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Zoinks! ‘Scooby-Doo & The Lost City Of Gold’ Takes Fans Through Animatronic, 3D Adventures In 2020
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Ella Louise Allaire and Martin Lord Ferguson with Scooby-Doo
Three generations of fans have grown up with Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Daphne, Fred and Velma as they solve mysteries and, despite having just turned 50, the gang will embark on their most ambitious quest yet as “Scooby-Doo! And The Lost City of Gold” takes audiences on an adventure through South American jungles in a theatrical tour kicking off March 18 at Scotiabank in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
And it will be a journey unlike any other, with the help of very 21st century technology that transports the 6’4” Great Dane and his pals, along with the Mystery Machine, to Alta Luz, a fictitious South American city, where they investigate sightings of the spooky La Dama de Oro (The Lady in Gold) that threatens to frighten away attendees from an annual music festival and Incan sun god celebration.
Monlove and partners Warner Bros. Consumer Products are bringing the beloved cartoon to life with the help of puppetry, animatronics, original music, magic, singing, dancing, interactive video, aerial acrobatics and 3D video mapping all designed to create an immersive experience unlike any other in the franchise’s 50 years while respecting the history that made “Scooby-Doo!” an enduring cultural touchstone.
Scooby himself is an outsized animatronic and puppeteer-operated pooch that required 12 designers and more than 1,600 hours to create and, in a nod to that history, is voiced by Frank Welkert, an original voice from the cartoon series that launched in 1969.
“What’s happening is that in the show there’s one character we could not get to speak live because he’s a puppet, and that’s Scooby,” says Martin Lord Ferguson, Monlove’s chief creative officer. “That’s why we went to Frank Welker to do the voice and he accepted, and we’re very proud of that. He’s been doing it for 50 years. He doesn’t do it for just any kind of project, he does it for feature films and other very-high end products.”
Unlike traditional theatrical sets, there won’t be a fourth wall separating audience from performance. “Scooby-Doo! & The City Of Gold” will take place across more than 20 sets as opposed to the typical three or four – and yet the technology is compact enough that it fits in three trucks.
Ella Louise Allaire, the founder and president of puppet shop Monlove, is a conceptor, librettist, composer, lyricist, producer and entrepreneur with an international reputation as a creator of family friendly projects including “Ice Age Live!,” and “The Nut Job & Friends Live!,” and has worked on several Cirque du Soleil projects such as “Ka,” “Mystére” and “Alegria” among others, and the upcoming 3D film production “Worlds Away.” The company has also consulted on Olympic Games ceremonies in Vancouver and Sochi.
She explained her vision to Pollstar from the company’s shop in Montreal, as the team prepares to launch the tour’s first leg, and explained the challenges in updating a much-loved but one-dimensional cartoon series to the live stage.
“Scooby-Doo! & The Lost City Of Gold” tour trailer:
“In a way we want the brand to evolve and get a new life and a second breath but we have to stay with what made it so good,” Allaire says. “What made it so good was that it was funny, it had teamwork, they were solving mysteries; they were bright kids! It is a way to inspire children and families to work together, and also the friendship with the dog and the love of animals.
“Those values are our values; we sort of make these family shows because we want to give a good moment to families so they can also be together, spread the love, and these are things important to us. I don’t think we would make a depression show. For us it’s very important to bring a sense of hope, of joy, of love to what we do. Respecting the brand is so important and that’s such a great brand that had that from the beginning and we are getting to bring those values but with new language and a new take on it.”
The production will enable audiences to join the journey as the Mystery Machine takes its first flight to the South American city, through amazing landscapes, ancient civilizations, legends, and culture. As they sniff for clues (and snacks), a trail of extinct purple irises leads them through fantastic landscapes and a maze of mystery as they meet new friends and maybe foes: Miguel the groundskeeper, Luis the lama, botanist Professor Falcone, the Pachacuties, and Ayar Manco (the 13th Century founder of the Incan civilization). Dancing is encouraged.
“There are 16 songs and I think are very dynamic, uptempo, and I’d say it’s always difficult to describe exactly but it has always had this sound to the score,” Allaire explains. “One of our characters plays a triangle and an American guitar, there’s glockenspiel.
“There’s the adventure side of it but some surprises, too. All the characters sing and act, so there’s an incorporation of the language of a good rhythmic song and different genres to give it something interesting and surprising. It’s a big tour.”
The first leg of 55 shows takes Scooby and pals to cities including Madison, Wis.; Rosemont, Ill.; Albany, N.Y.; Redbank, N.J.; Brooklyn, N.Y.; Washington, D.C.; Indianapolis; Dallas; New Orleans, Nashville, Atlanta; Orlando, Fla.; and wraps June 28 in Jacksonville, Fla.
Ticket presale for all dates in the U.S. are available to Citi cardholders starting Nov. 13 at 10:00am local time; Ticket presale for all Canadian dates are available to AmEx cardholders starting Nov. 13 at 10:00am local time. Public on sale starts Friday, Nov. 15 at 10:00am local time at the production’s webite.
SCOOBY-DOO! AND THE LOST CITY OF GOLD TOUR DATES – LEG 1
March 19, 2020 Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Scotiabank Centre
March 21, 2020 Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada Avenir Centre
March 24, 2020 Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada Harbour Station
March 29, 2020 Laval, QC, Canada Place Bell
April 02, 2020 Madison, WI Capitol Theater
April 05, 2020 Rosemont, IL Rosemont Theatre
April 10, 2020 Englewood, NJ Bergen PAC
April 11, 2020 Englewood, NJ Bergen PAC
April 18, 2020 Upper Darby, PA Tower Theater
April 19, 2020 Lancaster, PA American Music Theatre
April 21, 2020 Albany, NY Palace Theatre
April 22, 2020 Red Bank, NJ Count Basie Theatre
April 23, 2020 Mashantucket, CT Foxwoods Casino – The Fox Theater
April 24, 2020 Mashantucket, CT Foxwoods Casino – The Fox Theater
April 25, 2020 White Plains, NY Westchester County Center
April 26, 2020 Brooklyn, NY Kings Theatre
April 30, 2019 Rochester, NY Kodak Center
May 02, 2020 Washington, DC Warner Theatre
May 05, 2020 Saginaw, MI Dow Event Center
May 06, 2020 Youngstown, OH H.W. Stambaugh Auditorium
May 09, 2020 Indianapolis, IN Murat Theatre at Old National Centre
May 10, 2020 Indianapolis, IN Murat Theatre at Old National Centre
May 12, 2020 Davenport, IA Adler Theatre
May 13, 2020 Milwaukee, WI Riverside Theater
May 17, 2020 Fargo, ND Fargo Civic Auditorium
May 19, 2020 Sioux Falls, SD Washington Pavilion
May 21, 2020 Denver, CO Paramount Theatre
May 23, 2020 Colorado Springs, CO Pikes Peak Center
May 24, 2020 Fort Collins, CO The Lincoln Center
May 27, 2020 El Paso, TX Plaza Theatre
May 28, 2020 Midland, TX Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center
May 30, 2020 Austin, TX Dell Hall
May 31, 2020 Austin, TX Dell Hall
June 02, 2020 San Antonio, TX Majestic Theatre
June 04, 2020 Dallas, TX Majestic Theater
June 05, 2020 Sugar Land, TX Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land
June 06, 2020 New Orleans, LA Mahalia Jackson Theater
June 07, 2020 Mobile, AL Saenger Theatre
June 09, 2020 Birmingham, AL Alabama Theatre
June 10, 2020 Louisville, KY The Louisville Palace
June 11, 2020 Nashville, TN Grand Ole Opry House
June 12, 2020 Durham, NC Durham Performing Arts Center
June 13, 2020 N. Charleston, SC N. Charleston Performing Arts Center
June 14, 2020 Atlanta, GA Fox Theatre
June 16, 2020 Clearwater, FL Ruth Eckerd Hall
June 17, 2020 Clearwater, FL Ruth Eckerd Hall
June 20, 2020 Ft. Lauderdale, FL Broward Center For The Perf. Arts
June 21, 2020 Ft. Lauderdale, FL Broward Center For The Perf. Arts
June 24, 2020 Orlando, FL Dr. Phillips Center for the Perf. Arts
June 25, 2020 Orlando, FL Dr. Phillips Center for the Perf. Arts
June 27, 2020 Jacksonville, FL Times Union Center for the Perf. Arts
June 28, 2020 Jacksonville, FL Times Union Center for the Perf. Arts