Featuring familiar songs, a captivating storyline and all the characters children have come to love, Dora the Explorer Live! showcases Dora's friends, including special helper Backpack, best friend Boots, cousin Diego, Map, Swiper the Fox, Tico and Benny. Each step of the gang's journey consists of a problem or puzzle that Dora and the audience must solve together in order to move on to the next challenge. Dora is proudly bilingual and uses her knowledge of English and Spanish to communicate with her friends, teach the audience Spanish words and overcome obstacles.
The last Dora "Lost Toys" U.S. tour was seen by more than a million people during its run five years ago. The live shows have grossed more than $85 million in sales worldwide, traveled to more than 255 markets across North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Southeast Asia and have been seen by 2.7 million children and parents.
Dora the Explorer Live! is based on Nickelodeon's hit animated series, Dora the Explorer, which currently ranks as the number-one-rated preschool show on all of commercial television. Dora is a seven-year-old Latina heroine, whose adventures take place in an imaginative, tropical world filled with jungles, beaches and rainforests. Both the Dora TV and stage shows are designed to actively engage their audiences using a variety of learning techniques.
Susan Oliveras portrays the world's most famous Latina explorer -- Dora the Explorer -- in the tour. Oliveras is a New York native who attended the city's renowned Fame high school, the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts. In true aspiring actress fashion, after she graduated college, she hit the open call circuit and landed in a tour of "Ferdinand the Bull" before being cast as Dora.
Antonio Vargas portrays Dora's cousin Diego. Spanish comes easily to this Puerto Rico native, who once worked on the island as an elementary school drama and creative movement teacher. A graduate of Emerson College, Vargas has appeared in two award-winning productions, "Los Desertores" and "La Muela del Rey Farfan" at New York's Society of Educational Arts, a Latino children's theatre company. He has also appeared in soap operas and worked as a print model in international campaigns.
For tickets and show times, contact The Chicago Theatre Box Office, 175 N. State St, online at www.thechicagotheatre.com, through Ticketmaster or by calling 1-800-745-3000. For groups of 10 or more, call 877-4-GRP-TIX (877-447-7849), email info@grouptix.net or visit www.grouptix.net.
For more information about "DORA the Explorer Live!" log on to www.nickjr.com or www.broadwayacrossamerica.com