"This one talks and you don't have to press anything."

She's been a doll for many years. She's gone through some stylistic changes and has closets and closets full of clothes, but she's had only one boyfriend until very recently. She has her own DVD's and computer games. And now.... Barbie has come to life. And it turns out she can sing.

Taking product placement to new heights, the show — called a "kidsical" for combining traditional children's-theater interaction with Broadway-caliber costumes and 12 original songs — is Mattel's latest effort to buttress a brand battered by competition in recent years. Nowadays, a doll is never just a doll but a multimedia experience, so perhaps it was inevitable that Barbie, whose Web site and DVD's already top the charts with the under-6 set, would join Dora the Explorer, the Rugrats and Winnie the Pooh on stages around the country. (NY Times)

All I know is, my six-year-old better never find out about this show, or I'll never hear the end of it if we don't take her. The show is coming to Indy, so she's bound to find out.

*sigh*

You people with sons .... I'm sure I'm getting no sympathy from you.