The Columbus State University students acting in “Blues Clues Live! Blue’s Birthday Party!” are all fans of the Nickelodeon series. They remember when Steve went to college on a hopscotch scholarship and his little brother, Joe, inherited his dog, Blue.
Because the premise of the show is how Joe and Blue solve mysteries, the stage show features lots of interaction between the actors and the audience.
Four cast members have graduated or are seniors who will graduate this summer.
Dureyea Collier said he’s very happy to have spent the past four years at CSU and is now ready for the next step in his life.
Collier, Nicholas Crawley, Robin Lyles and E.J. Cameron were in the class that did the last performance in the Fine Arts Hall on main campus and did the first show in the Theater on the Park downtown.
Collier will go to Atlanta to seek work, but first he auditioned at the Springer Opera House. Crawley will head for Six Flags Over Georgia after this show closes to work in its Wild West Show. Cameron will start teaching in the Springer’s Theater Academy, and also auditioned there. He also has a role in the next Sherlock’s Mystery Theater play. Lyles will head to North Carolina where she has an internship in directing a show.
The cast is enjoying working right now because most don’t have any other classes to worry about. They can concentrate on the show and learn their lines, songs and the choreography, then go back to their rooms.
“It’s the nice life of a professional artist,” Collier said.
Lyles likes the free time she has without homework. Abby Blankenship says after six hours at work on the show, she can “go home and go to sleep.”
Most of the cast are wearing Heelies. Costumer Kimberly Garcia made sure they had them two weeks ago to practice from going from sneakers to inline skates.
“There was lots of falling,” Blankenship said at the beginning.
While this is definitely a children’s show, Collier said everyone should come.
“Adults should come,” he said. “They have birthdays, too.”
