When
I was a little girl, my parents took me to see Andrew Lloyd Webber's
Cats, and I fell in love.
Now,
I am by no means a theatre buff; I had been to Stratford and Shaw
Festivals only once in my life - basically if you can compare to my
theatre going experience to books: I am more of a Jane Austen girl as
compared to War and Peace, more Dan Brown than Umberto Eco. I like
theatre lite.
However,
I still feel there is something quite magical about a live
production; for one thing, you are watching something in actual 3D!
And, it is always fun to dress up and go out on a special occasion.
So,
I would really like to share the experience of going to musicals,
concerts, theatres and other extravagant live shows with my little
one. I think it is good for her to experience different sorts of art
and culture and entertainment, and to learn to sit still.
Now,
just because I want to bring my daughter to a show, does not mean I
can just pick any show, buy tickets and just go. There are very
important considerations.
We
have to consider subject matter – I have a five year old, so the
show has to be family friendly, and for us, MUST have a happy
ending. Hopefully it will be entertaining for adults as well.
There
should be a easy to follow plot – i.e. no time paradoxes, weird
soap opera like subplots, or anything else that will require me to
spend the entire time of the show trying to explain what is
happening to my daughter.
Colourful
costumes, and cheerful characters – once again, my kid is five,
and she likes colours and cute things. She is also terrified of the
dark, so I doubt we will be seeing a show like Phantom of the Opera
anytime soon.
Stuff
should happen (besides plot) – people or things should move, and
talk/sing, and do stuff, to hold her attention. There is no way my
child can sit through anything slow and cerebral, nor do I expect
her to.
Price
– I am hoping that it would not be too expensive. I just do not
want to feel bad if I have to leave in the beginning or middle of
the show, or feel that I have to force my kid to stay for the entire
thing even if she is not happy (“mommy and daddy paid a lot of
money for this so you are staying and you are going to like it”).
I understand this is not always possible, but one can hope.
So,
when I saw the Disney on Ice presents Worlds of Fantasy, I thought
maybe this will be a good continue introduction to live shows. Last
year she saw Disney Live! presents Three Classic Fairytales and loved it.
Let
us see if it can meet my pre-show checklist:
Plot
– there are cars, toys, mermaids, fairies and of course two very
famous mice. I think she might be happy even if there is no story.
Stuff
should happen – it is an ice skating show, pretty sure there will
be lots of action, spins, jumps and tricks. And, I believe there
will be cars on ice (granted, I can always watch cars driving on ice
by looking out my window in January...)
Length
of show and price – I am not sure how long the show is, and the
tickets are not cheap, but not unreasonable either (okay, I think
the top tiered seats are a little bit much, but they are supposed to
be the best seat in the house).
I
think my kid might really enjoy this show. Hopefully, if she has a
great experience, she will be more open to other kinds of shows (the
only show she likes so far is the ballet the Nutcracker, and I can
only watch the Nutcracker so many times before I go nuts, and my
wallet empties)
And
maybe, when she is older, we can do a family trip to Stratford or
Shaw.
For
more information about the show, please visit Disney On Ice .
Fine Print:
Feld Entertainment may be providing me with complimentary tickets to this show, in exchange for my time and efforts in attending the show, and reporting my opinion within this blog. However, the opinions about the show, and everything else are 100 per cent mine.
pictures courtesy of Disney characters and artwork, © Disney. Disney/Pixar characters and artwork © Disney/Pixar.
