Bluey's Big Play, Auckland, review: Why Bluey's live theatre show is a masterclass in kids' entertainment
While I thought my 5-year-old (sceptical) son would see through the puppetry and be distracted by the lime green adorned puppeteers, I could not have been more wrong.
Hiding in plain sight, the puppeteers commandeered the stage with just as much charisma and charm as the Wiggles, but without stealing a single moment or scene. My son didn't mention, or dare I say, even notice what I referred to as the dog handlers. As a parent, I found myself watching their well-honed skills in awe – including one uber cool ramp slide into position.
And well-honed those skills are, with the theatrical show being wildly successful in Australia and around the globe. Some 447 shows have been performed across 65 venues in Australia alone.
The charm of these four cartoon dogs, Bluey, Bingo, Bandit, and Chilli, plus a quick appearance from Lucky's dad, was effortless to watch.
The atmosphere was relaxed as kids were mesmerised and hooked on the storyline that began with Bingo hiding her dad's phone so he would play with her.
Parents relaxed as soon as they realised this wasn't the type of show where they would be expected to stand up and be part of the performance too. There weren't any action songs, sudden games or commotion that were our job to get kids to buy into.
Everyone sang along to the Bluey theme song, though nothing felt forced. The atmosphere was abuzz, but not a sensory overload. It was effortless fun, and Bluey has the audience in the palm of her paw.
Throughout the show, we saw Bluey learn to battle with being a sister, Bandit and Chilli learn the importance of being present and disconnecting from devices (as we all filmed our children on ours), and everyone being reminded to call their siblings a little more often.
Every storyline was perfectly navigated with a child-sized dose of empathy, a bit of fun, and most importantly, a laugh.
Laughter peaked when Bluey and Bingo dressed up as their iconic (in the Bluey fandom) crazy granny characters and terrorised their dad and Lucky's dad with the rogue Granny-Mobile.
And there were awws from parents and empathetic looks when Chilli tried to explain why she doesn't see her sister as often as she would like.
The show wouldn't have been complete without a game of keepy-uppy, where balls flew from the wings and stage, further intensifying as keepy-uppy was upsized with the addition of a bubble machine.
The show's performers effortlessly made sure that nearly every child got a good whack at the balls before they disappeared back into the wings. As a parent, it was truly charming to witness the care that such a chaotic moment was choreographed with.
As I left Spark Arena, I felt I'd been reminded of what our kids actually need from us in terms of fun. So often it's us as parents who complicate 'play'. It comes with rules, sensory overload, expensive toys, and our constant quest to give our kids learning and lessons.
But if Bluey taught us anything, it's that creating memories and fun with your kids is quite literally child's play. Wackadoo!
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Seeing Texas differently: A Traveleyes tour with visually impaired travellers
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The Spinoff
28-04-2025
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My kid didn't get to touch Bluey's big balls and I'm spiralling
This Aussie kids' TV juggernaut has always packed an emotional punch, and the live stage show was no exception – giving one toddler and her mother a valuable lesson in dealing with disappointment. As a parent, a neat game to play is to think about which of your many failures your child will be talking to their therapist about in a few decades' time. I added a new one to the list this weekend: she didn't get to touch one of the big balls at Bluey's Big Play, and it was, of course, all my fault. I'll explain, but firstly, the show – which was delightful. Bluey, if you're not au fait, is the best thing to come out of Australia since, I dunno, cask wine: an animated TV show for little kids about a family of anthropomorphic blue heelers and their everyday adventures. In the hellscape that is toddler television, Bluey is a breath of fresh Brissie air. Having deservedly taken over the world via the small screen, in 2023 Bluey got a theatrical adaptation and this month, it finally made it to Aotearoa, sending sprogs into raptures across the motu. I was a little nervous as to how these charming cartoon canines would be rendered in real life, fearing grown-ass adults in giant Bluey costumes prancing about on stage and giving my daughter yet another trauma to unload on the aforementioned future therapist. Hearing they were going to be puppets, an art form synonymous with trauma if ever there was one, didn't exactly put me at ease, but I should've trusted the process: these puppets were perfection, each one helmed by two puppeteers who somehow melted into the background despite being dressed like 80s aerobics instructors, and possessing the stamina to match. My kid, along with the rest of the children packing out Spark Arena on a rainy Saturday afternoon, was charmed from the moment the gawky yet graceful bin chickens wandered on to the stage. She laughed maniacally through much of the show, even at the bits that weren't funny (which, thankfully, wasn't as inappropriate as when she'd done it the day before, at an Anzac Day service). Part of Bluey's parental appeal is that it's so damn relatable, evidenced in a plot point of the live show being the phone fixation of Bandit, Bluey's dad. Bandit has played with Bluey and her little sister Bingo all morning, and now all he wants to do is sit on a bean bag and get a moment of peace to read the link about lawn grubs his mate has sent to him, but do those bloody kids allow this? No sir they do not. Cue much madcap mayhem as the kids hide his phone. It's not all fun and games, though. Bluey has always packed an emotional punch, and the live show is no exception, with the fraught relationship between Bluey's mum Chilli and her sister Brandy hanging in the air. Some background knowledge of the TV show came in handy here, as the Onesies episode from season three features Brandy visiting the family for the first time in four years. Throughout seven exquisite minutes of television, it is subtly revealed that at the heart of the sisterly estrangement is Brandy's struggles to have children of her own. The live show has Chilli counselling her daughters after a sisterly squabble, prompting some self-reflection that results in her picking up the phone to give Brandy a bell. Heartwarming stuff. It was a fitting end to the show for the grown-ups in the audience, but of course there was an encore: a truly magical encore involving a giant game of 'keepy-uppy'. Great big balls, light as air, flew into the crowd, seemingly appearing from nowhere to be batted from row to row, just as a deluge of bubbles rained down upon us from above. It was honestly quite mesmerising, a perfect end to a perfect 50 minutes of entertainment, and I was so mesmerised I perhaps didn't quite notice how high my daughter's arms were stretching, how eager the look on her face as those damn balls came tantalisingly close and were batted away within the blink of an eye by bigger, bolshier kids. According to the Herald review published the next day, 'nearly every child got a good whack at the balls'. Suddenly, it was over. Balls gone, bubbles gone, and I finally noticed my child was crestfallen. 'I… I…', she spluttered, her upper lip quivering. 'Oh I'm sorry, it was a bit hard wasn't it? Did you really want to touch one?' I scooped her up and scurried the hell out of there. 'I… I… really… really… really wanted to,' she sobbed. 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She mentioned it a couple more times that day, but by the evening I'd moved on and figured she had too. Life's full of disappointment, kid, you better get used to it, I thought (but definitely didn't say to her face – surely there's a Bluey episode to teach that particular emotional skill). Putting her to bed, we discussed the day's events. I mentioned the show and how much fun it was. She agreed, then stared into the distance, removed her thumb from her mouth and uttered accusingly, 'But I didn't get to touch a big ball.'
NZ Herald
26-04-2025
- NZ Herald
Bluey's Big Play, Auckland, review: Why Bluey's live theatre show is a masterclass in kids' entertainment
While I thought my 5-year-old (sceptical) son would see through the puppetry and be distracted by the lime green adorned puppeteers, I could not have been more wrong. Hiding in plain sight, the puppeteers commandeered the stage with just as much charisma and charm as the Wiggles, but without stealing a single moment or scene. My son didn't mention, or dare I say, even notice what I referred to as the dog handlers. As a parent, I found myself watching their well-honed skills in awe – including one uber cool ramp slide into position. And well-honed those skills are, with the theatrical show being wildly successful in Australia and around the globe. Some 447 shows have been performed across 65 venues in Australia alone. The charm of these four cartoon dogs, Bluey, Bingo, Bandit, and Chilli, plus a quick appearance from Lucky's dad, was effortless to watch. The atmosphere was relaxed as kids were mesmerised and hooked on the storyline that began with Bingo hiding her dad's phone so he would play with her. Parents relaxed as soon as they realised this wasn't the type of show where they would be expected to stand up and be part of the performance too. There weren't any action songs, sudden games or commotion that were our job to get kids to buy into. Everyone sang along to the Bluey theme song, though nothing felt forced. The atmosphere was abuzz, but not a sensory overload. It was effortless fun, and Bluey has the audience in the palm of her paw. Throughout the show, we saw Bluey learn to battle with being a sister, Bandit and Chilli learn the importance of being present and disconnecting from devices (as we all filmed our children on ours), and everyone being reminded to call their siblings a little more often. Every storyline was perfectly navigated with a child-sized dose of empathy, a bit of fun, and most importantly, a laugh. Laughter peaked when Bluey and Bingo dressed up as their iconic (in the Bluey fandom) crazy granny characters and terrorised their dad and Lucky's dad with the rogue Granny-Mobile. And there were awws from parents and empathetic looks when Chilli tried to explain why she doesn't see her sister as often as she would like. The show wouldn't have been complete without a game of keepy-uppy, where balls flew from the wings and stage, further intensifying as keepy-uppy was upsized with the addition of a bubble machine. The show's performers effortlessly made sure that nearly every child got a good whack at the balls before they disappeared back into the wings. As a parent, it was truly charming to witness the care that such a chaotic moment was choreographed with. As I left Spark Arena, I felt I'd been reminded of what our kids actually need from us in terms of fun. So often it's us as parents who complicate 'play'. It comes with rules, sensory overload, expensive toys, and our constant quest to give our kids learning and lessons. But if Bluey taught us anything, it's that creating memories and fun with your kids is quite literally child's play. Wackadoo!
