Review: LazyTown, Grand Opera House, York

11:23am Friday 16th May 2008

WHEN the kids pleaded "can we go and see LazyTown" I feared the worst. How could such a high-energy TV show, which blends animation with "real life", work on the stage?

Having sat through numerous children's theatre shows, I can honestly say LazyTown Live was the best I've seen. It certainly knocked spots off Barney The Dinosaur.

Conceived, written and directed by Magnús Scheving (who plays Sportacus on TV),LazyTown Live is a very slick and professional production, helped by superb costumes, a brilliant set and a very talented and enthusiastic cast Although Scheving appears on the posters he doesn't actually star in the show, but fear not. Julian Essex-Spurrier is a very able Sportacus substitute. He does back-flips and cartwheels across the stage at the drop of the hat - and he's got Scheving's Icelandic accent off to a T.

But the star of the show is the dastardly villain Robbie Rotten, superbly played by Scott Joseph, who buys a superhero robot, Roboticus, to try to boot Sportacus out of town. LazyTown is all about children making healthy food choices and being physically active, so there's is a lot of audience participation. At one point a grandmother next to me nearly poked my eye out as she stuck her arms out pretending she was a plane.

It's a fun show with catchy tunes that rattle around your head for days afterwards Simon Ritchie
* We thought LazyTown was funny. We especially liked it when the football went flying over the mayor's house, Pixel's house and then Sportacus came to help. The ball was quite fast and in the end Sportacus grabbed it. We liked Sportacus's moves and tricks, especially his one-handed cartwheel.

Stingy was the funniest, but we liked Robbie Rotten the best. We all booed him. We give him ten out of ten. Roboticus was quite strong, but Sportacus was better. When Roboticus ran out of a little bit of power, all the kids cheered because Sportacus didn't leave LazyTown, so they had a normal superhero after all.

- Elliot, six, and Zara Ritchie, three

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