‘Your audience isn’t all white with blue eyes’: The Wiggles, popular Australian entertainers, doubled their lineup in an effort to better reflect the diversity of their fans.
By Nick Krewen
Special to the Star
Now there are even more Wiggles to embrace.
Until their 30th anniversary in 2021, there were four members of the Australian children’s entertainment phenomenon under the leadership of Wiggles founder Anthony Field.
But now the group has doubled in size: two members each wear the signature colours of red, blue, yellow and purple — and they all appeared onstage at the Coca-Cola Coliseum this Saturday and Sunday for two shows daily at the Toronto conclusion of their Canadian “Ready, Steady, Wiggle!” tour.
Why the Wiggle widening?
“It’s just a natural expansion, I suppose,” Field explained over the phone.
“When we started out all those years ago, we were four men. As the years went on, I realized that a lot of girls wanted to see their role models on stage. So now we’ve got four men and four women and we’re more culturally diverse than we’ve been for a long time.”
With a little prodding, Field said what prompted him to pull the trigger was a conversation he had with his good friend, the African-American Broadway performer James Harkness.
“John said, ‘You know, you’ve got to reflect the audience. Your audience isn’t all white with blue eyes’,” Field recalled. “He said, if they can’t see it, they can’t be it. He really got through to me.”
Field had already broken one barrier back in 2013 with the hiring of Emma Watkins — the first female Wiggle — who has since left the group. As the troupe was about to film their new 26-episode “Ready, Steady, Wiggle!” TV series, Field decided it was time to mix up the lineup again.
Joining Field (Blue), Lachlan Gillespie (Purple) and Simon Pryce (Red) are Ethiopian-born Tsehay Hawkins (Yellow), Indigenous Taribelang and Djiabugay Australian Evie Ferris (Yellow), Filipino Australian John Pearce (Blue), Caterina Mete (Red) and Field’s 19-year-old daughter, Lucia Field (Blue).
“It’s been a delight touring with Lucia because — to be honest with you, I’m 60 years old — and she keeps me in line,” joked Field.
As for the new lineup, Field admits it hasn’t been smooth sailing: some critics have labelled the show “too woke.”
“In Australia, we had a real backlash,” Field admitted. “I thought ‘woke’ would be good because you’re waking up, but honestly, for me and the other Wiggles, I really thought it was the most important thing that we did, but it had to be appealing to children.”
Despite the media criticism, Field said he’s noticed a change in the makeup of their audiences.
“In Australia, we’ve had more African Australians come to the show than we’ve ever had — and I love it, because they come to see Tsehay, who was born in Ethiopia,” he said. “Now there are more role models to choose from. We have Evie, who is a First Nation Australian — I think that’s very important. They all have great talent and personalities and the children and parents love them.”
Last year, Field called up fellow founders Murray Cook, Jeff Fatt, Greg Page and Phillip Wilcher for a handful of reunion tour dates … and was shocked by the turnout: especially since they were adult-only crowds.
“We played Darwin and there was a lot of rum being drunk by the crowd,” Field said of one show. “When Dorothy (The Dinosaur) came out, a woman came to the front of the stage and offered her ‘a shoey’ — where you take a shoe, pour rum in it and drink it before putting the shoe back on.”
“And the crowd went crazy because we played it straight, because we didn’t want to change who we are. Dorothy told the woman that she doesn’t do ‘shoeys,’ but enjoys rosé.”
Over three decades, the group has sold more than 30 million albums and more than eight million books. Field said that he and the other original Wiggles were deeply touched by the support of their original fans.
“They came with memories of their childhoods, and it was very emotional for us and the audience. There were fans who were crying when we came out. They had Dorothy The Dinosaur T-shirts that they couldn’t fit into anymore, but they were holding them up. They were reliving their childhood and it was just beautiful.”
“We love our Wiggle family,” said Field. “It’s been a great ride.”