Your Guide to Family-Friendly Day Trips in New Jersey, New York…and Beyond
The flagship FAO Schwarz store is closing in July, and if you haven’t been to this 5th Avenue location, here are 12 reasons you should go before it’s gone.
1. Get a bear in a bag – the FAO Schwarz bear
2. Get your fortune from the Zohar. Continue reading “Get to FAO Schwarz before it closes”
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?”
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?”
We haven’t been to Branch Brook Park since 2011, to see the cherry blossoms. Each year we plan to go and then something gets in the way. We missed the festival (though to be fair, it’s super crowded) but went last weekend – a week after the festival – to catch the just-past peak trees. They were still gorgeous. This park has the largest collection of cherry trees in the country.
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?”
You don’t have to be a Broadway junkie or know Shakespeare’s plays by heart to enjoy Something Rotten, but you’ll get more out of it if you do.
Is Something Rotten appropriate for kids? More on that later. First, a little background. This musical comedy is based in the Renaissance, where one of Shakespeare’s playwriting contemporaries is trying to come up a show that will make him famous and well paid. With the help of a “friend” he creates the world’s first musical. Hilarity ensues.
Actually hilarity runs throughout the entire production. Continue reading “Review: Something Rotten – appropriate for kids?”
I recently spent some time in Asia, including 4 hour layovers in the Hong Kong International Airport. While my kids weren’t with me, I looked around to figure out what I would do with my kids if they were. Fortunately, they would not have been bored! Here are my top 7 things to do with kids in the Hong Kong International Airport.
1. Kids Workshop – They had a cute area set up for art programs with the kids. These are limited to weekends (Saturdays/Sundays) and you have to sign up because as you can see, space is limited. The workshops are free. This was in the main concourse – I don’t know which gate.
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| Kids workshops at the Hong Kong International Airport |
2. Kids’ play areas – Continue reading “7 Things to do with Kids in the Hong Kong International Airport”
We went to the Big Apple Circus Legendarium show two years ago, and had a great time. When I thought about going back this year for Metamorphosis, I wasn’t sure how different it would be. Turns out it’s a completely new show, in the familiar small tent atmosphere. I brought along two teen girls, including a high school sophomore, and two tween boys. We all loved it – and when I asked them about their favorite parts, each listed something different. I’ve been telling people to go to the show since I got home.
What follows are pictures of some of my favorite acts, but there were many more I didn’t include here. And they’re not in order. The Big Apple Circus brings in different acts each year. This year’s show is Metamorphosis, which was not a theme that really carried over through the whole show (well, aside from the ringmaster’s coat). There were a few references, but basically it seemed to me to be just the title. Not an issue. Continue reading “Big Apple Circus Review – Metamorphosis”
My daughter and I continued our Superbowl Sunday tradition – of going to a Broadway show. This year it was It’s Only a Play, and I fretted a little over whether it was going to be appropriate for my 13 year old. My Zumba, instructor who saw it the weekend before (but after I got tickets) shook her head no and said, “language!” Well if that was it, then I was hopefully okay. More on that later.
The plot: A group involved with a Broadway play production gather at the producer’s house for an opening night party, awaiting reviews. The group includes the wealthy producer, the playwright, the playwright’s male best friend who turned down the lead role, the female lead, the director, a critic and the hired coat boy. The play is set in the producer’s upstairs bedroom, while the party goes on behind the scenes.
While you don’t have to be a frequent theater goer to enjoy the play, it really helps a lot if Continue reading “Review: It’s Only a Play – Appropriate for Kids?”
Thank you to all who contributed to the Passports with Purpose fundraiser. We raised $26,000, which will help five farming communities in Honduras to farm more sustainably for the next five years. The tools and education provided to them through Sustainable Harvest International will make a major and long-lasting impact on these communities. They’ll plant thousands of trees and help feed hundreds of people in each community through this work.
If you bid on prizes, you should be finding out if you won (you won’t be contacted unless you won) by December 22 at the latest.
A big thanks to all the sponsors of PWP, including TBEX and HomeAway, and our Frisco Kids and Jersey Kids prize sponsors, Schoola and Breathometer. A reminder that you can still use Schoola’s 25% off discount code TRYSCHOOLA at checkout, through December 30. And for last minute gifts, Breathometer makes two portable products that connect to your smart phone, for checking your blood alcohol level. It’s fun to use and helpful too.