Shaun's Big Show is a dance extravaganza featuring classical ballet,
rock, pop, jazz and ballroom dancing, all performed in fantastic sheep and pig
costumes! Shaun the Sheep – from the hit BBC Aardman Animation series – is
brought to life on the stage with all his friends: Bitzer, the faithful sheep
dog, Shirley the sheep who loves to eat and loveable Timmy, the baby of the
flock – Toby's (six) and almost three year-old Pippa's favourite. The premise of the show is that Shaun gets obsessed with the stage and decides to put on a very special show for all his friends. The production is fully choreographed and the dancers look fabulous in their fluffy sheep costumes and clever headdresses. The children were fascinated by how the performers could see through their realistic Aardman-style animal costumes. Even the adults took a while to see the clever gauze fronts to the masks.
Photo © Matt Jamie
Shaun's Big Show, like its BBC counterpart, is wordless, consisting of lots of dance routines and physical comedy. The set list and performances reference John Travolta's Staying Alive and the celebrated Dirty Dancing scene which saw the generously proportioned Shirley attached to a wire for the famous "Baby" lift complete with gigantic pink tutu. You couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity.
The second half of the show saw a guest appearance from a little
girl who looked suspiciously like Pippa (she was convinced it was meant to be
her). Shaun also performed a magic show which was one of Toby's favourite
features, while assorted animals performed a number of routines, including the
YMCA dancing pigs in black studded suits, together with a vast Spanish dancing
bull.As Toby said, "I loved Timmy, he was really funny. The show is really fun." Pippa is a big ballet fan. This was her first live dance performance and she was gripped, although also sometimes rather bemused by the ballet-dancing animals. You've got to see it for yourself to believe it!
Shaun's Big Show – national tour dates
PWT rating: ♥♥♥♥♥
