The Wiggles, with first woman, come to Long Island
Emma Watkins, 24, is the first female member of the two-decade-old preschool music group "The Wiggles." Credit: The Wiggles / Neil Hamilton-Ritchi
When the preschool performance phenomenon "The Wiggles" takes the stage at the NYCB Theatre at Westbury Oct. 4, it'll be the first time kids see a female Wiggle performing on Long Island.
Emma Watkins, 24, is the new Yellow Wiggle in the mega-popular Australian music group, currently on a tour of 38 cities in the United States and Canada. The group -- more than two decades old -- is promoting its new generation of cast members; new CD/DVD, "Taking Off," and new Sprout-TV show, "Ready, Steady, Wiggle."
"The great thing about the show is it's a mixture of the original Wiggles songs like 'Hot Potato' and 'Toot Toot, Chugga Chugga' mixed with all the new stuff like 'Do the Propeller,' which is on the 'Taking Off' album," Watkins said in a phone interview.
The four colorfully dressed Wiggles -- new Red Wiggle Simon Pryce, new Purple Wiggle Lachlan Gillespie, Yellow Wiggle Watkins and the lone holdout from the original ensemble, Blue Wiggle Anthony Field -- will be joined onstage by their sidekick characters, Dorothy the Dinosaur, Wags the Dog, Henry the Octopus and friendly pirate Captain Feathersword. Watkins played characters such as Wags for a couple of years before donning her Yellow Shirt and the signature big yellow bow in her hair.
Watkins chatted with Newsday about being the first female Wiggle.
I thought it was a practical joke. "Don't be silly. Really?" It was just the best thing that I ever heard. I watched the Wiggles when I was little, too, and it didn't seem to be an opportunity that I would ever have.
