[live shows / ballet] Nutcracker by the Rock School / Disney on Ice
On Saturday December 12, I took Freya on a Mommy/daughter date to see the Nutcracker. I felt, for her first time, she was a little too young to do the train ride downtown to see the PA Ballet do it, so we went to a production put on by The Rock School over in Havertown, at the Havertown School. It was actually excellent, with even their littlest dancers doing a great job and being adorable, and the teenage dancers really bringing it. Freya, despite thinking it was "too loud" (the music was a recording, not a live orchestra), sat riveted the entire time (albeit with her hands over her ears). Afterwards, she refused to leave until everyone left, so we watched them tear down the set and talked about how the people wearing black work backstage, and we watched the cast come out in the street clothes, talking and laughing. When we finally left our seats, we discovered that the dancer playing the mouse king was out in the lobby in full costume, and she was terrified, even though we talked about how he was just pretending to be evil and was actually a nice person inside the costume. Afterwards, we went out to a special dinner together (she wanted to go to "a cafe!" so we went to Sabrina's Cafe and it was perfect) and I had to retell the story of the Nutcracker over and over again, with special emphasis on the mouse king parts. I think I told it six times. The whole endeavor was a huge success.
On Sunday January 2, we took Freya to see Disney on Ice down at the Wells Fargo Center. This was my mother's idea; she got tickets for herself and my dad, F and me, and Frey. The tickets turned out to be front-row seats - folding chairs instead of permanent theater-type seats, set up literally two feet from the ice. ("How much did you spend?!" "It's for my granddaughter!") I would say at least 50% of the audience was under three feet tall and wearing a princess dress (although I did see some boys in Buzz Lightyear costumes). It was actually a great show, lights and fire and explosions and great skating - Disney knows how to do it right - and all the characters Freya is coming to know and love. Probably the best part was the Frozen section - the ice castle was great. Frey didn't really understand how they left out Sven completely, though. Also great were the Mickey/Minnie/Goofy/Donald interludes, and the princess section where each couple did a song and then a group skate together. The only rough part was the Mulan section, both because Frey doesn't know this one at all and it was hard to explain in the moment, and because it was getting close to naptime. We managed to avoid most of the merchandising and got away with buying only popcorn (in a souvenir bag of course) and a snowflake light-up magic wand, which despite costing $30 is actually pretty cool and could be part of Halloween costumes for years to come.
On Sunday January 2, we took Freya to see Disney on Ice down at the Wells Fargo Center. This was my mother's idea; she got tickets for herself and my dad, F and me, and Frey. The tickets turned out to be front-row seats - folding chairs instead of permanent theater-type seats, set up literally two feet from the ice. ("How much did you spend?!" "It's for my granddaughter!") I would say at least 50% of the audience was under three feet tall and wearing a princess dress (although I did see some boys in Buzz Lightyear costumes). It was actually a great show, lights and fire and explosions and great skating - Disney knows how to do it right - and all the characters Freya is coming to know and love. Probably the best part was the Frozen section - the ice castle was great. Frey didn't really understand how they left out Sven completely, though. Also great were the Mickey/Minnie/Goofy/Donald interludes, and the princess section where each couple did a song and then a group skate together. The only rough part was the Mulan section, both because Frey doesn't know this one at all and it was hard to explain in the moment, and because it was getting close to naptime. We managed to avoid most of the merchandising and got away with buying only popcorn (in a souvenir bag of course) and a snowflake light-up magic wand, which despite costing $30 is actually pretty cool and could be part of Halloween costumes for years to come.