What do you get when you cross an awards show with a vocals concert and a Schenectady pep rally and a fabulous horse puppet? Why the gala announcement of the What do you get when you cross an awards show with a vocals concert, a Schenectady pep rally, and a fabulous horse puppet? Why the gala announcement of the 2013 Key Private Bank Broadway Series at Proctors. Okay, okay, you just want to know, so I’ll tell you in calendar order:
Phantom of the Opera (5/28-6/8/13)
I’ve never seen this musical—thoughts, people? I get the sense that this is for about the 12-and-up crowd, but I’d love to hear what you think.
Sleeping Beauty (10/15-10/20/13)
This is actually a big ballet production, and it looked like a bunch of fun. They bill it as “a gothic fairy tale for all ages.â€
War Horse (1/14-1/19/14)
They had the war horse, operated by three people, and it was pretty dang cool. That said, war is hell, so it’s seems pretty 10- or 12-and-up too, yes? Anyone seen it and got opinions?
Sister Act (2/18-2/23/14)
This one’s family friendly! And Rashidra Scott from the original cast sang a couple of songs as part of the show, so that was great.
The Book of Mormon (3/11-3/16/14)
Okay, not for the kids, but I am so, so, SO excited to see this one.
Ghost (9/14-9/20/14)
New and based on the movie, the cast of Ghost will actually be doing their tech rehearsals and debuting their tour here at Proctors. So that’s pretty cool! It’s supposed to be suitable for all ages.
I brought M along with me to the Proctors show (incidentally, folks on the Proctors email list were invited to attend for free), and she was very patient with the awards-show style patter. It was pretty funny, because I went as a member of “the media,” which means I got a little pass and a press release along with good seats. As I claimed these, M was like, “Are you sure you’re allowed to do this?” She thought I was faking. And then we knew what all the shows were going to be, but the rest of the audience was in suspense, so it was fun to watch the reaction. Before they announced Book of Mormon, I leaned over to M. “People are going to cheer for this one, big-time.” And of course they did. So now M knows I’m official media and also probably psychic.
I knew that the actual War Horse was coming, and meanwhile M and I had to scram to go pick up J at Cartwheels, where her gymnastics class was ending at 8. Googlemaps put it at 17 minutes from Proctors, so I said that we had to leave the theater at 7:35 pm, so we left our seats and were watching by the exit by the time the horse trotted out. And then we ran to the car. And we would have timed it perfectly if I didn’t have the worst sense of direction ever. I managed to take about 3 wrong turns. M was not profoundly supportive and I was a potty-mouth, and we arrived a good 10 or 12 minutes late. J and the entire gymnastics staff were chatting cheerfully when I arrived. She was regaling them with the story I got lost on the way to drop her off because of the detour. “I didn’t get LOST!” I protested. “That was the DETOUR! I was following the DETOUR.” After apologizing profusely and hustling her out, I launched into a lecturette. “You know, I think instead of emphasizing how bad my sense of direction is, we should be focusing on how I still manage to get so many places. . . .”
“Okay, okay,” said J.
“. . . And how I persist and plan and keeping doing my best. And I still try to go to new places. . . .”
“Yes, Mom. Good job, Mom,” said M.
“Can I tell you about gymnastics now?” asked J. “Because Coach Lori said that I did 9 perfect vaults.”
So that was our evening. Actually, we came home and watched a couple of musical numbers online, because M filled J in on all of the coming attractions and they pretty much want to see everything. If any of you have seen these shows and have reviews and/or opinions about kid suitability issues, I’d love to hear about it!
