Grab your backpacks! Let's go! Jump in! Vamonos!
Let the old fogies go gaga over Lady Gaga and Green Day, rumored headliners for Lollapalooza 2010.
The sippy-cup set is pumped for Nickelodeon's "Storytime Live!" tour, starring the superstar namesakes of "Dora the Explorer," "The Backyardigans," "Ni Hao, Kai-lan" and "Wonder Pets."
Moshing is a no-no. But dancing in the aisles is OK when the baby Broadway musical rolls Friday into Rosemont Theater, a weekend stop on its 70-city tour.
Like their animated alter egos, several cast members are multiethnic and bilingual. The diversity add a rare, authentic ring to the pro-diversity revue that whisks tots through four mini-musicals.
The irony is not lost on the young singer-dancers, most on their first national tour.
Many grew up watching TV shows lacking characters who looked or sounded like them. Before cable went mainstream, PBS was the only network committed to diversity in kids' programs a la "Sesame Street," "The Electric Company" and "Zoom."
When she was growing up in Long Island, "I don't think there were any cartoons with Latinos," said Francheska Gomez who plays the adventurous Dora. "Everything's just coming up now. (Latino characters) are universal now, back then, no."
The first-generation Dominican American, not quite 20, is happy to practice her Spanish skills on stage while drawing Dora fans into an interactive journey that involves a sing-along (you-know-who's theme song).
Gomez, who studied at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, doesn't want to give too much away. Let's just say Dora goes on an adventure "where Boots is Sleeping Beauty and she has to go through all these tasks to wake him up," she said.
No, she doesn't have to kiss the monkey (a costumed actor). "She gives him a hug!" she said.
Laura Dadap, who plays Kai-lan, longed for a show like "Ni Hao, Kai-lan" ("Hello, Kai-lan") in her preschool days. The show follows a 6-year-old Chinese girl who speaks English and Mandarin Chinese. Kai-lan dotes on her grandfather, her animal friends and sharing her culture.
Dadap can relate. The Emerson grad grew up speaking Chinese in a multigenerational, multicultural household in New York. She still addresses her grandma as "Popo" (pronounced "pawpaw"), grandmother in Mandarin.
When she was little, her Filipino father and Chinese-French mother, both classically trained musicians, hunted in vain for a dark-eyed, dark-haired doll that looked like her, the Asian American said. "I used to ask my mom, 'Why don't I have blond hair? Why isn't my hair curly?' It was always a struggle to make me be proud and 'to be happy the way you are,'" she said.
The "Kai-lan" segment is designed to teach preschoolers a Chinese word or two (cloud is "yun," pronounced "yoon"), express emotions and to develop problem-solving skills. While Dadap, 23, is thrilled the show exposes tots to her culture, her 87-year-old grandmother is ecstatic "Every time she meets someone, she says, 'Oh, my granddaughter is doing a show where she gets to speak Chinese,'" she said.
Third-generation Greek-American Seth Bazacas plays Pablo the penguin, a Backyardigans of dubious origins. So the New Yorker by way of California doesn't really tap into his heritage when he suits up as the panicky blue bird.
But he enjoys the diversity of touring and collaborating with a melting-pot troupe. "It's one of the best casts I've ever been part of," said Bazacas, 23, who studied musical theater at Abeline Christian University. "You always get a different perspective. Everyone brings their own thing to the table."
It's a formula that works, within the troupe and with the Backyardigans. In his segment, the gang has a mudball fight in the imaginary town of Filthingham. It's up to Pablo to restore order and soap. Everyone is included, and everyone enjoys a snack at the end, of course. Who can't relate?
"All kids like to imagine and play," he said. "And I still like snacks!"
Nickelodeon and Broadway Across America present "Storytime Live!" Friday through Sunday
WHERE: Rosemont Theatre, 5400 N. River Road, Rosemont, Ill.
HOURS: 7 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Saturday; and 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Sunday
TICKETS: $15-$45
FYI: Visit the Rosemont Theatre box office, Ticketmaster outlets, www.ticketmaster.com or call (800) 745-3000
THE HOSTS: Nick Jr. mascots Moose T. Moose and Zee
THE PLOTS:
"Ni Hao, Kai-lan"
Kai-lan and her friends meet their favorite superhero, The Monkey King, and agree to help bring all the pandas to his Panda Party. Some pandas have different ideas, but the party goes on at the Money King's castle.
"The Backyardigans"
Mayor Stinkypants (Austin) forces the dirty townspeople of Filthingham (Tasha, Tyrone and Uniqua) to take part in the annual Festival of Dirt. Soap is banned! Robin Hood the Clean (the persnickety Pablo) journeys through Purewood Forest to help Filthingham clean up its act.
"Wonder Pets"
What's gonna work? TEAMWORK! The Wonder Pets (puppets) hop into Wonderland and gather Ollie, the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat and The Queen of Hearts for a special celebration.
"Dora the Explorer"
A witch places Boots under a sleeping spell that can only be broken by a true princess. Dora makes the leap into Fairytale Land to become a princess and rescue her monkey pal.
