Moonbird: May 19 - June 7, Alliance Francaise

More shows for the holidays. Moonbird by I-Theatre whose The Little Red Hen we enjoyed is back with a show for slightly older children (4+). Early bird specials on tix till April 19.

From the synopsis:
"An enchanting tale of a young Prince and his encounter with the magical Moonbird in a mystical MoonGarden. Blending Asian aesthetics of mask and movement with western theatre styles, and combining the spoken word with sign and song - this production adapted from Joyce Dunbar’s beautifully written story about deafness will captivate you from the start."

Interestingly, the writer Joyce Dunbar who wrote the Mouse & Mole series - and is "profoundly deaf" according to the I-Theatre website - is one of the speakers at the Asian Children's Writers & Illustrators Conference that takes place 5 - 7 June.

Ferdinand the Bull: May 12 - 25, Ulu Pandan Theatrette

When it rains it pours! So May is starting to look pretty full. Is this going to be another case of 4 shows in 4 weeks????

Ferdinand the Bull is based on Munro Leaf's much loved book The Story of Ferdinand. I haven't read the book but I guess we're looking for this on our next trip to the library. Doesn't say but I checked - it's for all ages. 

From the synopsis on The Players Theatre website:

"Ferdinand the Bull is a hilarious, Flamenco-flavored family musical based on the beloved book by Munro Leaf. This classic tale of individuality set in Spain is about a bull named Ferdinand and the young Duke Danilo. Ferdinand doesn’t want to fight and butt heads like all the other bulls - he wants to take care of his beautiful flowers! Meanwhile, the young Danilo wants to dance but his father, the belligerent Duke Dodo, wants him to be a great, macho Spanish bullfighter. When the Duke goes to find the toughest ‘toro’ (bull) for his son’s first bullfight, he mistakenly picks gentle Ferdinand. Will Ferdinand and Danilo decide to follow their own hearts or live out the expectations of others?

This musical is an exuberant romp about being true to yourself and refusing to be ‘bull-ied’ into acting like someone you're not. Kids and adults will love the clever wordplay, Spanish flair, lively music and comical characters including the punny, funny pig Cochina who serves as Ferdinand’s hammy sidekick. Ole!"

Stories to Grow:May 14 - 25, Act3 Theatrette@Cairnhill

Another show with puppets. Love them, if done well I think they're one of the best ways of reaching to children without drowning them in words. They say the show is for 4 years onwards but perhaps, perhaps, perhaps, if it is non-verbal I should take LO to it...there's a discount if I book tomorrow (4th April).

"Be mesmerised by Omar’s masterful manipulation of more than 20 amazing hand and rod puppets as he ‘tells’ a series of non-verbal stories about love, justice, unity and the world around them." The URL has a pretty good video preview, the puppets look very Sesame Street/Fraggle Rock.

Ant & Butterfly at the Esplanade - 26 & 27 Apr

So Playtime at the Esplanade is back with another show in case you are interested. It's at the recital studio with its chairs removed so the audience is seated on the floor. Hopefully it's better than the first attempt but I'm not going to be here for this one, do comment back here if you see it.

4 shows in 4 weeks

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.