Times Square Archives - Page 2 of 5

January 17, 2017

Review: School of Rock on Broadway

If you’re looking for a kid-friendly Broadway show, School of Rock should be on your list.

The plot: Failing rock guitar player and overall sloth needs money to pay the rent, so he poses as his teacher roommate when offered a substitute teaching job at an elite school. He can’t teach, of course, so he starts a class band to compete in the rock competition and hopefully win enough money so he can pay his rent. The kids get into it and chaos ensues.

The pros: The kids are adorable and talented. Lots of kids (I think 13), so this is a great show for kids! The kids play their own music and of course sing as well. The cast is diverse (different ethnicities, gay couple etc.). The show is lively and the music good. The set is great too.

The cons: You’re going to have to suspend your disbelief a lot in this show. First, the main character Dewey moves very quickly to start the rock band in the classroom. Probably the first day or two. Most of the characters are charicatures and stereotypes. Against all odds, the kids are able to sneak out of the classroom to get to the competition and even though they don’t win (spoiler alert!) the crowd goes so crazy the judges change their mind. Parents discover new things to love about their kids, everyone (except the losing rock band) is happy. Continue reading “Review: School of Rock on Broadway”

December 1, 2016

Review: Is Oh, Hello on Broadway Appropriate for Kids?

I wasn’t sure what to expect for Oh, Hello on Broadway, given that I didn’t know much about the show (we had relatives in town for Thanksgiving, and they chose it). And if you’re wondering, is Oh, Hello on Broadway appropriate for kids, my answer is below. My one-liner about the show: it was a hilarious (partly stand-up) routine with two comedians who seemed to be having a great time on stage, right along with us.

The plot: Continue reading “Review: Is Oh, Hello on Broadway Appropriate for Kids?”

July 18, 2016July 17, 2016

Wicked on Broadway: Is it Appropriate for Kids?

I’ve been to a lot of Broadway theaters, but the Gershwin Theater is really made for audiences. Some theaters don’t allow you in before the show, resulting in the long lines you see when walking down the streets around Times Square. Patrons stand out in line, resulting in a rush for the restrooms, rush to get in the door, and concerns about being late even though they are already holding their tickets. So I was thrilled that not only were we allowed in early, but that there was plenty of space and things to do and see before the show (and no line at Will Call 30 minutes before).

Continue reading “Wicked on Broadway: Is it Appropriate for Kids?”

July 17, 2016August 28, 2016

An Act of God Review: Is it Appropriate for Kids?

An Act of God with Sean Hayes. Photo copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan — An Act of God with Sean Hayes.

If you’re not familiar with the premise of An Act o f God, the show is basically a monologue with God coming to you through the physical body of an actor (in this case Sean Hayes). God riffs on a whole lot of things, including misconceptions about God and the 10 Commandments. And then he introduces a new set of 10 Commandments because he’s pretty sick of the old ones and never intended those to be his greatest hits.

Continue reading “An Act of God Review: Is it Appropriate for Kids?”

February 19, 2016August 28, 2016

How to get tickets to Hamilton on Broadway

Given all the kudos and (deserved) attention Hamilton on Broadway has received in the past six months alone (never mind the build-up to the Broadway opening), the big question is how to get tickets to Hamilton. I’m so glad I got mine already – I saw the show in September. My husband was horrified that I paid $120/seat for tickets in the second to last row of the balcony for a show he’d not yet heard of. I know, you’re shaking your head about how cheap $120 a ticket seems, even though the face value of the tickets was something like $46. No complaints. I’d love to see it again.

So to answer the question of how to get tickets to Hamilton for all my readers, here’s the scoop: Continue reading “How to get tickets to Hamilton on Broadway”

December 5, 2015August 28, 2016

Review: Mad Libs Live with Kids

Our family is a big fan of Mad Libs. We play them a lot – on car trips, on plane trips, on line at the amusement park…But a Mad Libs Live show off-Broadway? How would that work? Well, we got to find out. Here’s our review of Mad Libs Live with kids!

Outside the theater, you can take pictures behind this oversized cut-out, and fill in the blanks. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan

The story:

Mad Libs Live features four stereotypical high school students: Continue reading “Review: Mad Libs Live with Kids”

June 20, 2015August 28, 2016

Review: Behind the Magic Tour – Disney on Broadway

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ll see I’m a big Broadway fan (see our reviews of Broadway shows and our family friendly Broadway show page: Broadway for kids). So I was super psyched at a recent Disney Social Media Moms On the Road conference to get the “Behind the Magic” tour at the New Amsterdam Theater.

theater1 — The New Amsterdam Theater is the oldest Broadway theater in NYC. It’s owned by the city of New York, but operated by the Disney Theatrical Productions. Photo by Deborah Abrams Kaplan

This tour is open to the public to those with or without Disney Broadway tickets Continue reading “Review: Behind the Magic Tour – Disney on Broadway”

June 4, 2015

Review: Is A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder Appropriate for Kids?

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder won the 2014 Tony award for best musical. So I had super high hopes. Overall I really enjoyed the show. The downside was that I only understood 75% of it, and I wasn’t alone. My two theater companions also had difficulty understanding either the accents and the lyrics to many of the songs. We did get the gist of it, though.

The plot

Monty Navarro is mourning the loss of his mother when a stranger tells him that his mother was a D’Ysquith (pronounced dies-quith), a well-known upper class family. If true (it is), that makes him ninth in line to become the earl of Highhurst, with all the money and prestige associated with that. While Monty doesn’t start out to off the other heirs, that’s exactly what happens, and this my friends, adds up to humor in the play. The drama comes from not knowing it he’ll succeed, and also whether he’ll get away with it (early and at the end we see Monty in prison). Continue reading “Review: Is A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder Appropriate for Kids?”

May 22, 2015May 22, 2015

Review: Finding Neverland – is Finding Neverland Appropriate for Kids?

I’ll be honest that Finding Neverland on Broadway was initially not a show I wanted to see. Why? It’s about JM Barrie’s journey in writing Peter Pan. And I’m not a fan of Peter Pan. But I wanted to see one of the boys who plays a Davies brother (Alex Dreier) as I’m friends with his parents from our college days. And I went to see Billy Elliot when Alex was cast in the show, but he wasn’t performing that night (the kid actors take turns and you’re never quite sure who will on stage that night). The other reason was that I was doing an annual theater night with my writer friends during a conference. We took a vote as to what show to see, and Finding Neverland was at the top of everyone’s list.

I’m so glad I went. The 20 or so in our group walked away raving about it. And we were all shocked that Finding Neverland didn’t get a single Tony nomination, because it was fabulous. It did win several audience choice awards from Broadway.com, including favorite new musical, favorite leading actor, favorite onstage pair and favorite new song. Continue reading “Review: Finding Neverland – is Finding Neverland Appropriate for Kids?”

April 3, 2015May 7, 2015

Review: Hand to God – is Hand to God Appropriate for Kids?

Hand to God was one f-ed up bizarre play. Yet it was hilarious. This is not a show for children (please, please don’t bring your kids, not even your teens). In fact, I’d say this is not a show for many adults. It’s truly disturbing, and I say that even though I enjoyed it.

In a nutshell, this is a show about mother and son grieving the loss of their husband and dad, trying to get through the process partly by working on a church hand puppet show (“Christketeers”). While doing so, the teen son’s puppet (or is it the teen?) becomes possessed by the devil (or not). And the mom isn’t doing so well either. And herein lies the tension…and the jokes.

The cast of five includes Steven Boyer who plays the grieving teen Jason, and his puppet Tyrone. There were no puppeteering gigs listed in Boyer’s bio. You would never know he wasn’t born doing this. Not only do you forget at many points that there’s only one person playing both roles (even though his mouth moves when the puppet talks), that puppet moved/acted so well that when the puppet came off, I fully expected it to get up and start moving and talking some more. Continue reading “Review: Hand to God – is Hand to God Appropriate for Kids?”