My brother is taking his family, including his 10 year old son and 14 year old daughter, to NYC this spring and hopes to take in some hit shows. He asked me if I could recommend some that would be appropriate for two very sheltered and home-schooled kids from a wealthy small-town upbringing. I started to recommend Rent and Take Me Out but thought better of it, recommending instead The Lion King and Hairspray, but he’s having trouble finding tickets at a reasonable price or in a decent seat for the dates he’s planning. Since my knowledge of Broadway is limited to the big shows that are getting all the hype, can some NYC Dopers or Dopers with more current theater knowledge than mine recommend some shows that would be suitable and enjoyable by the whole family? (I considered The Producers but it’s expensive plus I’m not sure if the 10 year old would get most of the humor in it.)
Your recommendations are a joke, right? I can’t imagine a more inappropriate show for children than TAKE ME OUT (which, by the way, has closed) since it featured CONSIDERABLE full frontal adult male nudity. THE PRODUCERS is also inappropriate due to its occasionally salty language and adult situations. THE LION KING, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. GYPSY, WONDERFUL TOWN and THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE (as much as I hate to recommend this thoroughly pointless and second-rate show) are probably your best bets. Your friends should try getting tickets at the TKTS booth (Broadway and 47th St) the day of the performance, where they will pay up to 50% off the usual ticket price.
Unless it is the Disnified, highly sanitized version, GYPSY features a striptease or two toward the end. Nothing much is seen, but it might be more than a parent would want a 10 year old to see.
“Wicked” is pretty good for the kids. I saw it with my 10 and 12-year old nieces and they loved it. And they should already be familiar with the characters.
I agree that Gypsy might not be great for a ten-year-old, because it has a lot of innuendo here and there as well as a few suggestive numbers and dances. If the kids might be into some real classic Broadway, Fiddler on the Roof is being revived - that’s a great show with some fun numbers, humor for the adults, some stuff teenage girls usually enjoy, and best of all it’s pretty clean. I actually wouldn’t recommend Hairspray, but Thoroughly Modern Millie was a very enjoyable show, very funny, and frankly The Phantom of the Opera, which is still running, is also a safe choice if they don’t mind the lack of tap-dancing.
Unfortunately some of the great family-friendly shows were running a couple years ago, like The Music Man, but have closed by now.
Look for revivals of 40s and 50s musicals, and they’ll probably be OK (although, as noted, it depends.) I would think that GYPSY would be OK for 10 and 14 year olds, assuming they don’t do a real striptease – I mean, c’mon, it’s not like prostitution, it’s dancing, and it’s not like 6 and 7 year olds. Our last trip, we saw LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS which is great fun.
I also echo Nanook on going to the TKTS booth. You can get discount tickets the day of the performance, and the discounts can be high. The downside is that if you’re looking for four seats, you might be limited in shows or in ability to sit together.
For 10 and 14 year olds, I would also recommend “Phantom of the Opera.” Great music, and the story line is age appropriate.
DEFINITELY!!!
IMHO, this is the most entertaining Broadway show I have seen in years! And it’s great for kids. (For those who are unfamiliar with WICKED, it’s the story of the witches of Oz. . . before Dorothy showed up. The music is super. The two leads, Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel, are fabulous. The costumes are wonderful. And it is a very “showy” show!) Adults and kids will both be entertained.
Wicked is also pretty packed and getting tickets may be a challenge.
I recently saw Aida. (wasn’t my idea) The show was enjoyable and my sister-in-law commented how it was a great family friendly tragic love story.
Lion King is a great show. The costumes alone are worth the price of admission.
Has anyone seen Mamma Mia? That may be OK but I’m not sure.
Lion King. Just saw it (STOOD in the back of the Lyceum, because I’m a cheap SOB) and kept thinking “the kids have got to see this”!
>>TKTS booth… discounts can be high. The downside is that if you’re looking for four seats, you might be limited in shows or in ability to sit together.
BTW, Our kids think it’s really special if Samwise gets to sit with Dad while Hans gets to sit with Mom. Feels more like “I’m being taken out” than “I gotta do something with my family”. We often fly this way.
In fact, Sam and I may take a train to the West Coast this summer and meet Mom and Hans who fly out.
If they’re going “in the spring,” they should be able to get tickets to WICKED if they order soon.