Ex-Wiggle Page starts new chapter
As the yellow-skivvied member of the Wiggles, Greg Page is no stranger to playing to thousands of excited children at a time. Now, after performing with the internationally popular group for the final time in 2012, Page has returned to the grassroots approach that helped build the Wiggles fame with a new children's show.
Butterscotch's Playground sees Page in the role of a caretaker who befriends a young rabbit named Butterscotch, and his friends Honey Bear, a monkey named Frankie and Charles the bluebird.
"As the caretaker in the playground I suggest to the children and the characters that the whole wide world is actually a playground," he said. "It really is about the whole wide world being a great place to explore and have fun in."
The concept was created by American couple Alec Miller and Vera Nackovic, who approached Page after he left the Wiggles and asked him to help them develop it further.
The result is an interactive children's show packed with catchy songs, lots of dancing and important messages about how the world is a great place to explore.
Page said they were in talks with several production companies to produce Butterscotch's Playground for TV. Three promotional episodes were already available through iTunes.
Since the venture was launched last year, Page and the crew have performed at venues ranging from pre-schools to Australia Day concerts, and he will bring the show to the Regal Theatre for the first time in February.
It is a far cry from the booked out arenas the Wiggles often perform to but Page said he loved the challenge.
"It was tough doing those big shows with the Wiggles because you know that up the back of the venue there is a bunch of little children who do not get as good a view as the children down the front, so we always used to try and do some of the smaller venues when we could," he said.
"With Butterscotch's Playground we are starting again, there is no question about that, because people do not know the brand, they do not know the show and they do not know the songs.
"But it is always good to have your feet on the ground and when you are starting something like this you really do have to get back to the grassroots level."
Page said while some fans had been drawn in by his background as the "original Yellow Wiggle", the real measure of the show was how quickly young audiences responded to the new characters.
"It is funny because kids will come to the show and quite often when we do a 'meet and greet' after the show, the kids will not know who I am because I am not in my yellow skivvy," Page said with a laugh.
"Kids are really concrete thinkers, and if they do not see the yellow skivvy then they are not seeing the yellow Wiggle, but they also do not mind if I am a Wiggle or some other guy named Greg taking them on this adventure with Butterscotch and his friends."
