A sell-out at the 2024 Edinburgh and Edmonton Fringe Festivals, Baby Shark and Tails of the Seven Seas invites you to join Fiddlefox and Baby Shark for an immersive musical experience designed for children ages 0-9. Travel the world in the search of lost friend Dolly the Dolphin and encounter different animal friends and cultures along the way.
Performer and violinist Chris Vuk is Fiddlefox, and he’s joined on stage by his three children, who together perform as Baby Shark, other animals such as an elephant (in Japan?!) and a rabbit, plus Eldar the magician, who has a recurring role throughout.
This is a sweet, entertaining story accompanied by an upbeat soundtrack and super-cute animations on the big screen acting as a backdrop to the live action. Fiddlefox plays a few live tunes on his electric violin (a great advertisement for his other FRINGE WORLD outing as Blue Violin). This show is perfectly suited to Northbridge’s Planet Royale, an airconditioned escape on a hot day – with comfortable seats! The performers rely on audience interaction throughout, which was given freely by the young patrons.
Excepting the magician, the kids don’t say their own lines. Instead, a backing track recorded by voice actors speaks for them, while they act out the gestures. Although demanding on young performers, I would have liked to see the kids say their own lines. Perhaps this could have happened if the script was simplified and abridged to better suit its young audience; although this didn’t seem to detract from others’ enjoyment.
The chase scene at the end was particularly exciting, so more of this type of action would have been fun. Vuk (Fiddlefox) is a confident, natural performer, and it was refreshing to see kids alongside him on stage to bring his story to life.
Looking around the room at the kids in the crowd, they all seemed delighted with the show. My 3.5-year-old son was rapt for all 50 minutes. The winning combo of slick multimedia, boppy songs and dance moves worked its magic, along with Eldar the magician who wowed the audience with his tricks.
Seeing the young performers outside after the show and their sense of pride in their performance added to the cuteness. Family fun was had, both in the audience and on the stage. And we all left singing Baby Shark doo doo doo doo doo doo…
GEMMA SIDNEY
Baby Shark and Tails of the Seven Seas is part of FRINGE WORLD 2025 runs from 18 Jan – 2 Feb 2025 at Planet Royale. For tickets and more information, click here.
Chris Vuk’s (as Blue Violin) Thunderstruck, A Night of Classic Rock, which is also family-friendly, runs from 17 – 28 Jan 2025 at Planet Royale. For tickets and more information, click here.
