Children of Louisville, rejoice - the Wiggles are coming to town. They'll be at the Palace on Sunday, August 30. Mom and dad, tickets go on sale Friday, May 8 at noon.
I've got a major soft spot for the Wiggles, largely because of the prominent role they played in my first son's early years. And as kid's entertainment goes, they're one of the class acts - most of them have backgrounds in early childhood education, and they put a lot of care and thought into what they do:
The Wiggles have attempted to empower children from the group's inception. For example, before each performance, they greet their audience with "Hello everyone", instead of "Hello, boys and girls" because they feel the second greeting "unnecessarily separates children and has undertones of condescension". Scholar Kathleen Warren, the group's former professor at Macquarie University, believed that the group "empowered" children, especially in their practice of asking their audience to "Wake up Jeff" when Fatt pretended to fall asleep. Warren stated that asking children to interrupt Fatt's slumber helped them build confidence and to feel more in control of their lives. With a degree in industrial design, Fatt was the only original member of The Wiggles without a background in early childhood education; he explained that was the reason falling asleep was chosen as his schtick, "because it was a way of getting me involved in the shows without actually having to do anything". Paul Field reported that children in The Wiggles' audience felt "great excitement" and were disappointed if not given the opportunity to help Jeff in this way.
They've also got real musical cred. Before they were the Wiggles they were the Cockroaches, a (non-kids) pop band that released four albums:
And saving the best for last - not long ago they appeared on an Aussie TV show, doing a U2 cover. Right!
More information and tickets available from Live Nation.
