I think Matt Lauer had the right of it when he called Curtis, Jenn, Kimee, Karla and Shaun (the cast of Hi-5 for you poor uninitiated souls) the children’s equivalent of “John, Paul, George, and Ringo.” Really, that is the only thing to adequately explain what I witnessed this weekend during a Hi-5 concert at Sesame Place in Langhorne, PA.

I know what you are thinking… “This weekend?! The sky started falling on Friday and didn’t stop, much less slow down, until Sunday morning! No way all those fans, and the cast as well, would endure an outdoor show in that mess!”

Well, yes and no.

The sky did fall for two days and Hi-5 and all their fans DID show up for the concert. I have the video to prove it!

Friday evening, Julie and I packed the van, buckled the girls in their car seats, and began the Annapolis-to-Langhorne trek. It was a BRUTAL trip, driving for almost three hours in the pouring rain. We arrived at the same Courtyard Marriott where we stayed before (ten miles from Sesame Place), checked in, and put the girls (as well as ourselves) to bed.

Of course, the girls didn’t sleep well that night. So my oldest woke me up at 5:30am and couldn’t get back to sleep. We looked out the hotel window and… well, lets just say that I kept expecting to see Noah’s Ark floating by at any minute.

Long story short, we set the girls’ expectations as best we could about the day’s events, went to Sesame Place expecting to hear that everything was cancelled and were told that the show would go on! “This is going to be interesting,” I thought. And it was.

The concert area was semi-covered, meaning they had a fancy tarp-like arrangement above us, with plenty of open spaces to allow plenty of rain to come through and soak the majority of us. At times, the wind would gust and push some pockets of water down onto people heads. Thank goodness that it was at least a warm day.

Sometimes the rain lessened, and sometimes it came pouring down, but, one way or another, Hi-5 fans were there, and so was Hi-5. And yes, the Hi-5 mosh pit formed again during the second show of the day as the children defied the Sesame Place security to gather round the stage to dance. And yes, just as before, my youngest daughter (now two and a half) was one of the first defiant ones to move stage-ward!

And we stayed for two shows!

It was certainly an experience. And I have to say again that the Hi-5 cast is a hard working group. Under ordinary circumstances, no way in the world would I have shown up to a concert on a day like that.

But the Hi-5 cast and crew were there, with everything set up and ready to go, enduring all the complications of a major storm, with rain blowing sideways at times, and big splatters of water pouring off of the tarp above around the concert area at times, and they just thanked everyone for being there and went on with the show.

And when problems occurred, as they must in such extreme conditions, they sailed right on, not looking the least bit ruffled. “Good show,” as the English might say.

Of course, the fans were great too. At least the Cast had solid cover above (good thing, or they would have been electrocuted), but the fans had a lot less, and everyone seemed to be just fine. The kids of course, acted as if they were having the time of their lives.

Marleigh and other two-year-old were standing on the stairs leading up the left side of the bleachers during the first show. They found a spot where there was a lot of water sloshing down from one of the tarps above and just stood under it, faces pointed up to get splashed!

Water Park indeed!

Unfortunately, the cast stayed at a different hotel this time. Bummer. Oh well, maybe next time.

Finally, let me mention that we picked up a very nice new CD at the Hi-5 show, It’s a Hi-5 Christmas. We listened to it about 10 times on the way home and it’s very well done. There are at least a couple of great original songs, including “Santa Claus is Coming,” which I believe was written by the show’s producer.

The CD really highlights the cast’s voice skills. If you are a Hi-5 fan then I highly recommend the CD.

You know, I recently heard of a minor debate regarding the strengths of individual Hi-5 cast members. I never commented because I thought the debate to be quite silly and meaningless. The cast was chosen, first of all, in an exhaustive process which eliminated hundreds of other candidates. Secondly, this cast was chosen because their talents and skills are complementary, not redundant.

The Christmas CD proves my point. Listen to them sing, without the dancing or all the theatrics, and you’ll know how well chosen they all are. I’ve spoken with nearly every cast member and seen them many times on TV and live. They are all incredibly nice and wonderfully talented, and they have worked very hard to build their own success and the success of the show.

In July, the cast was on that same stage in sweltering heat, sweating so much that the tape for their head gear was falling right off their faces. This weekend, they were on stage with rain and water pouring around them and their fans, taking minor problems in stride as they tried to put on the very best show for all those loyal fans who came in the worst weather imaginable.

In every way they and their crew are a hard working, professional bunch. Impressive to say the least.

Nuff said.

David Flanagan
Viewpointjournal.com