The Wiggles’ humble Sydney Opera House beginnings
As they prepare for a special digital performance The Wiggles’ Emma Watkins has revealed where it all began on the big stage.
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Somewhere in a long-forgotten box of VHS tapes is the debut performance of Emma Watkins on the hallowed Sydney Opera House stage.
The adorable footage captured the future yellow Wiggle performing an Irish reel to a Riverdance song as part of a schools eisteddfod.
Wearing a dress her nanna altered to look like an Irish dancing costume, with her hair styled by her mother as best she could, the tiny dancer was dwarfed by the stage and overwhelmed by the size of the audience.
“It took me years to realise that wasn’t even the big Schools Spectacular, just the Ryde Schools Spectacular,” she says, laughing.
Emma, Lachy, Simon and Anthony return to the Opera House on Sunday for a virtual concert to be streamed as part of the From Our House To Yours online program.
While the beloved children’s group don’t script their performances, Watkins hopes to find a moment for a spontaneous jig to pay tribute to her tiny dancer memory.
“Fast-forward to now and this time, there will be nobody in there,” she said.
But thousands of parents and their children in Australia and around the world will be watching.
The Wiggles joined the virtual performance revolution last month with their Live From Hot Potato Studios and scored a worldwide hit with their COVID-19 anthem Social Distancing to explain the concept of washing hands and keeping 1.5m apart from others to their little fans.
Switching to the virtual world wasn’t too much of a stretch for performers adept at turning their energy and enthusiasm to 11 when filming for television or DVD releases.
But it did take a moment to adjust to a flood of comments on their social media streams instead of the instant gratification of a mini-mosh of dancing and singing tots.
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“Like a lot of entertainers, we hadn’t really explored what you could do with technology to its full capacity,” Watkins said.
“About 80 per cent of our year is touring and it’s dropped to nothing, but we still wanted to connect with our friends not just in Australia but around the world. Going out live on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram has been amazing – there’s been two million views in just two weeks of shows – it’s filled a void.”
Parents have thrilled the Fab Four by filming their children watching the concerts and then posting the videos so The Wiggles can see the fans going off in their lounge rooms.
“Lachy and Ant were doing a live stream and Simon and I were behind the camera helping to do the show and started reading out the comments to them; Simon and I ended up on the floor laughing at what parents were writing – a lot of parents have obviously been through challenging times,” Watkins said.
In even more good news for parents, The Wiggles have used the shutdown of gigs – they were two shows into a national tour when the pandemic struck – to film a new series.
The Wiggles’ From Our House To Yours concert will live-stream from 4pm on June 14 via sydneyoperahouse.com