FRED PENNER at Hugh’s Room (2261 Dundas West), tonight (Thursday, March 18), 8:30 pm. $22. 416-531-6604.
Like the cat in one of his best-known songs, Fred Penner has come back.
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Thirteen years after his long-running CBC kids’ show, Fred Penner’s Place, went off the air, the noted children’s entertainer is now playing for grown-ups.
“Children don’t really know who I am any more, except through their parents,” Penner says over the phone from his, er, place in Winnipeg.
“But a lot of kids who used to watch the show are at universities and colleges across the country. It just makes absolute sense to me to bring the music to them.”
Over the past month, he’s played at the universities of BC, Regina and Saskatchewan, and the response has been electric.
“The audience is so pumped,” he says. “A din goes up. They’re just so excited to be there.”
Penner has made few changes to his set list attendees at Hugh’s Room can expect Sandwiches and The Cat Came Back (with a cheeky reference to k-os’s Crabbuckit thrown into the mix).
But performing these songs for adults at night has altered the tone of his show.
“This is a lateral move,” he says. “And an opportunity to reconnect with parents and college audiences on a more philosophical level.”
Interview Clips
Fred Penner says that new children’s shows like Yo Gabba Gabba! are missing a human touch
The musician explains why his show had such a natural, organic setting
Penner talks about his daughter Hayley Gene, who will also be performing with him at Hugh’s Room
Video Clip
The opening sequence of Fred Penner’s Place – just try not to feel nostalgic, I dare you
Fred Penner online
music@nowtoronto.com
