REVIEW : 'I Love You, You Love Me – Barney'

Barney and Friends – Live in Concert presented by Anchor Pedia Pro, was held on 16 March, 2014, at Sri Lanka Exhibition and Convention Centre. Cosmic Entertainment presented the music show, the first of its kind aimed at little children.

The show started off with the human companion Sam, who works at a toy factory. She urged the kids to use their imagination to find Barney! Soon, deafening screams welcomed the purple t-rex to the stage, and all the kids were asked to stand up and clap along to a hearty song. Next B.J and his little sister Baby Bop came onstage and a fun little laughing song commenced. Finally, the kids were asked to clap and stomp their feet to a rhythm to bring out B.J’s cousin Riff, the least stereotypical and most fun dino whose theme song is the lovely ‘I Hear Music Everywhere’. Throughout these introductions, all the children in the audience were calling out the names of the characters and going wild!

The story aspect of the show began when B.J and Baby Bop refused to take turns with their toys, and in their enthusiasm to play, bump into each other and break both of their toys. Using the imagination of the audience, Barney and friends then travel to the toy factory in search of the Imagination Machine that might be able to fix their toys. At this point a lucky little girl ran on stage and stood awestruck on the side, gazing at her little dino heroes until the men and women in black whisked her away.

Meanwhile, Barney and co are traversing through the factory, encountering many toys like the fire engine that shot confetti out of its hose, and the funny face machine. This is where Sam came into her own, the dynamic energy of a real human unmatched by the dressed up dinosaurs. Highlights of this journey through the factory were the Spaceship that landed and deposited a robot who sang ‘I’m a little robot, I love to sing and dance and play all day’ and B.J’s ‘Rock and Roll Star’ which was probably the best song when it came to music.
The nursery rhyme segment was trite and lacked originality and didn’t even pull the audience in. Luckily it picked up when the dinosaurs entered the musical toys room and formed a circus band. The Blue jay of Blues, rocking on his saxophone, was really fun.

The message of the importance of imagination was carried through when the broken toys had to be fixed and Barney said “After all, it’s your imagination that makes toys fun every day” and Baby Bop’s little ballerina went through the imagination machine and turned into a live pretty Prima donna! And of course once the toys were fixed, the show ended with Barney’s most popular song ‘I Love you, You Love me’ and it was delightful to see all the little boys and girls singing.

As far as the concert went, it was obvious that kids enjoyed the live show and are ready for more like these.

Luckily, Cosmic Entertainment have more cards up their sleeve.

Look out for Sesame Street later this year!
 

Comments

It was really awesome. This is the first time that Sri Lanka has done something like this and we hope to see more! – Navi, Keenan and Kaya

I have not watched Barney before but it was fantastic. The first session was superb. – Tressel

It’s great, really exciting. My daughter’s favourite character is probably Baby Bop. – Maria

Review by Marissa van Eyck

Pics by Kithsiri de Mel

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