From the moment the Debbie and Friends band launches into their first song, “I’m Glad You’re Here,” the children in the crowd understand their role: to participate, sing, dance, jump and interact with the Debbie and Friends band. As the lyrics suggest, “you’re part of the show.” From that high-energy opener to the ecstatic ending, the pacing of a Debbie and Friends show perfectly aligns with the attention spans of their young audience. They’ll rock out and get the kids dancing in a theatre-sized conga line, and then they’ll bring them down gently to relax and engage in more attentive ways. Drawing heavily from fairytales that kids will already be familiar with, Debbie and Friends presents enough lyrical updates to keep these stories fresh, and to keep everybody tuned in and laughing, including the parents! Debbie and Friends has been honored with 25 national awards including the 2011 Grammy Award for their part on the Best Children’s Album that year with their anti-bullying song, “Walk Away.”