Full Review of Tom Sawyer

Michael Nichols as Injun Joe.
Photo courtesy of Kansas City Rep.

I reviewed Tom Sawyer at the New Victory on my other blog:

The long and the short of it is, you should definitely see it.  And you should bring your kids.

It's not very scary at all!  (except for Injun Joe, who is excellent in this!)

Tom Sawyer at the New Victory! March 2-11

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer at the New Victory Theatre Mar 2-11.
Photo by Charles Erickson

This one is not quite right for my kid (being 3 and all) but I'm sure some of you out in Dad-land would really dig this with your kids. The New Victory is bringing a new version of Tom Sawyer to the stage as a NY Premiere.  It's been adapted by Chicago's Lookingglass Theatre's Laura Eason.  The Lookingglass is an amazing theatre in Chicago.

Ms. Eason’s stage adaptation of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is loyal to Twain’s original text.   The production uses actors in multiple roles, eclectic original music, and a fluid, allegorical set design to capture treasured elements of the story: the thrill of mischief-making, the fickleness of first love, and the cold shivers that linger after a graveyard adventure goes awry.  The Adventures of Tom Sawyer first ran at Hartford Stage in 2010, and prior to the New York premiere at The New Victory, was remounted to critical acclaim by Kansas City Repertory Theatre, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and Actors Theatre of Louisville in association with Hartford Stage.

It's recommnended for ages 8 and older, and they suggest a few parental considerations:
Themes of murder and persecution, colloquial language true to original book and time period, mimed tobacco use.

It will play in NY for 2 weekends only March 2-11, so if you have a love of Twain and an  interest in being entertained, I'm highly suggesting that you put down your laptop and trade everything you have in your pockets for the chance to whitewash a fence.

FOR MORE INFO & TICKETS: http://www.newvictory.org/show.m?showID=1034003

VIDEO

A week of activities, playdates, museums, and fun stuff.

My 3 year old son was off from his pre-k school this past week, so we planned a whole week of activities and fun times.  My wife left early Thursday morning for a conference (BLISSDOM) so it was extra important we do a lot of fun things.

In the interest of archiving (and also maybe some of you out there would either like these ideas, or would like to add your ideas, I've compiled our activities below.  Two activities we didn't do, but had wanted to was go swimming and conduct a taste test, in which I plan to blindfold him and let him taste a number of foods to see if he can guess what they are.  He's a picky eater, so I'm hoping that by filling him with lots of good stuff, we can get him to try new things.

Here's what we did do:

• Watched the Incredibles.
• Painted a Bank
• Made Brownies
• Practiced Letters ( a few times)
• Went to the Dentist
• Went to the supermarket
• Went to a bank
• Saw two movies in theatres (Arriety, which he mostly did well with, and Babe, which he loved)
• Went to a petting zoo.
• Rode his bike at the playground
• Went to a playground
• Stayed home in our pajamas
• Made music
• Made art projects
• Went to the Planetarium
• Went to the Hall of Science
• Went to Target and got a new toy.
• Had 4 playdates! (2 were at the museums listed above.)

Brazil Brazil at the New Victory, New Victory

Brazil! Brazil! at the New Victory.
Photo courtesy of New Victory Theatre.

I featured Brazil! Brazil! at the New Victory on my clownlink website, and it's going to be great for families (they recommend everybody, but lots of loud noise, so if your kids are very sensitive to loud noise, they might have a problem)

I also  wanted to make sure to mention the cool classes  and special things for kids that they'll be hosting.

With every performance, the New Vic also hosts Family Workshops.  They are going to have one in making Parade Masks, and one in Capoeira, which is a Brazilian form of dance/acrobatics/martial arts.

Tickets are required.... As you can see, they are in high demand.  If you want to go, hurry to get your tickets for the workshops.  They are usually great fun!

Click the links below to sign up for the workshops.  If you are a New Victory Member, you get a substantial ticket off the discount price as well.



PARADE MASKS
New Vic Studio: Family Workshops
Sun, Feb 12 at 10am and
2:30pm SOLD OUT!


CAPOEIRA
New Vic Studio: Family Workshops
Sat, Feb 25 at
12pm
SOLD OUT! and 4:30pm

J & R Junior- new store opening for young technophiles

I recently attended the "soft opening" of a brand new kid's store downtown.  It's J &R Jr., part of the seminal  downtown landmark J & R ____ World (electronic, music, and now kid's.  They also have a cafe!)

The store began when the son of the founders of J&R, whose name is Jason, had a second kid, and realized how much cool stuff was coming out for kids, and how he had to rebuy all of that stuff again.  The light went off in his head, and he went "Wow!  I went to get into that business too!)  They sell toys, books, baby gear, and kid's electronics.

The store is beautifully laid out, with ample room to try things out, play with the electronic music kit, check out new video games, and wheel around the high-end strollers.  They seemed to have a lot of great stuff in stock.  Of course, it was all brand spanking new.  I'll be interested to come back in a year, and see how their layout works when it's crowded and used and full of kids.  But it looks great right now!



In addition to the store, they have an area for developmental classes and a full-time daycare, both will be run by MoonSoup.  They could also probably do birthday parties and concerts in there too.

Max Darwin will do some crazy and silly things
to make you laugh at J & R Jr's.

Speaking of which, they have a fabuloso selection of performances for the opening weekend (Feb 11 & 12)

Magicians, princesses, giveaways, and lots of fun other stuff.  The soft opening featured some of the performers including  A Princess Visit and The Amazing Max(who is, it turns out, an old friend of mine from year's ago, but I didn't recognize him, because it was 18 years ago) Fortunately he recognized me, and I'm looking forward to having a beer or 3 with him soon.  Both of their shows are going to really wow your kids.  And when you look at the schedule and realize that Laurie Berkner  AND Dan Zanes are going to be at this free event (albeit on different days!), you should really just start camping out now!

I think this will be a great addition to the downtown universe of places to buy things for kids.  They really seem to have their stuff together.

Here's the schedule

Feb. 11:

1:30 pm: Laurie Berkner
2:30 pm: Little Maestros
4:oo pm: Farmer Jason

Dan Zanes will perform at the opening of J & R Jr

Feb. 12:

11 am: Dirty Sock Funtime Band
12 pm: Tad Hills (book reading)
1 pm: Amazing Max
2 pm: A Princess Visit
3 pm: Dan Zanes
4 pm: Kidz Bop (autograph signing)

Address: 1 Park Row, 2^{nd Floor, New York, NY}

Arrive early for performances, space is limited. NYC shuttle buses available.

For more information  visit www.jr.com/jr

Unmitigated Bikeriding Joy

A few days ago, when we had a nice warm day, AA demanded to ride his tricycle.

I didn't want to let him at first.  It's a pain to get it out of the garage, and we walk to the top of the hill, and half the time there are a bunch of not nice boys playing in the schoolyard and I generally don't like to give in to his demands and whining (it sets a bad precedent, and starts to make him think that he can get what he wants by demanding it.

But ultimately, I thought it was the right thing to do, and  BOY am I glad I did.  He had so much fun riding around and chasing me and going fast on his tricycle.

Here's a little sample:



Watching him have so much fun is the true joy of being a Dad.

My First Note From my son

The First Note from my son

I received my first note from my son yesterday. 

He was playing Post Office with his mom (not the kissing game! pretending to deliver letters) and they wrote one for me.

He knocked on the kitchen chair, and then delivered it.

I had bought him some munchkins for an after-school treat, and he was being very gracious.

Of course, he's a bit more of a dictator at this point than would typically be seemly, but his letter A is pretty strong!