Hundreds of fans turn out for Bluey at the Sydney Opera House
Hundreds of fans have turned out to see two Aussie icons come together as Australia’s favourite blue heeler family made their debut at the Sydney Opera House.
Hamish Blake, Adam Liaw and Kurt Fearnley were among the audience walking the blue carpet for Bluey’s Big Play The Stage Show, a theatrical adaptation of the Emmy® award-winning children's television series featuring an original story by Bluey creator Joe Brumm and new music by Bluey composer, Joff Bush.
Presented at the Opera House by Sydney Opera House, BBC Studios and Andrew Kay in association with QPAC’s Out of the Box and Windmill Theatre Co. Bluey’s Big Play The Stage Show stars the Heeler family, Bluey, Bingo, Bandit and Chilli in their first live theatre show, featuring brilliantly created puppets.
Following its premiere at QPAC in Brisbane in December last year, Bluey, Bingo, Bandit and Chilli have been on the road with over 250,000 fans so far buying tickets to the show across Australia.. They have now arrived at Sydney Opera House with three shows per day from 19-23 May before continuing the tour with more dates across Australia in 2021. Visit www.blueylive.com.au for all the information on dates and venues.
Bluey’s Big Play The Stage Show Puppetry Director Jacob Williams said: “We were blown away by the reception from the audience at the Sydney Opera House, it was great to see so many smiling faces young and old. Bringing such an iconic show as Bluey to this iconic location is truly something special.”
Sydney Opera House Head of Children, Families and Creative Learning, Tamara Harrison, said: “We were thrilled to see the Joan Sutherland Theatre foyers lit up today with so many excited families here for a special day with Australia’s most creative Heelers, Bluey and her family.”
Charlie Aspinwall, Director, Ludo Studio said: “It's hard to comprehend that an animated show we all started making nearly three years ago in Brisbane is now taking to the stage at the Sydney Opera House in a beautiful story written by Bluey's creator Joe Brumm, with unique and charming music by Bluey's composer Joff Bush. We thank Rosemary Myers and the cast and crew for crafting this great show and for being part of the Bluey journey with us.”
Loved by both parents and kids, Bluey is a global phenomenon. It is the most-watched series ever on ABC iview, with over 480 million plays across series 1 and 2*. In June 2019, BBC Studios struck a global broadcast deal with Disney to premiere Bluey in all territories outside Australia, New Zealand and mainland China.
The home-grown animated series has enjoyed critical success in Australia and globally, winning a Logie Award for 'Most Outstanding Children’s Program' in 2019 and an International Emmy® Kids Award in the Pre-school category in 2020. Over 2 million Bluey books have been sold in Australia and Bluey The Album debuted on the ARIA album charts at #1 – the first ever children’s album to top the ARIA chart.
Bluey is produced by the Emmy® award-winning Ludo Studio for ABC Kids and is co-commissioned by ABC Children’s and BBC Studios. Both series received production support from the Australian Government through Screen Australia, and Queensland Government through Screen Queensland.
Bluey’s Big Play The Stage Show: Director Rosemary Myers; Written by Joe Brumm; Designer Jonathon Oxlade; Music by Joff Bush; Puppetry Director Jacob Williams.
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BBC Studios, a global content company with British creativity at its heart, is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC Group. Formed in April 2018 by the merger of BBC Worldwide and BBC Studios, it spans content financing, development, production, sales, branded services and ancillaries. BBC Studios’ award-winning British programmes are internationally recognised across a broad range of genres and specialisms. It has offices in 22 markets globally, including six production bases in the UK and production bases and partnerships in a further nine countries around the world. The company, which makes 2500 hours of content a year, is a champion for British creativity around the world and a committed partner for the UK’s independent sector. BBC Studios has revenue of £1.4bn, and returns around £200m to the BBC Group annually, complementing the BBC’s licence fee and enhancing programmes for UK audiences.
About BBC Studios APAC
BBC Studios, a global content company with British creativity at its heart, is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC Group. BBC Studios APAC covers Australia, New Zealand and 23 countries across the Asia region. Operating from seven offices, with its main bases in Sydney, Beijing and Singapore, BBC Studios APAC comprises of Content Sales and Co-productions, Branded Services, Production, Format Sales, Consumer Products and Live Events.
The BBC Studios business in Australia and New Zealand wholly owns seven channels: BBC First, BBC UKTV, BBC Earth and CBeebies on Foxtel and Fetch TV in Australia; BBC Brit on Fetch TV; and BBC UKTV and BBC Earth on Sky TV in New Zealand. It distributes great British content from the BBC and other British producers to free-to-air, subscription channels and SVOD platforms and works with partners to bring BBC Studios consumer products, DVDs and live events to the local market, including for Bluey. The production arm in Sydney produces BBC formats for the local market and creates new IP.
About Ludo Studio
Ludo is a multi Emmy ® and Logie award winning Australian studio that creates and produces original scripted drama, animation and digital stories that are authored by incredible local talent, distributed globally and loved by audiences everywhere.
ludostudio.com.au
About HVK Productions
HVK Productions is part of the Andrew Kay group of companies, an international theatre Producer and concert Promoter based in Melbourne, Australia. Andrew Kay AM has presented, produced and co-produced countless award-winning theatrical, musical and live stage events.
Andrew has been one of Australia’s leading producers and presenters of children's theatre including "Hi-5", "Bananas in Pyjamas", "Cat in The Hat", "Giggle and Hoot", "Hairy Maclary", "The Fairies", "LazyTown", "ABC Christmas Spectaculars" "Horrible Histories - Awful Egyptians" and "Barmy Britain", "We're Going on a Bear Hunt". Most recently he has produced the very popular “Dan TDM Live” and multiple tours of “Operation Ouch Live” and Steve Backshall’s “Deadly 60 Live”.
Other notable artists presented include three-time Grammy winners the Soweto Gospel Choir, Kathleen Battle, Nigel Kennedy, Kevin McCloud, Yehudi Menuin, David Helfgott, Maggie Smith, Ian McKellen, Patricia Routlege, Wynton Marsalis and Louis Theroux.
akaaustralia.com.au
About Windmill Theatre Company
Based in Adelaide, South Australia, Windmill Theatre Company has a global reputation as a leading producer of theatre for children, teenagers and families. Each year the company performs in its hometown, and tours across Australia and around the world. Over the last 17 years, Windmill has presented 63 productions including 36 brand new Australian works, performing to young audiences in 287 cities and towns across 30 countries.
windmill.org.au
About Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC)
Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) is located within Queensland’s vibrant cultural precinct at South Bank, Brisbane, Australia. The Centre is focused on creating a world where the performing arts matter to everyone. QPAC is not only a theatre venue, it is a producer, an investor, a presenter and a public place for live performance with an aspiration to reach audiences across the state of Queensland and attract visitors from interstate and overseas. Last financial year QPAC welcomed over 1.5 million visitors to more than 1,200 performances.
QPAC’s Out of the Box has played a leading role in Australia in developing children’s performing arts programming, commissioning over 100 new works during the Festival’s history and connecting arts and education.
qpac.com.au