Barney Live Report

Barney Live was actually better than the stupid TV show. The children were not as fake acting as on the show (and were better dancers), and the massive enthusiasm of the little ones for the purple lizard was cute. Surprisingly, the all-to-common agitprop about the environment and such was absent. It was just decent, if sappy, entertainment aimed at 3 year olds. Amalia was not as smitten as she might have been (I am quite proud of her for that). I think the BART choo-choo ride was the highlight of the evening (and chasing Mama and Babbo around the Fruitvale Transit Village).

I still have to agree with the father behind us who, on hearing "I Love You" said, "I don't think I have ever looked forward to that song as much as I do now."

It all made me realize that there needs to be a Barney drinking game. Take a drink whenever the words imagination, stupendous, and super-de-dooper are used. You will be tanked by the end of the show.

Speaking of imagination, why is it that a show that makes such a big point of it is so unimaginative that they even steal the melody for their theme song? And what is with those cheesy synthesizers? Yikes. Terrible stuff.

Anyway, avoid it if you can, but it is not as bad as other things I have seen (Andrew Lloyd Weber's Phantom of the Opera, the Will Rogers Follies, and the musical of Ragtime all come to mind).