* REVIEW As the lights dimmed at the Sangamon Auditorium last evening, an authoritative voice emanated from the loudspeakers. Instead of the usual admonishments reminding audience members to turn off their cell phones and pagers, or to not crinkle their candy wrappers, this voice encouraged the audience to shout their heads off.

The audience for “Blue’s Clues Live!” happily complied!

For those of you without toddlers running around the house, “Blues Clues Live! Blue’s Birthday Party” is the stage adaptation of the popular Nick Jr. television series, “Blue’s Clues,” a hip show with the 1- to 6-year-old crowd.

Just to get you up to speed: “Blue’s Clues” is about this live-action guy named Steve, who lives in an animated house, with his animated dog Blue, and all of their animated buddies. In each episode, Steve, with the help of the little viewers at home, must figure out what his dog wants by discovering a series of three “Blue’s Clues.” The whole idea is to get the young viewers to discover the power of deductive reasoning, and to sharpen their observational skills. Oh, yeah, and to entertain as well.

The stage adaptation is faithful to that concept. The creators have been very successful at taking this animated series aimed at toddlers and preschoolers and translating into an interactive stage production that can be enjoyed by kids and parents alike.

Using puppets, elaborate costumes, colorful sets and a little stage magic, the animated characters come to vibrant life on stage in the form of several very energetic young performers (I would mention them by name, but alas, the producers didn’t think programs were necessary).

It has to be tough for these professional actors to be dancing around dressed as a bar of soap or an alarm clock, but you’d never guess it from their enthusiastic performances.

Unlike many of the touring versions of popular kids shows, “Blue’s Clues Live” bypasses the usual click-track approach featuring the well-known (taped) voices from the television series.

Instead, this stage production takes the novel approach of letting the costumed actors provide their own vocal interpretations of the characters. While this might be disconcerting for some youngsters (who know these characters like the back of their own hands), it does add an energy to the proceedings that is usually lacking in one of those lip-synched shows.

Roger Kraus is the Steve on duty here, taking over for his TV counterpart. If the kids noticed they weren’t seeing the “real deal,” they didn’t let on.

Kraus played the role with the energy of a marathon runner. He bounded across the stage, singing songs, searching for clues and dancing up a storm. He even spent a large portion of Act One suspended over the stage on wires, in an “underwater” adventure that featured some flying moves that would have made Cathy Rigby or Mary Martin proud.

Now, as any toddler would tell you, the television Steve isn’t the sharpest crayon in the box. He goes through the show with a charming loopiness, missing clues that any 3-year-old could spot. If Kraus misses some of the goofiness that the role’s creator Steve Burns brings to the part, he more than makes up for it in good-natured enthusiasm and natural stage presence.

The show moves along at a pretty good clip (at about 90 minutes, complete with intermission) and keeps the attention of the little ones. If the original songs aren’t as memorable as the more familiar tunes from the show, they are at least bouncy and fun.

The tickets are a bit on the steep side, and don’t go looking for a discount for the kids. The children’s discount is only good if your child is under one. That’s right, whether you are two years old, or thirty-two years old, you’ll be paying the same price.

The kids do get their own handy-dandy notebook and crayon, so they can write down their clues along with Steve. But keep an eye on those crayons! I noticed more than one parent crawling under the seat to chase after a stray Crayola.

Bottom line: it truly doesn’t matter what any adult thinks of this show. It is aimed squarely at the target audience, and in that respect, it scores a bull’s eye. All of the kids in my little group (6, 5, 2 and 1, respectively), throroughly enjoyed the show and it kept their attention for the entire performance. When I asked my daughter, Amy, what her favorite part was as we were leaving the theater, she was still smiling as she said, “All of it!”

"Blue’s Clues Live! Blue’s Birthday Party" continues today at 10:30am and 7:00pm at the Sangamon Auditorium. Call 206-6160 or 1-800-207-6960 for tickets.

_____________________________
Gus Gordon is the chief meteorologist at NewsChannel 20 and a free lance arts reviewer. He can be reached at gusgordon00@lycos.com