Larry, Bob and a bushelbasket of their wacky vegetable friends are featured in a singing, dancing, theatrical version of the popular VeggieTales videos that use humor to teach kids morality lessons.

“It’s kind of the equivalent of what if Monty Python took over your Sunday school class,” co-creator Phil Vischer said of the direct-to-video series that has sold more than 25 million tapes since its debut in 1993.

Vischer said for the 28-city national tour, which recently kicked off in Minneapolis, the show’s creators were trying to stage a big event that busy families would make time for. And if families also learn something from the show, “That’s kind of the added bonus,” he said.

Taking a live show on the road was the next logical step for Vischer’s Big Idea Productions, based in the Chicago area. The VeggieTales’ first movie, a retelling of the biblical story of Jonah and the Whale, is scheduled to hit theaters this fall.

VeggieTales Live! features two Old Testament stories from the VeggieTales videos – David and Goliath done as Dave and the Giant Pickle, and Joshua and the Battle of Jericho as Josh and the Big Wall.

Three original songs were written for the show. Tony Award-winning designer Michael Curry, whose Broadway credits include “Crazy for You” and “The Lion King,” designed the costumes. On stage, the colorful, inflated veggies are joined by dancers with broccoli and celery headdresses.

The only human character is a stage manager who interacts with the audience and can lend a hand when an armless-and-legless veggie falls down.

There are many amusing touches, such as a sheep delivering a pizza and the David vs. Goliath battle done as a boxing match. Larry’s silly songs break up the action, and at intermission Nawrocki and his young daughter deliver an appeal for the U.S. Christian charity World Vision.

While other kids’ shows such as Sesame Street and Barney feature secular messages about honesty and cooperation, VeggieTales clearly comes from a Christian perspective, said David Walsh, president of the Minneapolis-based National Institute on Media and the Family.

“They’re very explicit about that,” Walsh says. “They don’t apologize for that at all. That’s their mission.”

The tour, part of a two-year agreement between Big Idea Productions and Clear Channel Entertainment is on the road through the end of May, making multi-day stops in major cities including Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Orlando, Detroit and Atlanta. The tour starts up again in September and runs until November.

Vischer, the founder, CEO and chief creative officer of Big Idea, said his goal is to create the largest independent family media company. He stresses the word independent.

“We control the characters. They will never say something we don’t want them to say,” he said. “And ultimately, that’s what parents have to know.”