There’s a little bit of theatre magic happening for families right here on the Mornington Peninsula this summer. Humanimals Returns is an all-singing, all-dancing children’s show that big kids love too.
This live high energy performance is staged in Cabaret Cathedral – an urban theatre made out of freight containers prettied up to look like a theatre hall direct from a Baz Luhrmann film and it’s right here on the shoreline of Rosebud.
The Humanimals are part human, part animal, and 100% corny humour and outstanding talent. The cast delivers show-stopping, jaw-dropping sheer talent that kids will adore.
Here are my 12 top tips for why families should see Humanimals Returns this summer:-
- You don’t have to struggle with Melb traffic and car parking fees to see this show – you can practically park outside and then wander across to the beach, skate park or playground afterwards to shake out the sillies. You can’t do that in old Melbourne town.
- There is a rapping hippopotamus, a Tina Turner-esque dancing emu, an acrobatic seahorse suspended from the rafters and a tap dancing penguin. C’mon, who doesn’t want to see that?
- It’s got circus acrobatics and daredevilly stuff – monkey bar climbing kids will be amazed by the spider hanging upside down from the web and the sizzling snake.
- It’s great value. The money you spend on a movie ticket, popcorn, a drink and those annoying games outside the cinema is way more than you will spend on a ticket for a live show.
- It’s a live show. A real live, live, human beings breathing and moving about alive in front of you show. Nothing beats a live performance – the energy, the intimacy and the invitation for kids to respond directly to the arts. Did I mention it’s a live show? Not a screen in sight!
- This is no High 5 performance – it’s jam-packed with quirky humour that grown-ups love, and just the right amount of jaded tween references to keep them tittering and tweeting.
- Little kids adore the energy and the costumes. Big people love the nudge-nudge, wink-wink jokes and there are some rather dishy looking entertainers. (OK I’m fessing up – the bee has GREAT legs!)
- Just when you think you know where the show is going, out comes a funky Panda dancing to a Beyoncé song with backup-bears. See? I told you it was quirky!
- It’s got a cast of ‘gold star’ stars of international calibre. You may have seen some of them in musicals and live shows elsewhere, and others are poised to storm world stages. The show is the brain-child of Jason Coleman who has created stage magic for international stars, danced with divas and choreographed the 2000 Sydney Olympics Opening and Closing ceremonies. And here they are performing in little old Rosebud.
- We all need to plant those seeds, put opportunities in front of our kids and to allow other people to open the greenhouse door to different ideas for expression and creativity. There will be some kids coming to this show who will bloom from this experience. This show is a seed planter, a garden grower, a passionate market garden for kids who connect with the arts. It’s all we can do as grown-ups to give our kids the tools to tend their talented gardens. Humanimals Returns is the most inspiring of fertiliser for creative kids.
- The show itself not just entertaining – it also delivers a lovely care for the animals / environmental message to reflect on – and given our stunning natural environment down here on the Mornington Peninsula, the message is even more special. I reckon if David Attenborough had front row seats he’d be bopping away with enthusiasm.
- Go see it because it’s HERE ON OUR DOORSTEP! Frankly, if we don’t support these things that come to our patch of the coast, they won’t come back. This show is not just for the tourists, it’s for the locals. Jason Coleman was a local kid. He grew up travelling ‘up the line’ to get his arts, entertainment and theatre fixes when he was a young fella. He remembers what it was like to be a kid in the far-flung ‘burbs just wanting to be a part of it all. So, he’s drawn on that memory. That dancing kid from the coast has brought the world of live entertainment to kids who sometimes feel like it’s a world away.
It’s captivating, it’s right here on our coastline and we should support it by putting our bums on the seats of this very special family theatre experience.
See you in the audience, because the squids and I are going again! It’s on until 29th January 2017 so get in and book.
Thanks to the talented Belinda Strodder for kind permission to use her images.
P.S. I fell in love with the first show last year when they visited Rye. Here’s my 2016 review of Humanimals