Review: Barney Dino-mite Birthday Live on Stage: My Experience with my daughter

I always wonder how this purple dinosaur is able to fascinate kids. Since my 2 year old daughter with the prodding of my wife, wants to see the show, I got tickets to their multi-date, multi-time shows in Manila. The first sets was in SM North and the show we got is for SM Mall of Asia.

Definitely if you ask any child regarding the show, they will enjoy it. My little daughter and the rest of the children watching it showed their delight on seeing Barney and his friends.
I was telling my wife that kids shows like this is a good business, since the tickets are not just for the child, which you pay full price but also the ones accompanying her/him.

So how did the show fair up to the other shows that I watched with my daughter. Previously, we watched Dora the Pirate show last April 2008 in Aliw theater and also the DVD live show of Barney in the US. My comparison will then be based on this 2 shows we watched.

Generally, as a parent, I was disappointed with the 40+ minutes production number for this kids show. Why? Well, my daughter usually is very interactive when it comes to watching and I always accompany her in dancing/singing or even asking questions. In this case, she was initially dancing and singing but after just 5 minutes of watching, she just sat with us. (That is even after she slept more than an hour before the show)

So my breakdown of the show:
1. Theme: Barney's birthday
The theme was okay, it was focused on Barney's preparation for his birthday together with his friends who came in one by one as the show progressed. The only audience interaction was mostly just asking whose voice is the one heard before that friend comes on the stage.

2. Stage setup/props:
It was very static, the main backdrop was just a FUN MACHINE with an interactive screen that shows what Barney and his friends imagine what is needed during the preparation of his Birthday. Even the balloons/ buttons for the FUN MACHINE are just drawings. There was no moving setups, no change in backdrops. The real balloons are a pathetic 4 to 5 pieces on each side of the stage brought in by the people friends. The instruments held by Barney, Baby Bop, BJ, etc are too small to be seen by those at the far end of the theater. Lighting is very basic, not even changes in color during the sunny and cloudy day. All the visuals are found in the FUN MACHINE that lack interaction with the audience. The picture of friends shown in the FUN MACHINE was very generic which personally I felt could be done with pictures of Barney and his friends instead. There was not even any popping/falling confetti for this Birthday party show.

You may be wondering why I am so critical about this, well in comparison with the stage props and backdrops of Dora the pirate, this showed failed in comparison to how that was done last April. Even the show of Go Diego Go and Igi the Iguana done in Trinoma the past 2 weeks had also a simple backdrop but still was able to give a more interactive changing of stage props.

3. Stage performance/Blocking
The audience definitely cheered when Barney and his friends enter the stage. But somehow the stage blocking of the characters are very simple and boring for me. Yes they were all there but it lacked a punch. In Dora the Pirate show your eyes move from left to right, right to left or even going up or down (since there was a portion were there was a pirate ship). The lack of props or moving stage background may have contributed to the boring presentation. In comparison with the DVD Barney live show done in the US, in a scale of 1 to 10 and the DVD show is rated 10, this one is way below 5.

Again why am I so critical about the Barney show? Since this is for kids why do I even bother analyzing the show, they are the ones who should enjoy it right? Well personally, as a parent, I always want to interact with my daughter while watching. We sing, dance and even imitate the movements such as the ending of Barney shows wherein they sing and hug. Unfortunately the ending of this show did not even make my daughter stand up and let me do what Barney do. And after watching better shows, I dozed off at the middle of the show.

Final analysis: If you want your kids to be happy to see Barney and his friends live, then by all means, see the show. But as a companion to your kid who should also enjoy the show and even be happy that their kids will interact with you while watching it, you will be disappointed. The production team could have done more to make this truly a show to watch for.

Schedule of shows taken from Ticknet website:
"Barney Dino-mite Birthday! is set to stage on November 22 & 23 in SM North Edsa Cinema 8, November 29 & 30 in SM Mall of Asia Centerstage Cinema, December 6 in SM Sta. Rosa Cinema 3, December 13 in SM Dasmarinas Cinema 2 and on December 14 in SM Megamall Cinema 4. Show times are at 12nn, 3pm and 6pm." (Taken verbatim)