Audrey had been excited all day about the prospect of 'seeing Dora' and the show didn't disappoint her.
waiting with eager anticipation!
For the unintiated, Dora is big business. Originally a US animated cartoon, her brand has spun off into a million merchandise items, t-shirts, DVDs, hats, toys etc etc. Wikipedia records Dora's sales in 2004 as being $1bn. Not bad for a little girl.
Audrey hasn't had a lot of exposure to Dora. We don't have Foxtel where she appears, and she's only got a couple of (well loved) books and a blanket bought by Grandma. Nevertheless Dora remains a big hit.
Actually, much as it's possible to get irked by Dora and her annoying American squeaky voice she is actually very difficult not to like. As a role model for little girls she's always got a positive outlook, and even the antagonistic petty thief 'Swiper' a mischievous fox (with a New York accent) fails to annoy her.
The stage show was a well put together affair and as Audrey is still under 3 we managed to dodge the merchandise that was being hard-sold outside the entrance to the theatre. Assorted heavies inside made sure that nobody took any photographs of the show, which was also probably a bit excessive.
As her dad, I must admit that the 80 minute show really dragged, but for the children in the audience Dora was clearly a hit.
Some aspects of the show needed a little bit more planning. At one point, the front of the stage was swamped by pony tailed onlooking children and then a vast amount of dry-ice was pumped out, which drifted offstage, leaving most of them enveloped by the smoke and coughing uncontrollably. I hoped that it was an accident rather than a deliberate deterrent, but either way it wasn't a good look.
Nevertheless Dora 'sang' and danced with panache throughout, and I guess a measure of the success of the show was the fact that Audrey cried when the final curtain dropped and asked when we could see Dora again.
(now just imagine watching an hour of it!)
At the end of the show
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