It might be October, but summer will be in full swing this weekend when Phineas, Ferb, Perry the Platypus, Candace and the rest of the gang from Disney Channel’s animated series “Phineas and Ferb” visit Columbus in a live action show.
“Disney’s Phineas and Ferb Live: The Best Live Tour Ever!” is scheduled to be performed 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Sunday at Palace Theatre.
The cartoon “Phineas and Ferb” premiered on Disney Channel in 2007 and follows stepbrothers Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher as they embark on a slew of adventures during their 104-day summer vacation.
“Phineas and Ferb Live” originally toured from August 2011 to April 2012. Due to its popularity, a second round of the tour began in August and is scheduled to end in April 2013, stopping in about 80 cities total.
Adrian Baez, who played Phineas on the first tour, has been performing with touring stage show Disney Live, since 2006, appearing in shows such as “Winnie the Pooh.” He said he was thrilled to be cast in the “Phineas and Ferb” show because he was already a big fan of the cartoon.
“I was an absolute fan of the show, so when I auditioned they said, ‘Hey, we’d like you to audition for Phineas,'” Baez said. “So I made my own dialogue, making references to the show and talking about the roller coaster like Phineas does in the pilot episode, and they enjoyed how I portrayed him.”
Even though he was already familiar with the animated series, Baez said he prepared for his role by studying his character more thoroughly.
“When I was told I was going to be cast as Phineas, I went through all the episodes and studied how Phineas portrays himself, how he stands, how he moves,” Baez said. “I just wanted to personify him.”
Baez said playing Phineas is fun because of his character’s creative antics.
“Phineas wants each and every day of summer to be the best day possible,” Baez said. “(Phineas and Ferb) like to make new inventions every day and Phineas always comes up with the fun ideas. He’s always being imaginative.”
The live show features 14 musical numbers, most of which, including “Backyard Beach” and “Squirrels in my Pants,” are from the animated series.
Though Baez said the live show will be very similar to the animated series and will include all the main characters seen in the cartoon, he thinks audiences will like the live show even better.
“The audience gets to see the characters live on stage instead of on a TV or computer screen,” Baez said. “The way our show is written – there’s humor for everyone, adults and kids. It’s a fast-paced, nonstop, 90-minute live show, just like the cartoon. It’s like a roller coaster.”
Rolanda Copley, publicist for the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts, the company sponsoring the show in Columbus, said she expects the performance to draw a diverse crowd.
“‘Phineas and Ferb’ appeals to quite a diverse age range, from young children to college students, so we expect the live audience will reflect that as well,” Copley said.
Beth Hicks, a fourth-year in environmental science, said she typically watches the show with her nephews, ages 5 and 2, so the live show is appealing to her.
“It’s one of my nephews’ favorite shows and I like it too because it has adult humor but it’s still appropriate,” Hicks said. “If my nephews could go with me, I would totally go … It’d be a good event for aunt-nephew bonding time.”
Baez said people who are coming to the live show should plan to arrive early to participate in special pre-show entertainment.
“We have an awesome pre-show that starts 15 minutes prior to the show with a trivia contest with the audience to see how much they know about the show,” Baez said. “And of course, we teach them the platypus dance.”
The Palace Theatre is located at 34 W. Broad St. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster or at the CAPA Ticket Center, located at 39 E. State St. Prices are dependent on seating location.
