On Saturday, October 29, beloved children’s group The Wiggles are making a stop at the McPherson Playhouse as part of their Big Show tour. This is the first time The Wiggles have been in Canada since 2019, but, more importantly, this will be the first Canadian tour for Yellow Wiggle Tsehay Hawkins.
Hawkins says that the show will be geared toward all audiences, and that all of the Wiggles are very excited to be touring again in Canada.
“This my first time touring in Canada and I’m very, very excited,” says Hawkins. “There’s going to be eight Wiggles on stage, so it’s going to be a lot of fun, and it’s just a party and celebration for everyone… It’s really exciting, all of the Wiggles are super excited to be back touring. It’s obviously their first Canadian tour since 2019 and it’s a lot of the new Wiggles’ first time actually being in Canada and performing, so we’re very much looking forward to it.”
Hawkins got to join the band after growing up watching them.
“The Wiggles have being going for over 30 years now, starting from the original Wiggles, which was Jeff, Murray, Anthony, and Greg,” says Hawkins. “I guess The Wiggles’ message has always stayed the same. They have just always wanted to inspire children and eat healthy, you know, ‘Fruit salad, yummy yummy’? I think the Wiggles have stuck to what they believe in and they haven’t changed. They’ve obviously changed over time to fit different audiences, like including me, like diverse representation on screen, but I think The Wiggles have always been about entertaining children and helping them learn and grow. I think that’s why they stayed around for so long.”
Hawkins says that each Wiggle has their own persona when it comes to making music for the shows they put on.
“I am a dancer, so I love music, but I interpret it differently than actually creating it, so that’s a new process that I’m still learning and I’m loving being a part of,” says Hawkins. “Anthony is always just jamming and a lot of the time they come up with a riff or Simon comes up with lyrics and then they just put it together and they either do nursery rhymes or come up with new songs. It’s really fun to be a part of. John, who is a newfound Wiggle, really likes to rap, so we add that kind of stuff into the music. But obviously there’s all the OG songs that have been there for 30 years. It’s really cool to see how everyone collaborates and kind of creates. It’s really a group project, which is wonderful.”
Hawkins says that the best thing about being a Wiggle is being able to live her dreams of being a performer.
“I have always wanted to be a performer and I guess just be in show business and performing,” says Hawkins. “That has always been my dream but I think being part of The Wiggles, I get to do everything: I get to sing, I get to dance, I get to act. But, I’ve also got the best audience of beautiful children who are learning. A lot of the time, when we do our shows, it’s their first-ever live concert. It’s really exciting that I get to be a part of The Wiggles and get to be a part of a lot of children’s introduction to music and live music and performing arts.”
The Wiggles
12:30 pm and 3:30 pm Saturday, October 29
$45, McPherson Playhouse
rmts.bc.ca