Peter Pan at The Arden - Kid's Theater Review

At it's core, The Arden's Peter Pan is an elaborate game of playing house.   Just below the surface though, and something especially noticeable in their miraculous production of Douglas Irving's adaption, are larger truths about what it means to be young, joyful and free - three things best experienced before the suffocating adult burdens of beards and offices set in.

As parents, we pass on a lot to our children but one of the most important things we give them is the freedom to use their imagination, to dream.  In a moment that brought more than one tear to my eye, this is precisely what the grown-up Wendy does. Peter flies through Wendy's open window, many years having passed since their 1st escapade, only to find her older, with responsibilities that prohibit her from ever flying back to Neverland.  As fun and funny as the play is for youngsters, it's scenes like this that make the show a touching event for Moms and Dads - allowing us older folks to escape our beards and offices for a couple hours and fly once more.  


The Arden's Peter Pan is a magical play the entire family will enjoy and cherish.  Tickets to the show would make an outstanding, last minute holiday gift for a young child and their young-at-heart parents.


Bonus thoughts on the play: 
My mom and dad also saw the show, having taken the Bear and my two 11-year old nieces a few days prior. My mother was hesitant to take 11-year-olds to see this play, fearing that girls of such an age would have outgrown the story and think it babyish.  Holy cow, was she wrong.  All three girls came away as amazed as the Mrs. and I.   Despite being profoundly different from the Disney film, the older girls found The Arden's Peter Pan to be "extremely creative" and "awesome".  And you know what, for all the fancy words I could use, none would do the play as much justice as those.


The excitement generated by the Arden's Peter Pan was palatable, so much so that one of my nieces, a girl who, like many at her age, has abandoned imaginative play for trendy fashion, manufactured corporate pop music and a cell phone, immediately asked to re-watch Peter Pan - the film - upon leaving the theater. For her, the Arden's reinvention of Barrie's classic tale reignited a tiny flame of innocence, and reconstructed, if only for a short time, a moment in the child's life where imagination reigned supreme and the pretense of what is or isn't cool mattered not.  

That being said, Peter Pan at the Arden, with it's eye-popping vision of Neverland as an elaborate garage and the hilarious, found-object Lost Boys, is undeniably cool.

Peter Pan runs through January 24, 2010.  For tickets (including several 2 for 1 ticket deal dates and a performance featuring Peter Pan in American Sign Language - see OWTK's review of the ASL performance of the Arden's Frog & Toad last season) and more information on this and other shows at The Arden Theatre, click here.

*The Arden Theater graciously provided tickets for both the Mrs. and I to see Peter Pan.  The opinions expressed above are unbiased and true - no arm twisting took place in the review process.

*All Photos and Video courtesy of The Arden Theatre Company.

Dear Edwina has More Advice to Offer

My favorite kid's theater production ever is coming back to the DR2 Kid's Theater in Union Square, New York, NY.

That's right, Dear Edwina's return engagement begins December 11, 2009 and runs through February 15, 2010. That's pretty awesome news on it's own, but here's the best part - order your tickets before the end of September and pay only $25 per person!

That should be incentive enough to plan ahead, pick your weekend and save $14 per ticket by ordering in advance. The early bird deal makes seeing off-Broadway greatness a hell of a lot more affordable for, say, a family of 4 - saving 'em almost $60.

I cannot really say enough about how good Dear Edwina is. My 5-year old saw it twice last year and still sings all the songs, and so do the Mrs. and I.

Read my full review of the 2008-2009 Dear Edwina production here.

Here's the skinny on the $25 ticket offer
3 WAYS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE $25 EARLY BIRD SPECIAL:

• Visit broadwayoffers.com and use code: DEBLOGS
• Call 212-947-8844 and use code: DEBLOGS
• Bring this offer (yeah, print off this page of OWTK and take it) to the DR2 Kids Theatre Box Office located just off Union Sqaure Park (103 East 15th Street, New York NY)
  

Dear Edwina Performance Schedule (12/11/09 - 2/15/10):
Fridays @ 7 PM
Saturdays @ 11 AM, 1 PM, 4 PM
Sundays @ 11 AM, 1 PM, 4 PM

Coraline, the Off-Broadway Musical

After enchanting moviegoers coast to coast earlier in the year, Coraline is set to takeover the New York Theater World this Spring.

The new musical production of Coraline, with lyrics and music by The Magnetic Fields Stephin Merritt, makes it's world premiere in the Big Apple beginning May 7th 2009.

Can't wait until May? Head over to the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher St) on Tuesday evening, April 21st, for a conversation with the creative team and an exclusive performance from Stephin Merritt.

This one night only event will peel back the curtain and allow you to discover the process of bringing Neil Gaiman's novel, Coraline, to the stage.

Bill Goldstein, of the New York Times and WNBC’s "Saturday Today in New York", will moderate a discussion between the creative team of Stephin Merritt (composer), David Greenspan (book writer), Leigh Silverman (director), and Jayne Houdyshell (Coraline), and take questions from the audience.

The evening will conclude with a first-ever public performance of one of Coraline’s songs, performed on the ukulele and sung by composer/lyricist Stephin Merritt.

Buy tickets here

**Edit to add: Is this show for kids? Well, it depends. I've heard some of the music and it's creepy, the kind of pervasive oddness that will haunt for days after more so than shock at first blush. The theater recommends 8 and up, and that's probably a good barometer, but you should know your own child before walking into Coraline the Musical, much like Coraline the film.**

A Year with Frog & Toad (Made Accessible for All)

The Arden Theater, located in Olde City Philadelphia, is roughly 18 days into a 6-week revival run of A Year with Frog & Toad (through 4/19/09). Originally staged at The Arden in 2004, the classic stories by Arnold Lobel come to life brilliantly once again in the nimble hands (and tenor voices) of real-life best friends Jeffrey Coon and Ben Dibble, both veterans of Philly's theater world.

OWTK was in the house on Friday evening, 3/13. Turns out that the performance was a joint venture between The Arden and Art Reach to provide live theater to those who may not normally get to experience and enjoy it. There was close captioning in the margins of the stage, hearing devices available which amplified the performers' microphones, playbills in large print and Braille, and most impressively, two American Sign Language professionals on stage, shadow signing the entire play. For the Bear, who is still eagerly absorbing any and all ASL lessons she can via Signing Time! DVDs and the iPhone Application, it was a revelation. Additionally, the actors themselves learned (or knew) enough sign language to chip in with the ASL communication and also interact with the sign language pros at various times throughout the 90 minute show - a really touching gesture, to weave the signing into the performance itself.

Our initial thoughts, upon learning of the evening's theatrical accoutrements, were slightly negative. We felt that the standard performance, the one we thought we'd be seeing, may be interrupted or altered in some way. We were completely wrong. If anything, the show was enhanced tremendously, even for those in the audience who didn't require special assistance. Simply a beautiful night of theater for one and all.

A Year with Frog and Toad blends together many of Lobel's treasured stories, including "The Garden", "Cookies", "A Swim", "The Letter" (which features some of the funniest moments as Snail reemerges throughout both acts of the play slowly making his way to Toad's house), "Alone", "Down The Hill", "The Kite" and the charming "Christmas Eve". The live orchestra plays through a spirited, playful score that serves the action well. Once we got home, we purchased the Broadway Original Cast recording of A Year With Frog & Toad online. The music is terrific and the Bear is loving her ability to relive and act out the play at home. I cannot recommend enough that you take your kids to see A Year With Frog & Toad at The Arden. It is one of the funniest, most gentle and endearing kid's shows I've ever seen.




Looks like there is another accessible performance of A Year with Frog and Toad on Saturday April 4, 2009 at The Arden!

Check out other upcoming accessible Philly Arts Events, including James and the Giant Peach and The Berentstain Bears!

Dear Edwina - Off Broadway Greatness

I've seen a fair amount of children's theater and now that I've seen Dear Edwina - I've seen perfection.

My only fear, after seeing the show, was this: how would I adequately describe just how amazing the show is to people who have not yet seen it but who I am ultimately trying to persuade to go see it? Should I invent a new superlative? What's the greatest way to say great? The most terrific adjective for terrific?

Alas, I say simply this: Dear Edwina is the perfect kid's musical comedy. It combines super catchy singalong songs with an endearing, moral-at-the-end story while never once feeling preachy.

Edwina is a wise-beyond-her-years newly minted teenager who dispenses advice to neighborhood kids. She does so in the form of a weekly live show held in her parent's garage. Edwina and her production crew friends act out the questions then sing and dance out the advice. In the end, Edwina and her friends learn a valuable life lesson about being yourself and what it means to be truly happy - an important message for anyone but especially for young girls and boys.

The greatness of Dear Edwina is that there is no weak spot, not a single breath is wasted in this punchy, touching and delightful kid's musical. The original show, from the talented ladies who brought Junie B. Jones to the stage, lasts a touch over an hour. It features snappy dance numbers, unbelievably clever lyrics and so much heart that even a cynical seen-it-all-before-theater-veteran adult will be smiling from the tickling of the ivories at the open to the ukulele strumming at the close.

The Mrs. and I took the Bear, who has loved all the musicals she's seen to this point both live and on film (Singin' in the Rain, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, An American in Paris and Mary Poppins), to see Dear Edwina last Saturday. While she's still too young (4 3/4) to get some of the school-age humor, she thoroughly enjoyed the singing, music (piano and percussion) and choreography. After the show, while we ate lunch at PIE, the Mrs. remarked that she didn't seem to laugh at any of the funny lines. The Bear responded very matter-of-factly in saying "Mommy, that's because I was really interested!"
And she was. There was non-stop fun on stage and she watched it all intently, not taking her eyes off the action for even a moment. On the ride home from Manhattan, the Bear had a three word phrase from one of the songs stuck in her head. She kept singing it incorrectly over and over, for over an hour. Once back home, I played the song for her online and now have created a monster. Twice nightly (at least) the Bear performs her very condensed version of Dear Edwina for the Mrs, the Mouse and I - and always to a standing-O!

Taking any youngster, but especially one between the ages of 7-13, to see Dear Edwina would be a wonderfully unique Holiday gift. The experience of great live theater is something that will stay with them for much longer than their interest in a random toy.
Tickets are on sale through Sunday January 25th 2009. All tickets are $39 and there isn't a bad seat in the intimate house located just a 1/2 block from Union Square Park.

Listen to three tracks, including Edwina's defacto theme song "Sing Your Own Song", and stream two live video clips of the show here.