DreamWorks Animation, NBCUniversal and TEG Life Like Touring have launched the World Premiere season of Gabby’s Dollhouse Live! The Australian tour will play in Canberra on Saturday, 22 March at the AIS Arena before heading to Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, and Hobart through to 26 April 2025. This will mark the live stage debut for Gabby’s Dollhouse, the global preschool sensation from DreamWorks Animation with a cast of talented Australian and New Zealand singer-actor-puppeteers hitting the stage. The hit mixed media series follows the fun adventures of Gabby, as she unboxes a brand-new surprise in every episode before jumping into a fantastical world full of adorable cat characters that live inside her magical dollhouse. The live show takes place on Friendship Festival Day in the dollhouse, a day which is all about celebrating friendship. When Gabby and Pandy unbox a special acorn, Kitty Fairy explains it is a Friendship seed which needs the magical touch of a Rainbow to bloom into a Friendship Tree! But when CatRat causes a colour cat-astrophe and breaks the rainbow, Gabby and the Gabby Cats must find the colours again to set things right. Gabby, Pandy Paws and friends travel to the Cat-O-Sphere, Mermaid-Lantis and some favourite dollhouse locations in search of the colours that will make rebuilding the rainbow possible using Kitty Fairy’s magical Friendship Flowers to join together the seven colours. Gabby’s Dollhouse Live! brings to life an exciting original story featuring stunning, larger than life puppets, dynamic staging, and song favourites from the hit series, performed live on stage, including “Sprinkle Party”, “Hey Gabby”, “Music In You”, “You Can’t Spell Meow Without Me” and many others.
The production stars an ensemble cast of singer-actor-puppeteers including (in order of appearance) Emily Fraser (Silver Tongue – Antipodes Theatre Company; Xanadu The Musical – PSA) as Gabby; Ursula Searle (Bluey’s Big Play – HVK Productions/Windmill Theatre Co; Fun Home – Melbourne Theatre Company) as Pandy Paws; Lauren Jimmieson (Elvis: The Musical Revolution – DVE; Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella – Opera Australia) as Kitty Fairy; Andy Doyle (In The Heights – Stage Art; We’re Going On A Bear Hunt – Andrew Kay & Associates) as CatRat; Jasmine Vaughns (A Christmas Carol – GWB Entertainment; Come From Away – New Theatricals) as MerCat; Rebekah Head (Disney’s Winnie the Pooh: The New Musical Stage Adaptation – TEG Life Like Touring/Rockefeller Productions; Matilda – NSMT/G&T Productions) as Baby Boxand Cakey, Gaz Dutlow (Choir Boy – National Theatre of Parramatta; Neighbours – Fremantle Media) as DJ Catnip, Gabrielle Ward as Ensemble/Cover (PAW Patrol Live! “Race to the Rescue” – TEG Life Like Touring; Castro’s Children – Music Theatre Melbourne) and Dean Schulz(The Who’s Tommy – Victorian Opera; MIDNIGHT – The Cinderella Musical – Aspect Entertainment) as Ensemble/Cover/Resident Director.
I actually got the chance to check this out on the 22nd of March sadly without the use of Rent-a-kid. Rent-a-kid being taking young nieces or nephews to movies or live shows primarily marketed to the younger audience so that you can have bonding with young nieces or nephews while you’re at a movie or show you secretly want to go to. I went into this not really knowing what to expect. I was vaguely familiar with a previous project Traci Paige Johnson and Jennifer Twomey had worked on Blue’s Clues. Gabby’s Dollhouse Live! is a charmingly positive pantomime show and let’s face it, we need more positivity in the world. I enjoyed “Sprinkle Party” and I loved the “You Can’t Spell Meow Without Me” dance number. If you do get the chance to check this out with your nieces or nephews for the best possible show experience for your nieces or nephews try to get seats near the stage so they can get up and dance.
“TEG is thrilled to be bringing this beloved DreamWorks franchise to life on stage. We have a fabulous cast and incredible puppets that together will capture the magic of Gabby and her friends in a live show format.” TEG Group CEO Geoff Jones commented. The tenth season of Gabby’s Dollhouse recently tracked as a Top 10 TV series in 63 countries on Netflix at launch, and the series is now enjoying success on free to air TV in Australia via Nickelodeon on 13 and on-demand through 10 Play. The much anticipated eleventh season of Gabby’s Dollhouse launched on Netflix on 17 February 2025, and a new feature film will hit cinemas in September 2025. “We are so excited to be collaborating with TEG and cannot wait for this Gabby’s Dollhouse stage show to hit the road and meet fans around the globe,” Michael Vollman, EVP, Marketing for DreamWorks Animation commented “Families all over the world have been dancing and singing along with Gabby and friends and bringing her to life on the stage is going to be another cat-tastic adventure not to be missed.”
Gabby’s Dollhouse Live! is written by Dannah Phirman, from a story by Clark Stubbs and Dannah Phirman based on characters created by Jennifer Twomey & Traci Paige Johnson. The show features songs written and composed by PT Walkley. Gabby’s Dollhouse Live! has been built by teams of skilled artists in workshops across Melbourne, including set and prop build by TES Live Workshop and puppetry build by A Blanck Canvas. Producer TEG Life Like Touring is proud to be launching the global tour on stages across Australia in 2025.
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