yankee

Would like to take the kids to musical or theatre in NYC in the next couple of weeks. Doesn't necessarily have to be Broadway (seen Beauty...& Lion King) anything off or off-off Broadway would be great too, as long as material is suitable for the youngsters. Thanks for any suggestions!

Howard

How old are the kids? There is a musical production of The Prince and the Pauper playing in the Lamb's Theater on West 44th Street. There's a special $40 ticket offer on the Playbill website (www.playbill.com). Simply join its club (free) and you qualify for those and other discount tickets.

aMom

I have tickets to Prince & Pauper for next Monday with my family (at the $40 price). Some other possibilities are 42nd St, Oklahoma, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Phantom of the Opera (older kids), Les Miserable (older kids), Into the Woods (also older kids). Check for advance sale discounts on www.playbill.com, www.hitshowclub.com, www.theatermania.com (all require registration but it's free).

yankee

Thanks everyone for the helpful info. The kids are 4,5 and 7 (girls). I am looking into The Prince and the Pauper, but have to admit that I haven't heard any reviews. I appreciate the discount info. since we were contemplating paying full price at ticketmaster! Thanks again.

Lisa

Just wanted to jump in and say that I saw a play at the Lamb's a few years ago and I love that theater. It's an old, historic theater and it's also very small so there really isn't a bad seat in the house. It's very intimate.

The NY Times gave The Prince and the Pauper a good review (July 2nd). I can't give you a link to the review because I got it through a subscription site, but here are some excerpts:

"Twain subtitled his story "A Tale for Young People of All Ages," and the high-spirited, action-packed, tuneful new musical version at the Lamb's Theater remains winningly faithful to his intent. Grown-ups looking to share a good time at the theater with youngsters will find their search rewarded here."

"The plentiful action is set to a generous outpouring of melodic music by Neil Berg.... Ray Roderick directs the show with an eye for color and movement."

"In a word, this "Prince and the Pauper" is fun."

I also think young children like yours would enjoy a show in which the 2 main actors are children also.

Howard

We're seeing it Sunday with grandkids, age 9 and 6. Will let know how it was.

Philip

For pre-teen children, you might also want to consider The New Victory Theater on 42nd Street which is specifically a children's theater.

http://www.newvictory.org/

aMom

Howard, How was The Prince and the Pauper? We go tonite.

Howard

Sorry to say this, but we were disappointed. Our grandkids (ages 9 and 6) were bored....and we adults felt the same (though admittedly, it's not aimed at us!). We left after a long first act (about an hour and a quarter or more).
To put it in proper perspective, we may have been in the minority, though we did see a lot "kid wiggling" in the audience! We strongly felt that they could have shortened it.
This was the first show for the 6-year-old. She was definitely too young. For the 9-year-older, he enjoyed Peter Pan much, much more about 3 years ago.
All in all, a disappointment, as we really wanted it to be a fun experience for the grandkids.

aMom

Thanks Howard. My kids are older. The 11 year old is not a big theater kid (he prefers a baseball game by far) but loves mark twain and loved Tom Sawyer on broadway last year, (even though nobody else did). My 13 yr old is a bit more sohpisticated in the theater sense. She has been to dozens of musicals since she was 5 and loves them. We will see how it goes.

Howard

aMom, at their age, your children will probably enjoy the show. In retrospect, 6 is too young. However, we were surprised about our 9-year-older, as he was truly enchanted about the whole experinece (including the theater itself) when he saw Peter Pan with Cathy Rigby at the Gershwin about 3 years ago.