Rugrats: A Live Adventure

Rugrats: A Live Adventure was a live touring show based on Rugrats. It toured in the United States, Mexico, Britain, Ireland and Australia from February 6, 1998, to May 14, 2000. The show was sponsored by L'Oréal, M&M's Minis (through December 1998), and PlayStation (1998-1999).

Plot[]

The show starts with the movers Astoria, Larry, and Steve asking the audience what venue they're in. Grandpa Lou comes in to order the movers around, then he falls asleep while telling a story. While he sleeps, the movers perform The Mover's Rap. After that, a diaper on a string with a screen comes down and displays the Rugrats opening theme, with it being live and including an upbeat theme.

After the song, Stu and Didi arrive back to their home and out of the rainstorm, which frightens Chuckie. Angelica scares him even more by saying the thunder is the sound of Reptar coming to get him. Tommy, Phil, and Lil sing him Nothing To Be Escared Of. Later, in Stu's workshop, he invents the "Parentalator 9000", designed to watch children while their parents are away. Tommy, in the workshop as well, invents the "People-ator" for Chuckie, made from a ball and a paper towel tube, which can animate objects for him if he's scared. Tommy and Stu then sing A Great Idea Can Change The World.

Unfortunately, Stu's invention causes a power outage in the house, which scares Chuckie again, so he uses the People-ator to turn a flashlight into a living thing. "Mr. Flashlight " reminds him to "Shine Your Light" whenever he's scared, and eventually the power comes back on. Chuckie gets scared again after Phil and Lil fight for cookies that Didi gave to Stu, and so a gospel choir walks in to perform Shine Your Light once again. Tommy uses the People-ator to turn inanimate objects into animated objects, and once the choir's performance ends, Angelica steals his creation from him. That's when a 40's-esque singer performs I've Been A Bad Little Girl. They attempt to get it back from her, but that's when Angelica becomes self-proclaimed Princess Of The World. She makes the Rugrats play "Princess Angelica Says", and then she brings Reptar to life.

After the intermission, the movers are back and try to pronounce "Reptar", when the babies come and sing them He's Reptar. Later on, the babies go out in the rain, where they meet Susie in her red wagon converted into a pirate ship. She invites them on board with the musical number Everybody Say. Tommy and Susie eventually catch up to Angelica, who turned regular bees into large, talking bees that sing the Bee Samba. Tommy decides to climb the "Entire State Building", which in reality, is just a box. Chuckie is hesistant at first, but he climbs anyway, and when he realizes he is in space, he isn't scared. The two sing about their friendship with If I Could Count To Two when Reptar reaches the building and topples them to the ground.

Tommy and Chuckie go upstairs where Grandpa is still asleep, and Stu is still working on his invention. In Tommy's room, Angelica thinks she's The Princess Of The World', and thinks she's taken over the Toy Palace. When Tommy comes to the room, she turns him into a doll, and makes Chuckie ride on the toy train. Susie comes in and tells her to turn Tommy back into a real person, but she ignores her. Mr. Flashlight comes back and tells Chuckie to be brave, which encourages him to ride Reptar back to Angelica, and he gets the People-ator back and turns Tommy back alive. They perform a reprise of If I Could Count To Two again.

After, Chuckie forces Angelica to apologize, when Stu and Didi return. Stu explains his Parentalator 9000, but while doing so, Didi tells him to clean up the playroom. And then, Angelica, to her disgust, gets a kiss from Chuckie. During the finale, the show's cast comes on stage to take their final bows, while the movers perform The Mover's Rap again. After that, the diaper screen comes down and shows Reptar winking and smiling.

Songs[]

The Mover's Rap
Rugrats Theme
Nothing to Be Escared Of
A Great Idea Can Change the World
Shine Your Light
I've Been a Bad Little Girl
Princess Of The World (Part 1)
Princess Angelica Says
If I Could Count to Two
He's Reptar!
Everybody Say
Shine Your Light (Gospel version)
Bee Samba
Princess of the World (part 2)
If I Could Count to Two (Reprise)

"I've Been A Bad Little Girl" and "Princess Angelica Says" are not included on the soundtrack album.

Cast[]

The following is the list of people who played the characters in the show.

Note: The voices of the Rugrats, Stu and Didi are the same as the ones in the TV series; these voices were pre-recorded in advance.

Astoria - Cari Daly

Larry - Angel Feliciano

Steve - John Paolillo

Mr. Flashlight & Space Alien Puppeteer - Layton Campbell

Hammer & Baby Mobile Dancer - R. Nation Boothe

40's singer & Baby Mobile Dancer - Samantha DeCerce

Opera Diva & Tin Snips - Jason Michael Swauger

Didi - Maggie Da Silva

Stu - Michael A. O' Guin

Grandpa Lou & Baby Mobile Dancer - Todd Bowers

Lil* - Nanette Michelle

Lil* & Baby Mobile Dancer - Jaimie Hollmer

Phil* - Di Ana Pisarri

Phil* & Queen Bee & Baby Mobile Dancer - Tamara Paulino

Tommy* & Baby Mobile Dancer - Thea Rachel Schoenberg (credited as "Thea Rachel" in the program & soundtrack credits)

Tommy* - Jenine Galante

Angelica* - Melissa Muniz

Angelica*, Bee, Nuts & Bolts - Kara McKee

Chuckie* & Baby Mobile Dancer - Staci LaRue

Chuckie* - Diannè Aldrich

Susie & Walking Kitty Toy - Tammy Samuels

Space Alien Puppeteer & Baby Mobile Dancer - Jennifer Rapp

Female lead understudies - Alayna Deckelbaum, Jennifer Rapp, Katie Carpenter

Male lead understudies - Michael Dykes, R. Nation Boothe ^* : The roles of Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, Lil and Angelica are "double-casted"; two people play the same part -- one in one scene, the other in another scene. These actors wear oversized costumes of the characters (larger than the Rugrats on TV), which tend to get hot inside. Also, the actors see out of the mouths of the head, so the peripheral vision is non-existant.

Trivia[]

The episodes that were related in the live show were "Toy Palace" (Season 2), "The Slide" (Season 2), "Princess Angelica" (Season 3), "No More Cookies" (Season 3), "Destination Moon" (Season 3), "Reptar 2010" (Season 3)
A lot of staff members that worked on the first tour (February 6th, 1998 through December 13th, 1998) received many injuries, particularly due to the massive abundance and weight of the costumes and the set. Because of this, they went to seek medical help, and the set was tinkered a little and was made less complicated for the rest of the tour. This may have also been why a lot of tour dates were pushed back slightly or cancelled.
Out of all The Rugrats, Susie is the only one whose role is not "double-casted".
The main cast who played The Rugrats all wore full body costumes. The cast who played Didi, Stu, Grandpa Lou, Astoria, Larry, and Steve all wore foam costumes with masks that only covered their eyes and noses making their mouths visible to the audience. Mr. Flashlight and the rest of the supporting cast all wore normal costumes without masks.
After Chuckie kisses Angelica, an acme siren whistle can be heard.
The show's title would later be shared with Arthur: A Live Adventure, a live stage show akin to this one based off of the Arthur TV series. It helps that both were produced by the same production agency.
This show was available for licensing for amateur theater groups and community theaters.

External links[]

Information on the show at The Unofficial Rugrats Online