If you have preschool-aged children, chances are, you’re familiar with The Wiggles, the Australian singing-and-dancing sensation that’s been performing globally for more than 25 years (and getting their cheery songs stuck in parents’ heads on repeat for just as long). This month, the happy quartet makes a stop at the Warner Theatre in DC as part of their Party Time Tour. We chatted with Emma Watkins, also known as the Yellow Wiggle, who is the group’s first ever female.
How did you get cast as a Wiggle?
I grew up as a dancer and after watching The Wiggles myself—I’m the original Wiggle generation. The Wiggles are about to turn 30 and I’m about to turn 30—I just danced all through my school life. I was auditioning after dance school for lots of different shows trying to get some work, and an audition came up for a fairy with The Wiggles performing in their Dorothy the Dinosaur show … I ended up getting the role in 2009, so 10 years ago now in August. [Then] I was a Wiggly dancer and I started learning to play the drums, so I was filling in as a general dancer in the background and a ballerina and a jazz dancer. I used to narrate some of the ballet that Dorothy was dancing … It’s a bit like being in the circus. You just do every role that’s available.
Kids go crazy for The Wiggles. Is it like being a rock star when you’re on stage?
I guess it’s kind of a bit like that … but because the American audiences are so enthusiastic, our shows really do become quite a phenomenon. It is a really exciting time, lots of lights and dancing and all the music is live. So the children are able to see the different instruments and what they sound like and how they’re played and who is playing them. That kind of break down, children really like because they don’t really get to see instruments quite a lot. So much of music today is tracked or synthesized, so that’s a really exciting part of our show and The Wiggles all play instruments, as well … it’s just a bit of a party galore.
How does it feel being the first female Wiggle?
When I was little I would have loved to have a girl Wiggle. And it really was about time that The Wiggles introduced a female. And I know that Anthony [the Blue Wiggle and an original member] had been trying to do it for quite a few years, but he just couldn’t find the right group or dynamic of people at the time … Most of the time we just play ourselves and our hobbies and our interests are reflected in the show too, and because I grew up dancing and I do love ballet, I do a lot of that. But at the same time I play the drums, I drive the big red car, I’m always dressing up in different characters … I could be dressed up as a doctor or a dentist or a bus driver or a painter. Children just love the idea of dressing up, especially when they’re so little, they don’t really know who’s a boy and who’s a girl. So, we just encourage everybody to dress up in what they feel comfortable in and come to the show and enjoy it. // The Warner Theatre: 513 13th St. NW, Washington, DC; Aug. 29, 6:30 p.m.; $40, children under 12 months free
This post originally appeared in our August 2019 print issue. To stay updated on everything coming to the Northern Virginia region this summer, subscribe to our biweekly Things to Do newsletter.
