Friendship lessons: Care Bears bring a live-action show to SeaGate

4/27/2006

Friendship comes to Toledo in furry pastel costumes this week.

They're the Care Bears, of course - pink Cheer Bear, aqua Wish Bear, lavender Harmony Bear, yellow Funshine Bear, and the rest of the gang - in Care Bears Live: Caring and Sharing Friends opening at 7 tonight in SeaGate Convention Centre.

"I'm proud of the show. I think it's one of those unique shows that really teaches good values, and it's something the whole family can come and watch," said the peach-furred Friend Bear - aka Katlin Moon-Jones - in a telephone interview from Roanoke, Va., where the show was staged last week.

It's about a little girl named Lindsay whose best friend has moved away. The Care Bears teach her that she can make new friends, and in the process they learn a lesson themselves: that in order to make a friend, you have to be a good friend, too.

Moon-Jones and her character have become close. "I think she's a little bit of a flirt, really girlie and really cute. I really love Friend Bear," she said.

"My favorite part of the show is the first time the bears come out. It's like a little rock concert," continued Moon-Jones, 22, of McKinney, Texas. The similarities don't end there: since youngsters in the audience are invited to sing and dance along with the musical numbers, the area in front of the stage can become "little kiddie mosh pits," Moon-Jones said.

While fans can dance with abandon, their heroes are dealing with some weighty issues: a heavy costume with interior rings that shape each character's plumpish mid-section, topped off with a huge bear head.

"You're just clumsy," Moon-Jones said, noting that she once went down face-first when she tripped during a dance number. "It was so embarrassing," she said. And once down, it's not that easy to get back on one's oversize bear feet: "It was definitely hard, but I popped up," she said.

Care Bears Live: Caring and Sharing Friends will ●be presented in SeaGate Convention Centre, 401 Jefferson Ave., at 7 tonight, 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. tomorrow, 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday, and 1 and 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Most opening night seats are $10; tickets for other performances are $12 and $14 with a limited number of $18 premium seats, from the box office, 419-321-5007 or 419-321-5032, and Ticketmaster, 419-474-1333 or wwwticketmaster.com.

Contact Ann Weber at: aweber@theblade.com

or 419-724-6126.