersword," where he loves to cook, dance and sing.
After the Wiggles released their first album in 1991, they started performing at child-care centers. Since then they have produced several educational video and audiotapes and regularly present live concerts.
BACK TO TOP |
A crash course in slang
The Wiggles hail from Australia, so their performances are full of Aussie-speak. Here are a few of the expressions:>> Bob's yer uncle: You're all right. See you later.
>> Bottler: Someone (or something) who performs well
>> Bub: Baby
>> Cooee: To be "within cooee" is to be in earshot
>> Dinky-di: True
>> Fair dinkum: Proper, right, honest, true
>> G'day mate: Truly used to say a casual hello (or goodbye)
>> Give it a go: Give it a try
>> Good on ya, mate!: Way to Go! Good for you!
>> Nappy: Diaper
>> Nipper: Small child
>> Off his head: Crazy, excited
>> Outback: The desert, the barren or remote country areas
>> Queue up: Line up
>> Strike me lucky: Good times
Click for online
calendars and events.
