About three years ago, when my daughter was five, she was invited to join a classmate and the classmate’s grandmother on a Grandmother/Granddaughter day at the theatre. This lovely woman had graciously paid for Orchestra seats to The Lion King for her grandchild and my daughter. Full price orchestra seats. You can see where this is going…ten minutes into the first act, my daughter got scared and all three of them ended up watching the show from the monitors in the Lobby. For the price of three orchestra seats.
It was around this time that my agent called with an appointment for Mary Poppins. A friend of mine in the ensemble was taking maternity leave and I was auditioning to be her temporary replacement. (I didn’t get the part). Before my audition I went to see the show at the New Amsterdam and of course, like everyone, I was blown away by the incredible sets, sounds and performances this “practically perfect” musical offers. I remember loving it and wanting to bring my daughter to see and love it too…until the nursery scene. That one scene when Jane and Michael Banks have been misbehaving, mistreating their nanny and their toys, and in what feels like a salute to Toy Story the toys in their bedroom come to life. LARGE life. Personified by amazing dancers who haunt the little kids in their sleep to tremendous applause. I loved every moment of it, but I knew my daughter would have no tolerance.
Well look how far we’ve come! Last week, after being treated to an insider’s tour of the New Amsterdam theatre (see my report on that here), my daughter and that same friend….the one with the Grandmother and the orchestra seats to Lion King…sat through the entire two-plus hours of Mary Poppins and loved every moment of it. Even the Toy Story Moment. In fact, I remember my daughter being especially taken with the rag-doll downstage left who did full splits. Not so scary any more!
I know lots of people who have taken their kids to see Mary Poppins at age three or four…in fact, there were several preschoolers in the audience when we saw the show and they all handled it just fine. So I’m not officially recommending this for older kids. I’m just pointing out that this is a full-scale Broadway musical. It’s loud and long and at times intense but that’s part of what makes it one of the best things I’ve seen. Like ever.
I take this job seriously because I know that parents take a risk when they spend money on something like a theatre ticket. It’s important to take our children to the theatre, but children are unpredictable and just like when we take expensive vacations (and I mean ANY vacation because they are ALL expensive), you never know if your child is going to cooperate. You want them to enjoy the experience, especially when you’ve paid a high ticket-price.
Broadway musicals might just be my favorite thing in the world, but I realize that they are expensive and long and loud. So I say know your child. If you have a kid that gets scared of loud noises, is over-sensitive or has sensory issues, you might want to wait a few years before shelling out for a Disney on Broadway show. I’m glad I did. But if your child is ready, as my eight year old clearly (finally!) is, I can’t emphasize strongly enough how absolutely, jaw-droppingly, gloriously, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious-ly gorgeous this gift of a family show really is.
GET TO THE POINT, MOM!
- A glorious production for kids who can handle a full-scale (and full length) Broadway Musical.
- Playing at the New Amsterdam Theatre in the heart of Times Square.
- For more information, including show times and ticket sales, visit the show’s website: www.MaryPoppins.com
- Tip: The homepage of the show’s website features a “value performance” button that links you to a list of performances with tickets starting at $47. Just remember that you won’t have prime seats.
- Apologies to my daughter’s friend’s grandmother for the Lion King thing. Again.
