The first one LO went to with DH. Thought we’d alternate since I’d gone for SRT’s Baby Love last year, which she absolutely loved, sat through without a whinge (she was about 20 months old then) and talked about for months after.
Anyway, they left the theatre in 10 minutes after the show started and she doesn’t want to go back to the Esplanade. Talk about catching them young and shaping young minds.
Apparently there’s a scary man in the show and talk of hunting and killing rabbits and it really didn’t go down too well with the LO.
DH was very upset that his first theatre experience with LO was a disaster and so negative.
Thank god the wounds healed with the second show- a reworking by Canada’s Mermaid Theatre. Guess How Much I Love You by Anita Jeram is one of LO’s fave book though I don’t think much of it. But even I was wowed by the show especially the My Little Storybook segment.
What a treat! Gorgeous puppets, fantastic sets (mushrooms made of silk!) and music, unicorns with curly silk hair…Not a thing to fault about the whole thing except that perhaps Victoria Theatre is a cavernous place and sitting far away in the stalls wasn’t ideal. Just a minor quibble, as I do know that flying these guys in is not cheap so you need bigger halls. Still, just having got a chance to watch this show was a privilege and something both LO and I will treasure for a long time to come. This is what children’s theatre should be. Read interview with Act3 artistic director Ruby Lim-Yang
Then it was back to a musical with The Little Red Hen, which was in the smaller Alliance Francaise auditorium. A few adult touches that were totally unnecessary – the 'cool' cat has two women in feather boas dancing on either side when he does his song - and some frenetic action that I think left LO a bit bewildered, but she loved and still talks about Charlie the mouse. And she remembered that the Little Red Hen wore a red hat and red shoes. Such a girl. She even hums a few bars of the title song and the Charming Charlie song so, all in all, I think it was worth it.
Then we come to The Emperor’s New Clothes, the most hyped production of the lot. LO sat very still through the entire loud, overproduced, overacted hour of the three main characters who seemed to be on speed. All she said a few hours later: ‘the king was very silly.’ Pity, 'cause I love the story. This show runs till April 19.