Justine Clarke’s Ta Da! takes kids behind the scenes of theatre

Justine Clarke will front her own ABC KIDS series Justine Clarke’s Ta Da! produced by Fredbird Productions.

The 15 x 7 mins series is described as ‘a show about putting on a show’ taking kids behind the scenes of theatre, where Clarke and her Stage Manager friend, Dash the dog, have melodies to master, dance moves to fine tune, sets to dress, and costumes to don.

Preschoolers will learn about the craft of theatre and music production, singing, improvisation, acting, set building, costume design and dancing. Each episode concludes with a song of the day, filmed in front of an audience.

Special guests include musician Tim Rogers, actress Denise Scott, dancer and TV personality Paul Mercurio, hip hop artist and triple j host Hau Latukefu, actor and physical comedian David Collins. Original songs have been co-written by Justine Clarke, Peter Dasent, Arthur Baysting, Josh Pyke, Sean Peter, Jane Lindsay, Cameron Bruce, Bruce Griffiths and Tim Rogers, and covering genres including rock, country, hip hop, classical, folk and more.

Justine Clarke said: “Ta Da! is the culmination of my years in children’s entertainment; making music, producing DVDs and touring the country performing live shows for Australian preschoolers and their families. My aim was to create a TV show that celebrates the best of the performing arts and creativity. Ta Da! embraces the joy I have always felt about music and performing – I hope it’s infectious!”

Michael Carrington, Head of Children’s at ABC Television, said: “ABC Children’s is dedicated to bringing Australian preschoolers exceptional locally produced programming so we are thrilled to be working with Fredbird Entertainment on this entertaining and engaging new musical series. Justine Clarke is a much-loved ABC KIDS personality and preschoolers will no doubt be excited and captivated by her performance during each episode.”

“We’re excited to be working with Justine and a talented cast of performers on this delightful series, which celebrates all the excitement and collaboration of music and theatre. We hope it inspires children to embrace creativity and self-expression and put on their own shows at home,’’ said Sarah Dabro, Head of Fredbird Kids.

 

Production is currently underway in Sydney with the series to air on ABC KIDS later this year.

“We are thrilled to partner with the ABC on another home grown children’s series,” said Sally Caplan, Head of Production at Screen Australia. “Justine Clarke is an immense talent and, with the creative team FredBird has assembled, Ta Da! is bound to be an engaging and educational series – and perhaps even ignite the imaginations of future artists!”

Michael Brealey, CEO of Create NSW said: “Justine is well known for her thoughtful and engaging children’s entertainment and is the perfect choice for new home-grown preschool programming. We’re proud to be involved in developing new and high quality Australian children’s productions and excited about the new legion of fans she will reach with the show.”

Screen Australia and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, in association with Create NSW, presents this Fredbird Entertainment production in association with Ta Da! Productions.