musicals for kids Archives - Adventure, baby!

Cheese and I love the Babies Proms held several times a year at the the Sydney Opera House. Babies Proms are aimed at children aged two to five, perfect for their first live music experience. The Sydney Opera House has been running the interactive and engaging Babies Proms for over 30 years, so they’ve had plenty of time to fine tune what is now a tradition for many Sydney families.

We have just seen our final Babies Prom of the year, Babies Proms: Jingle Bell Jazz. The show was a fabulous mix of classic Christmas songs, with a jazz and calypso twist. Let by Australian stage and screen star, Valerie Bader, kids sang and danced their way through Christmas classics such as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, We Wish You a Merry Christmas and Jingle Bells.

If you’re considering booking a Babies Prom for 2016, their new schedule is up now (I’m booking Music for Tutus for us!).

I’ve put together a few points to help families making their way to their very first Babies Prom.

Get there early
The show is general admission. Kids sit on the floor in the middle of the room on a carpet and adults sit in the chairs around the sides. To get seats closest to the carpet (to keep an eye on rouge kids!) people start lining up often 30 mins before the show begins.

Know where you’re going
The Babies Proms are held in the Studio, which is on the side of the Opera House, not in the big theatres in the sails. You can catch the elevator to this level or walk around the concourse straight into the side doors of the Opera House to get there.

Parking at the Opera House
The cheapest parking is on weekends, where you can book a bay online beforehand and pay $10 for the entire day. If you’re seeing a show on a week day, parking costs a lot more, so consider the train!

Public transport
I often catch the train and walk to the Opera House. Circular Quay has elevators, as does the Sydney Opera House, so it’s all very stroller-friendly.

Stroller-check
You can bring a stroller of any size and leave it in the foyer outside the theatre with all the other strollers.

Bring a camera
While there is no photography allowed during the Babies Prom shows, after the performance has ended kids can go up to the musicians or actors, try their instruments and have a photo taken. Lighting is dim however, so bring a camera with a flash.

Meal time
The snack bar outside the Studio used to sell wonderful kids packs for $7, but this month they haven’t had them anymore, sadly. The only food choices are currently big adult sandwiches or chips, so either bring your own food or arrive early for breakfast/lunch at Opera Kitchen (kids meals around $15 each).

Keep a close eye on kids
Some shows sell out and get very busy. When the show ends it can be a bit chaotic as kids return to their parents and line up for photos with the cast. It’s very easy for kids to get lost.

Dress festive
Kids can wear whatever they like, but it’s fun to get into the mood of whatever the theme of the show is. At the Jingle Bell Jazz show, for example, there were lots of kids in Christmas gear, and a few even dressed up as Chrissie elves.

Today was a landmark day for us – we took Cheese to her first musical, at age 22 months. The show was Wanda’s Monster, a really cute off-Broadway show, perfect for kids aged two to 10. We weren’t sure if it was a good idea to take Cheese seeing as she’s such a wiggle monster that we can’t even take her to a 30 minute music class anymore, but I really wanted to see how she enjoyed watching a real show.

Wanda’s Monster, in its essence, is about a girl called Wanda who discovers a monster living in her closet. At first she is scared of the monster, then, after receiving some advice from her super-hip grandmother, pushes through her fear to get to know him, gaining a new friend in the process. While the story is very simple (hey, it’s a kids’ musical after all!), the underlying messages of tolerance and acceptance are important lessons for us to learn (and be reminded of) at any age.

We sat in the back row in anticipation of needing to bolt after 10 minutes or less, and were stunned that we made it through the entire show, without a single wiggle. Cheese loved Wanda and the monster – asking for Wanda every time she left the stage, and pointing to the monster and saying with conviction “Mon! Mon!” (she hasn’t quite mastered multi-syllable words yet).

After the show we met the cast. Cheese was too shy to pat the monster or high-five Wanda. As we left she stopped to wave to the cast, yelling “Bye bye Mon!”. A new musical (and monster) fan is born.

Wanda’s Monster is playing July 13 – September 8, 2013, at Vineyard’s Dimson Theatre, Union Square. At 50 minutes (no interval) it’s the perfect length to try for your kid’s first show, or to take older kids who enjoy monsters. A few of the older toddlers were scared of the monster (Cheese knowingly said “Baby” when one such toddler wailed and needed to be removed from the theater), but by the end all the kids were dancing in their seats and shouting out “Rooaaarrrrrrr!”.

Buy tickets here. Use the code MBSAVE to score a 25% discount on full-pried tickets.

I was not compensated for this blog post. While I was invited to attend a special bloggers’ preview of the show, all opinions are my own. The show rocked. Take your kids, you’ll all have a blast.

musicals for kids

Babies Proms at the Sydney Opera House

Wanda’s Monster: From Fiend To Friend