Disney on Broadway

[cinjam]

I have two boys, almost 6 and almost 3. We'd like to take them to some kind of show. I had toyed with the idea of Princesses on Ice (my younger son think Jasmine & Ariel are wonderful), but we though it might be too girlie.

I was thinking about either Disney's The Lion King or Beauty & the Beast on Broadway.

Have you taken you kids, and if so at what age?

I think my 6YO might be ok, but the 3YO is too young - what do you think?

Elmo was in town, but we missed him. The Wiggles are in town right now, but only way, way, far, away, nose-bleed seats are left. I am open to suggestions!

 

[tiggger1]

BATB has an age limit to no children under 4. I dont thing Lion king has an age limit...( although they dont allow children under 5 in the first 3 rows) While I love Broadway musicals ( i have seen over 20 on Broadway) I think they are too long for an almost 4 year old to sit and be quiet ( BATB is 2 hours and 30 minutes with a 15 min intermission) I have taken my 3 year old to local musicals but they are usually under 2 hours and I leave if she gets fussy....


edited to add)

I would try something like these first and see how they go before you spend the cash on a broadway show.

Dora live
Diego Live
Sesame Street Live
Wiggles
Barney

 

[billwendy]

hi
i would try an ice show - you can sit in the nose bleed seats and still feel totally a part of the show - we went yesterday with a 2,4,13 &14 year olds and we had a great time - we sat up high so the 2 year old didnt have to sit still the whole time and we had empty rows right around us so we werent squished....

our experience with a stage show is that you need to sit rather close to feel a part of it which is difficult for a little one,,,if you are far away, the characters on stage are just too little for them to interact with,,,,,

broadway might be a bit too long, but i am going with a 3 year old to see tarzan in a few weeks, so i can let ya know how abby does!!!

is there a local childrens theater near you guys?????

 

[MamaOfTwoPrincesses]

My almost 5 year old DD has attended several shows, ballets, and musicals, and she has behaved prefectly and loved every minute ("Annie," "Nutcracker," Princess Ice Show, Radio City Christmas Show, the old Rogers and Hammerstein "Cinderella" musical.) It probably depends on the child. I think "Lion King" would hold their interest very well. Isn't "Tarzan" on Bway now too? And there is a brand new "Mary Poppins" Bway show. I want to take my dd to that when it tours in our area.

 

[Stimpy]

I think it really depends on the child. We've been taking my DS to Broadway shows since he was 4 and he loves them! (His first Broadway show was Lion King and there was no age limit when we went, there were kids even younger than him there) He is absolutely mesmorized by them. He did like Beauty & the Beast a few months ago (he's now 7) which kind of surprised me since it's more of a "princess" type show. We're aiming for Mary Poppins (more for me than for him ) and Tarzan soon.

On the other hand, my DD would be out of the question! (She's almost 3) We took her to the circus at MSG and she did ok but started getting ansty towards the end. I can't imagine trying Broadway with her until she were about 5-6.

Some tips, go to matinees! Quite honestly, up close is not necessarily a good seat. We had front row for Lion King and the seats were bad. You miss alot of the show since the stage is up higher than the seats. The kids can't really see everything going on. (ALthough DS loved watching the orchestra right beneath us!)

It's kind of hard to compare the Wiggles & Broadway theater shows. (And believe me, we've done our fair share of Wiggles shows ) The Wiggles shows encourage kids to get up and sing and dance along, theaters obviously don't want them jumping out of their seats too much

I agree with the previous poster who mentioned local theaters. We tried a local college musical with DS before taking him to NYC just to be sure.

 

[kaysmommie]

BATB on Broadway is way better than all the Disney on ice I have seen. I like Disney on ice but love Disney broadway. We want to see Mary Poppins next. We took our DD to see BATB when she turnd 5 for her BDay present. Her eyes were just glued the whole time. She loved it almost as much as mom.

 

[cinjam]

Thanks for all the input. I just bought tickets for Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular, faily close to the stage. We'll see how they do with that and take it from there.

My older son has been to the Sesame Street shows & the circus and I think he'd do well. But, my younger son...well I am not so sure. Although he will sit still for the entire Little Mermaid DVD.

I was actually considering the Wiggles (they are here this weekend), but DH is working.

Even if I wait to buy until after the holidays, see how he does at the Christmas Spectacular, and then if I decide to purchase go when he's 3.5 or so.

I will look into the age restriction the PPs mention.

Thanks Again!

 

[IluvKingLouis]

I have a dd(almost 4) and I too am very curious about how she would handle a Disney B'way show (on tour here in Denver). She did very well in MGM while we were watching BATB....grant it, it was only a 20 minute show.

I just found out that our local High School is putting on Disney's Beauty and the Beast. I'm sure the performance quality and staging won't be quite the same, but then again, neither are the ticket prices....$10 for adults, $6.00 for children. And it is the actual Disney version of the play!

It's a good chance to see how she does, and if we have to leave at intermission I won't feel like we overspent for the evening.

 

[blessedby3]

Ive got a question for those of you who are talking about local/high school performance of Beauty and The Beast. My DD is in her High School Musicals (last year they did Oz- but an altered version with different music and stuff) and I told her that she needed to tell her teacher they should do B&B. My daughter said that they couldnt do Disney because it is copyrighted. Thats why Oz was "Oz" and not "The Wizard of Oz". Does anyone know about this? Sorry to change direction of this thread for a min., but figured someone might know.
On the OP's posted question, I would try and get tickets for Tarzan as I think this would hold a boys intrest for sure. We saw B&TB last year and I didnt notice any small kids NOT interested. They all sat mezmorized. I sure hope we can make it up to NYC again to see another Disney play. There are quite a few to choose from.

 

[IluvKingLouis]

It could be that Disney only allows schools to rent Disneys Beauty and the Beast. I know Disney won't sell any of their orchestrial properties (will rent them) and some schools may have a policy where they only want to purchase and own their productions. (I don't know how theatrical royalties and copyrights work so I am speculating).

I manage a community orchestra and it is a far better investment to buy a Beethoven Symphony (usually around $350 for conductors score and all instruments) then to rent something by John Williams (usually in the 600-800 range). I would love to build up our library with some Disney classics (Mary Poppins, the Classics, etc) but we try to rarely rent. So instead I will be purchasing Annie and Sorcer's Apprentice if we should decide to program a childrens concert.

Here's a link to Disney's Beauty and the Beast play for local theater groups. They also list all the Highschools that will be performing this. Maybe you can find one nearby!

http://www.mtishows.com/show_home.asp?ID=000262

 

[blessedby3]

Thanks Ilovekinglouie for that information. I guess there lies the problem-$$$$!! That would be a lot of money for my DD's school and so that is probably why they dont do them. Thanks for that link for the presentations. Unfourtunately there are no plays near me- in SW Virginia. I will keep checking back though. Maybe they will add more

 

[IluvKingLouis]

I guess there lies the problem-$$$$!!

Sadly, that is usually the case. It breaks my heart when I hear that funding for the arts (in our schools) has been slashed.

 

[Mrs.PrinceCharming]

I took my youngest DD to a tour of Beauty and The Beast when she was 5. She did very well, but her older sisters and I had really prepared her ahead of time. We taught her theatre manners - behave like you are in church - this is not a movie or video. I also made a big deal of taking her to buy a new dress for her first Broadway Show. Both of her big sisters had done a lot of high school and community theatre so they helped me reinforce the behavioral expectations.

She was so excited and her behavior was fantastic. Unfortunately the grown women behind us talked constantly during the first act. When the lights came up for intermission I praised DD for being so good. Her reply, "I guess nobody told those ladies about theatre manners." She wasn't sarcastic at all, just completely serious. I'll never forget it.

For younger kids, I would recommend the Lion King.

 

[IluvKingLouis]

Unfortunately the grown women behind us talked constantly during the first act.

When the lights came up for intermission I praised DD for being so good. Her reply, "I guess nobody told those ladies about theatre manners." She wasn't sarcastic at all, just completely serious. I'll never forget it.

For younger kids, I would recommend the Lion King.

I loved the Lion King, but I know my dd3.75 would probably do better with BATB because it is less abstract. I think it would depend on age and how "Princess" crazy your kid is.