Juno-winning children鈥檚 performer Norman Foote was in the Humboldt Collegiate Institute to put on a show for kids and parents alike on Nov. 15.
The stop in Humboldt was sponsored by Arts Humboldt and Potash Corp. and was the first step of a tour that will take him to Prince Albert, Moosomin, Estevan, Leader, and Kindersley, among others.
Norman Foote is originally from Vancouver and has been nominated for a Juno four times, winning for his last album in 2010. He has written and recorded songs for Disney Records, Shari Lewis, CBC, and others, as has worked with a variety of choirs and symphonies in addition to his children鈥檚 work.
鈥淚 never really decided to be a children鈥檚 entertainer,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 just kind of fell into it.鈥�
He always wanted to be an entertainer, and then he was introduced to children鈥檚 music and liked it.
Foote relied a lot on audience participation, and while it took the kids in the audience a bit of time to get into the performance, eventually they got into it.
鈥淚 think it went well. I thought I had a lot of fun,鈥� Foote said. 鈥淚 had to warm them up a little bit and eventually I kicked it into gear and we really rocked it out.鈥�
He called a little girl onstage to sing for him and she performed a rousing rendition of Let it Go from Frozen. She also guessed the 60-year-old performer鈥檚 age at 28.
鈥淭hat was funny,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 correct her.鈥�
He added that when he asks the same question he鈥檚 gotten any number between 20 and 100.
He also brought someone else on stage to wear a giant puppet head.
But it wasn鈥檛 just kids who were asked to participate: two dads were really good sports about wearing flower headpieces and dancing onstage.
The performance came about because members of Arts Humboldt realized there hadn鈥檛 been a standalone children鈥檚 entertainment performance for awhile. There have been performances at the Summer Sizzler and such, but never a single show.
鈥淲e hope the kids gain an appreciation for live performance,鈥� said Brian Grest of Arts Humboldt. 鈥淢aybe they themselves will someday be up there onstage.鈥�
Though he said that the attendance didn鈥檛 meet expectations, they had to try.
鈥淏ecause it鈥檚 not very commonplace to have children鈥檚 performers in town, we had to do it, set a precedent, and hopefully next time we do something similar, people will embrace it a little more,鈥� Grest said.
Arts Humboldt will have a meeting to evaluate how the event went to see if something similar could be planned in the future.
For Foote, the participation isn鈥檛 the most important part.
鈥淚 like to hear them laughing 鈥� you have to have the heart for it,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 just think you鈥檙e going to learn a lot of kids songs and that鈥檚 it. You have to find material that they will participate in and as a grown man, that you can sing and you feel good about it.鈥�
