Tracy Fisher is the lone biped among many quadrupeds - at least as far as "Disney Live! Winnie the Pooh" goes.

The immensely popular family attraction will be turning Central Illinois into a veritable hive of activity this weekend as the lovable "hunny"-mongering bear and his pals swarm over three arenas in as many days, including Bloomington's U.S. Cellular Coliseum at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

(Also taking paws for the show: Champaign's Assembly Hall, 6:30 p.m. Friday, and Springfield's Prairie Capital Convention Center, 1:30 p.m. Saturday.)

Fisher plays the menagerie's ringmaster of sorts, The Storyteller, the only cast member not encased in an elaborate head-to-toe animal costume.

As she is quick to remind us, though, "I do wear a costume," but the face and voice remain hers and hers alone.

And with good reason: In her role as The Storyteller, Fisher is a combo ringmaster/narrator/emcee/audience wrangler.

The latter duty comes courtesy of the fact that the average "Winnie the Pooh" audience member age is somewhere in the lower single digits (not counting parental wranglers in attendance).

It does hurt matters that the show is also billed as "interactive," accent on the "active."

"You have to really engage them," she says, "and you have to be ready to be engaged."

That two-way street involves Fisher's character setting the stage, so to speak, for what is happening to A.A. Milne's Hundred Acre Wood gang in terms that your average 4- or 5-year-old will immediately grasp.

What is happening is this: It's Winnie's birthday, and a surprise fete is being concocted by pals with well-known names like Tigger, Piglet, Rabbit, Eyeore, Owl, Kanga and Roo.

Much subterfuge is afoot, needless to say.

Not to mention the requisite "little smackeral of hunny."

For starters:

Piglet runs interference, keeping Pooh distracted.

Party hats and favors are the province of Roo.

In the kitchen baking the you-know-what is Chef Rabbit.

Trouble-prone Tigger is handed the task of coming up with the proper gift for a hunny-craving ursine, which, as fans of these forest-dwelling folk might guess, is fraught with varying levels of havoc.

Someone sings "Rumbly In My Tumbly."

Someone else (guess who) sings "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers."

Throw in tangential factors like a blustery day, Pooh bear's close encounters with bees, some Heffalumps and Woozels, and you've got all the makings of the kind of party that you had to be there to appreciate.

Luckily, this latest "Disney Live!" offering lets its audience be there, and then some.

According to Fisher, occasionally her duly excited audience members will decide to be there in ways not intended.

"We've had a couple situations where kids walk right up to the stage, past the ushers," she says, all the better to celebrate up close and personal.

Officially, "the stage is pretty much off-limits … but they're soooo cute," she confesses, adding that getting out of seats and responding viscerally to the show is pretty much par for the interactive course.

To even the playing field, so to speak, some of the stuff on the stage makes its way into the audience, including, for starters, Rabbit's stash of super-sized garden veggies, sent bounding into the aisles and beyond.

For Fisher, all of this is part of a master plan that began several decades back when she was down around the age of her average audience member.

"We traveled to Disney World a lot when I was young, and I decided that I wanted to be a part of Disney entertainment," she says matter-of-factly.

After landing a gig at the park, Fisher auditioned for the current show, and landed the part.

Needless to say, portraying the lone biped among many quadrupeds is, if you can bear the pun, a honey of a role for Fisher - and definitely not one to pooh-pooh.

---

At a glance

What: "Disney Live! Winnie the Pooh"

When: 1:30 p.m. Sunday

Where: U.S. Cellular Coliseum, 101 S. Madison St., Bloomington

Tickets: $18 to $52

Box office number: (866) 891-9992

Other area dates: 6:30 p.m. Friday, Prairie Capital Convention Center, Springfield; 1:30 p.m. Saturday, U of I Assembly Hall, Champaign