Last weekend, we gave the kids their first taste of the theater.
Well, OK. Let’s not over-state things. It wasn’t Hamlet. It was Sesame Street Live. We went with a friend and her daughter, and I’m happy to report that it was a hit.
It had several good things working in its favor, of course. It was Sesame Street. The characters were already familiar and beloved. The show was clearly going to be on their level. Also, the show we went to was at 10:30 in the morning – a perfect outing time for the afternoon-nap set.
I honestly wasn’t sure how to explain this idea to the kids as I tried to prep them for the experience. “It’s a show. It’s Sesame Street. But not on TV. On a stage. (Oh, wait, you don’t know what a stage is.) Well, whatever. Elmo and Big Bird will be there.” That was good enough.
They did a great job staying (more or less) in their seats, and in an auditorium full of young children, there isn’t much of a premium placed on keeping too quiet.
The show started with some pretty flashy lights and upbeat music, which was enough to send Rebecca into M’s lap. There was some initial crying, followed by (her current favorite) hiding behind her hands, but eventually she peeked out. By the second half of the show, she was excitedly sitting in her own seat and watching intently.
Daniel, on the other hand, was enthralled from the get-go. True to his technical-director/set-builder/light-designer daddy, he was particularly interested in how the colors and shapes of the lights on the curtains kept changing.
Intermission was a good break to run around in the hallways, but all three kids were excited for it to start up again. As the second act neared its end, the din in the auditorium went up as several hundred preschoolers hit the limits of their attention span. And when Daniel had a meltdown on the way to the car, I can’t say I was entirely surprised.
As an adult, of course, it was a little weird and trippy to see Cookie Monster doing a cartwheel and Elmo shaking his groove thing, as well as a strange use of a Vanessa Carleton song. But, hey, the kids had a blast. So if you find the Sesame Street gang is headed to a venue near you, I highly recommend checking it out.
Sesame Street Live is WONDERFUL! (We won our first tickets, and loved it so, we bought them the second time around.) Looks like your crew loved it, too.
Have a great weekend, Goddess!
.-= Cheryl´s last blog ..Marvel, If You Will =-.
Early in our dating relationship DH and I took his niece to see that show in the Lowell auditorium. It was our first psuedo parenting experience and I think we managed it successfully
Looking forward to taking Cameron when she is older and if they come to Charlotte.
What FUN! We did several shows in quick succession (including missing Dora Live! because of hand, foot and mouth, a failed attempt to sit through Peter and the Wolf, a wonderful Mary Poppins, and the Biscuit Brothers), and now Jessica asks when we’re going to our next show!
.-= Sadia´s last blog ..Adjustment =-.
We took the kids in the fall and it was a big hit. I think it was the perfect length and they loved getting pretzels and popcorn!
.-= Erin´s last blog ..Kids are funny…really funny =-.
Sounds like a hoot! Great post- I enjoyed living vicariously
If only Elmo would cartwheel out to remote islands in the central pacific!
.-= Jungletwins´s last blog ..Birth Story (and it’s a doozy) =-.
Sounds like a ton of fun! I’m not sure my guys could handle something like that yet (30 minutes of stories and singing at the library is currently a bit much for them), but sometime in the not too distant future I’m sure we’ll be doing the theatre thing too.
.-= reanbean´s last blog ..A Healthier Me: Goal Assessment =-.
We just went to Sesame Street Live a few weeks ago as well. Our show was 1-2-3 Imagination and both girls LOVED it. The singing and dancing were huge hits.
We left about 10 minutes before the show ended (Caden said All Done! over and over so we heeded) and that was an excellent decision as we missed the getting out of the arena crush of people.
.-= Erin´s last blog ..Walk! Walk! =-.