Snohomish County preschoolers and their families are in for a rockin’ good time on Sunday as Everett Events Center welcomes the popular children’s group The Doodlebops.
In case you haven’t seen The Disney Channel lately, The Doodlebops are three “sibling” musicians whose fun antics and catchy songs have resulted in millions of fans around the United States and Canada.
Deedee is Lisa J. Lennox. Dressed in pink and purple, Deedee plays keyboard in the band. Rooney, played by Chad McNamara, is the blue guitarist, while drummer Moe, colored orange and red, is played by Jonathan Wexler.
Always fun, The Doodlebops provide kids with a look at comedy with a rock and roll experience.
The Doodlebops incorporate sharing, caring and teamwork, as well as dancing and music education in their action-packed show. Lucky for Everett, they play twice on Sunday.
McNamara is not surprised when going from town to town that children know all their songs and dance to their hearts content.
“It excites me a lot,” McNamara said.
One of the main reasons he took the job as Rooney Doodle is to let kids know that there is music, dance, theater and performing arts out there for them.
“A lot of kids get sentenced to sports,” McNamara said. “Schools are cutting their music programs.”
Speaking from San Francisco while on the 80-plus-date nationwide tour, McNamara said he was having a great time traveling the country and performing for tiny fans. The tour began in September in New York City and will finish in April in Maryland.
“I love it,” McNamara said.
McNamara and his Doodlebop siblings auditioned for the roles in 2004 in Toronto, Canada. More than 200 people showed up for a chance to become one of the three colorful kids’ characters.
Auditions were held for one day. Hopefuls danced, sang, and got cut from the list. At the end of the day, four people were left. Two weeks later, McNamara got a call to say he was one of the three and Rooney Doodle came to life.
“Everything has gone very quickly,” McNamara said. The Canadian Broadcast Corp. picked up a full season of Doodlebop shows. The Disney Channel bought the first and second seasons. The rest is history in blue, red, orange, pink and purple.
McNamara likes that behind his blue face makeup and blue wool hair, he’s not often recognized.
“For the most part it makes me hidden,” McNamara said. “I like that.”
The difference between The Doodlebops and other children’s characters, McNamara said, is that he and his band mates try hard to relate to children. The Doodlebops never talk down to their audiences and are not appearing to preach any ideas, he said.
“Kids are smarter than we think they are,” McNamara said. “We don’t have to be bigger than the kids.”
The Everett audience on Sunday can expect an action-packed rock show, a real concert, he said.
“We give kids at 6 or 7 what they don’t get to see till 16 or 18,” he said.
The show is live and The Doodlebops really do play their instruments. They dance, sing and encourage kids to join in their antics.
“It’s one of the best afternoons of their lives,” McNamara said. “A lot of parents love our show. That’s such a good feeling.”
Christina Harper is a Snohomish County freelance writer. She can be reached at harper@heraldnet.com.
The Doodlebops perform two shows Sunday in Everett.
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