PAW PATROL LIVE! HEROES UNITE
Where: Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, 1925 Blanshard St.
When: Saturday, April 27, 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.; Sunday, April 28, 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Tickets: $34-$162 from the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre box office (250-220-7777) or selectyourtickets.com
The amount of energy emanating from the audience during Paw Patrol Live! Heroes Unite is akin to a jet airliner taking flight. So says a cast member in the show, which is based on the hit animated television series for elementary school-aged children.
Heroes Unite redlines for the better part of an hour, before the interactive production comes back down to Earth and audiences head home. But with between two and three performances per production day, the cast — whose members take the stage well over a dozen times per week — are required to extend their on-stage energy for hours on end.
Maintenance is key, according to cast member Olivia Pryor, who plays the character of Zuma in the stage show scheduled for four performances this weekend at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
“We do a variety of things to take care of ourselves, depending of what we need each day,” the New Jersey-born, Chicago-based performer said. “But even when you’re sore and tired, the energy of the audience is what keeps us going.”
Heroes Unite is based on Paw Patrol, the top-rated animated TV series that airs in over 160 countries. It follows the exploits of Ryder, Chase, Marshall and their crew of search and rescue dogs, and has become a cultural institution on several fronts.
Now in its 11th season, Paw Patrol remains one of the highest-rated preschool programs in the North America, with multiple Daytime Emmy Award nominations to its credit. That momentum has carried over to the stage show: Tours under the PAW Patrol banner have been seen by over 4.5 million people since 2016, reaching over 40 countries on the road.
“Because Paw Patrol is so deeply loved by its TV audience, the live audiences are unlike anything I’ve experienced prior to joining this tour,” Pryor said.
“They are just so excited to see characters they love so much, right there in front of them.They sing along, and they are out of their seats for a lot of the show — some of them even have custom shoes. They are real fans and lovers of the show.”
Pryor graduated magna cum laude from Northwestern University in 2022, with a degree in theatre. Soon after graduation, she joined the North American touring production for Heroes Unite. The first time she stepped on stage in character, Pryor said she could scarcely believe the volume of the audience.
That has not ebbed after several hundred performances, she said.
“That first show was so much fun. We had some members of the cast who had done Paw Patrol before, and they [had told us] that these kids would be excited. But they were even more excited than I was prepared for. It’s almost like the kids are seeing Beyoncé and The Beatles at the same time, which is really rewarding for us as people working on the show.”
