SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK LIVE!
The original Schoolhouse Rock, if you’ll remember, consisted of numerous two- to three-minute animated cartoons scattered throughout the Saturday-morning lineup, sometimes appearing between shows, other times jostling with a crowd of commercials. Each cartoon featured a clever original pop song that drove home some basic concept of math, English, history, or science: the threes column on the multiplication table (“Three is a magic number”) or the definition of a noun (“A noun is a person, place, or thing”).
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It helps that Ferguson has such a fine, likable, well-rounded cast and a nice balance of singers and actors, all of whom clearly enjoy every moment onstage. Better yet, no one indulges in the sort of condescending overacting that has marred other, lesser shows. Instead, everyone exudes a particularly winning charm that goes a long way toward selling these energetic, cute, unpretentious, if sometimes silly and superficial songs.
