A delightful afternoon with Hello Kitty and Friends

JAKARTA, Indonesia — It may no longer be surprising to find Hello Kitty everywhere now — from cafés, signature collection of bags, clothes and perfumes, to theme parks, kitchen utensils and kiddie stuff, etc. — after she first greeted the world with a “Hello” via a coin purse in the ‘70s. To own a thing or two bearing her charming image brings joy to the heart. But the happiness is doubled when one meets this anthropomorphic white Japanese bobtail cat-inspired character with a bow on her left ear, face to face — or, in the (furry?) flesh — dancing and prancing around.

Hello Kitty, no doubt, can easily liven up a crowd anytime, anywhere. I have witnessed it myself when the young and young at heart shared an equal amount of excitement that instantly turned a gloomy Wednesday afternoon into a delightful one upon seeing Hello Kitty and her friends Dear Daniel, Bad Badtz Maru and Sophie   waving, dancing and jumping around Kota Kasablanka. Children, with elders in tow, came closer; all were eager to touch them and, as expected, cameras started clicking away as they posed beside the lovely characters.

Hello Kitty and her friends are on tour — which started in UK last year — for the show billed as Hello Kitty Live — Fashion and Friends. It gives fans of all ages the opportunity to physically enter the world of Hello Kitty as she takes to the stage live.

Katrina Cleaver, who plays Sophie and the only human in the cast, told The STAR that spreading good vibes is the top goal of the show where everyone gets to know more about Hello Kitty and her friends through a lively interaction.

“The show is not only about fashion and friends,” she began. “It’s also about working together as a team and if you do that all together and everyone chips in, you can really make anything work and it’s not always about how you look on the outside but how you feel inside.”

Tour manager Stephen Harrison added that the show is imbued with values, positivity and friendship. “There are ups and downs in the show, there are moments of tension but it resolves well. The message is very upbeat, positive one like you know, you can achieve anything, you can achieve your dreams if you work hard for it and you have a lot of support from your friends.

“It also tells children about having a strong heart, believing in yourself and believing in your friends by sticking together, that I think is another message of the show.”

Set in modern-day London, Hello Kitty is a young girl who is full of dreams and ambition for her future. But before she can get there, she is faced with a big challenge ahead. Thanks to the support and help of her friends My Melody, Dear Daniel, Bad Badtz Maru, Pom Pom Purin and her twin sister Mimmy, Hello Kitty is ready to achieve her heart’s desires.

“Hello Kitty is a universal character. She is famous throughout the world so it’s a pretty good show that everyone can relate to,” added Stephen. “And the way the show is designed, it will take the kids and her friends to the context of, you know what would Kitty be like in a modern society? So she also has her phone, she video chats and Skypes. There are lots of technologies in the show and lots of special effects to be up to date. The music, as well, is modern and popular.” So, expect to hear pop songs from Clean Bandit, Charli XCX, Kylie Minogue, Flo Rida, Echosmith and Bruno Mars when Hello Kitty and Friends come to Manila for the staging of Hello Kitty Live — Fashion and Friends on Dec. 20 to Jan. 1, 2017 at the Meralco Theater.

“We are so excited to come to Manila and see everybody,” Katrina said. “We look forward to celebrating Christmas in a different country. We want to try on the food, see the culture, find out how different it is to Hello Kitty in London and just have some fun and meet new friends.”

Having been in the performing stage since she was five years old, Katrina finds her participation in the Hello Kitty tour the most exciting because she gets to see lots of smiling faces from the beginning until the end of the show. “It is also my first time to work with charming characters like Hello Kitty.”

When asked what particular part of the show is quite challenging for her, Katrina gave a sweet smile before saying, “For me, personally, I’m quite lucky I just love being onstage so not really, I just love everything about doing the show. Sometimes when you are dancing and talking at the same time it’s hard; you have to be fit so I have to go to the gym and keep my energy up but not really anything too tricky.”

Besides, entertaining kids are no longer new to her. Back in London, Katrina does a lot of entertaining shows. She, too, can groove to any kind of beat having been worked as one of backup dancers for such musical artists as Kylie Minogue, Robbie Williams and Kanye West. “I also did lots of Western shows like Les Miserables and so I love performing. For me, there’s no best feeling like being on stage.”

What should Filipino audience expect from the show?

“I know Hello Kitty is quite popular in the Philippines as well so we gonna try to give the best show as we can. I hope that they love it. There are lots of dancing, lots of audience participation and so I’ll be making them shout lots, scream lots and I think they’ll definitely have fun,” assured Katrina.

(Hello Kitty Live — Fashion and Friends is made possible by Royale Chimes Concerts and Events, Inc. and Zen Tiger Live. The Philippine tour is supported by Marco Polo Hotel in Ortigas [the cast and crew’s official residence] and Warner Music Philippines. Tickets are available at TicketWorld outlets with tel. no. 891-9999.)