On a chilly winter solstice evening in 2007, hundreds of curious men, women and children of all ages hustle into the custom built big top, mobile home to the Buzzy Bee’s Big Day Out stage show, to be witness to the world premiere of a show the toy’s creators, back in 1941, would never have even dreamt of.  There is palpable anticipation in the air – will this be a classic homage to be proud of, or… not?

The 3/4 round 700 seat auditorium encases the promising set of John Verryt, in all its primary-coloured glory: roads, ramps, bridges, a bee-house, a clothesline, and various curious contraptions to wonder about.  The show begins half an hour late, largely due to having a single entrance way for the entire audience.

Story goes, Buzzy Bee and all his friends in the Day-Glo village of Rolling Downs are getting ready to compete in their annual contest for ‘Clokedikiki’ (my spelling, as I couldn’t find the word in written form anywhere).  Keen but clumsy Oscar Ostrich, aware he is a flightless bird, is also anxious for Buzzy to teach him how to fly.  Trouble is, six months earlier Buzzy had an accident, the details of which are not made clear, resulting in his being afraid to fly any more, which he can’t bring himself to admit to Oscar. 

Meanwhile Elle-Gator has arrived in Rolling Downs looking for a home.  She settles into the local swamp but is so intensely shy that she’s terrified of announcing her presence.  Then things start to go ‘mysteriously’ missing, mainly because they are left lying about and Elle picks them up thinking no-one wants them.

Each character has their strengths and weaknesses:  Trikey Tom is sweet and eager, but impressionable and nervous. Driver Don is fast, but he’s a pompous ass. Mary Lou is a great organiser and gadget-builder, but is pathologically attached to her extensive lists of rules and instructions.  Dorable Duck is a lovely, matronly ‘old duck’ with who actually doesn’t show any real weakness besides perhaps a mild tendency to passive aggression.

As one would expect, dare I say hope, the characters learn their respective much needed lessons: Buzzy: Be true to your friends;  Elle: Don’t be shy;  Mary Lou:  Relax!  Trikey: Believe in yourself;  Don: Have respect;  Dorable: Don’t ever change.  Oscar: Face reality – but don’t ever change … 

This original story of Alan Trussell-Cullen has been devised into a character-driven script by director Ben Crowder and the company.  The result is a straightforwardly told tale addressing a number of social issues relevant to children and grownups alike, peppered with many a genuinely funny line. 

The audience is often moved to cheer the heroes on, testament to the performers’ clear ownership of their respective roles.  Note also that the story contains no villains, just a few misunderstandings.

The performers are well cast and dedicated.  The patronisingly-happy-factor was a little worrying at first, but in the spirit of the event the levels generally work well.  Kate Simmonds fairly commands the proceedings as the pretty but highly strung control freak Mary Lou.  Nicholas Foo as Buzzy Bee is the straight man, with the least distinct personality, just your typical Nice Guy, and as such is loved and admired by everyone else.  

Chris Tempest smacks a bit of Alan Partridge as the smugly self-important Driver Don, whilst shy newcomer Elle-Gator is portrayed with good effort by Jo Pascoe.  Nicole Thomson as Dorable Duck is your favourite auntie, and rascally ducklings Erdenetsetseg Batsuri, Munkshur Munkhsaikhan and Tuvshin Bayasgalan are cute if not exactly as fleshed out as the actors’names.  With all the waddling about they have to do I can see them doing well in a cossack dancing competition. 

Donovan Graham’s lovably innocent Trikey Tom is probably the character most children, boys at least, will relate to.  However idiot savant Oscar Ostrich, played by Trygve Wakenshaw, is destined to be the perennial favourite.  Oscar carries much of the story as well as being physically spectacular and having an impressive vocabulary and many of the funniest lines. 

Costume designer Elizabeth Whiting provides abstract interpretations for each character rather than attempting realistic visages either of the original toys and/or the creatures they represent.  Buzzy’s wings stick out of his head not his abdomen.  Elle-gator could be hard to recognise without the leading name.  Presumably this is for the actors’ mobility. The effect is quite acceptable; in fact in the case of Oscar’s hand-operated beak it’s genius – both adding height to the already tall Wakenshaw and effectively disabling his hands, his lack of which is referenced often. 

I also liked Trikey Tom’s cap, and Dorable and her childrens’ big bottoms.  Oh, and their pink gumboots, partly as a reminder of that famous Country Calendar gag with the turkeys in gumboots, another historic icon of Kiwiana. 

Most of the musical numbers (lyrics: Alan Trussell-Cullen, music: Michael O’Neill and Peter van der Fluit music, supervised by O’Neill and Georgia Duder) are your regular upbeat kiddie pop tunes as per Wiggles and Hi-5.  The main exception is Buzzy’s Oasisesque anthem ‘There Was This Little Bee’, and Dorable’s cover of ‘Three Little Ducks’ is something of a motown style ballad. 

They are served with energetic and capable, if perfunctory choreography from Megan Adams.  I didn’t think to check out the responses of the other kids in the audience, but our boy Loki seemed less engaged with the songs than with the humour and pathos in the story. 

There were a number of technical problems on opening night, most notably frequent moments of feedback from the actors’ remote mics.  The lighting design of Harry Weber and Eric Jansen seemed quite muddled, missing its potential to bring greater focus to the performances.  Indeed, one major shortcoming, which may well just be a matter of fine tuning, was the lack of sharpness and clarity in a number of timing-essential slapstick moments. 

I must add that there were as many well-executed routines and gags, not to mention the delighted applause elicited by Buzzy’s climactic stunt as he finally overcomes his fear, anticipated well in advance due to a flying harness dangling conspicuously out of his upstairs window like the proverbial gun on the wall. 

Essentially, Buzzy Bee’s Big Day Out is quality family entertainment. The merchandising exercise (original toys, soundtrack cds, bags and hoodies, lunchboxes etc) could be regarded as a crass money-spinner, and it did seem a bit much when the show was already twenty minutes late and ushers were hawking toys and cds in the auditorium while people were trying to find their seats.

Nevertheless, I regard Buzzy BeeTM to be an icon worthy of our children’s attention, therefore I personally applaud the enterprise and wish it well.  With cd sales resulting in kids going to the show knowing the words to the songs, along with other tricks for developing a cult following, this could become the new all-ages Rocky Horror Show. 

With a year on the road ahead, the sky is indeed the limit and to fly as it ought to will depend on the constant energy and drive of the cast and crew, currently performing 12 shows a week.  I wonder if they have understudies?  That surely would be a necessity.

[Visit http://www.buzzybee.co.nz/ for a detailed history of both this production and the Buzzy BeeTM toy range, and all things buzzy in general. And for venues, dates and times, go to Stage Show / Order Tickets.] 
 

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