NY Times Article on Ups & Downs of Taking Children to B'way Shows — Page 3

I saw my first Broadway show when I was about 4 years old. I don't remember much beyond the usher and intermission (but it was Cats- how much can there be to remember?) but I did prove to my parents that I was capable of sitting through a show. I saw The Phantom of the Opera for the first time at 6, Les Miserables for the first time at 8, and Miss Saigon at 12. Other childhood favorites of mine were Into the Woods, and The Secret Garden. All have some mature themes which my parents addressed with me before seeing the show. And my parents "screened" shows before buying me tickets- if there was something they thought was truely in appropraite I assume they wouldn't have taken me.

Not only did I enjoy my trips to the theater but thanks to the efforts of my parents I was able to understand and appriciate them all on some level, whether it was the music, the presentation or the story. No, it wasn't an adult understanding. I've seen several of the shows I saw as a young child again as an adult and appriciated them on a more mature level, but I think people often underestimate a child's capaciaty to understand theater when it's presented to them in a manner where they know what to expect and get absorbed in a story.

For example, I will always be grateful to my parents, who took the time to present a story to me and play me recordings before seeing a show. I remember watching the Les Miserables miniseries and talking about the historical context with parents before seeing the show. Without that time taken who knows if I would have been able to appriciate it as much as I did? I do still think I'd have gotten something out of it though. Regardless my parents efforts instilled a lifelong love of theater in my. Yes, it was a bit rough being the only 7 year old listening to cast recordings when all of my friends liked New Kids on the Block, but if I hadn't been introduced to theater and Broadway so early, I don't think I'd love it as much as I do today. I certainly wouldn't have developed the same artistic tastes that I have now. When I have kids I plan to introduce them to theater early on as well. I think that exposure at an early age is a wonderful experiece.

I saw my first Broadway show at three. Personally, think the best theater for kids to see is the Paperbag Players.
It was the first exposure I had also at three and it made me never stop loving theater. My parents could not get me to leave the theater. I would have sat for five hours.

Updated On: 12/8/06 at 04:59 PM

When I was my daughter's age, the very street where Mary Poppins and the Grinch now roam was too dangerous even for adults! You'd get your chain snatched, pockets cut, or bag ripped from your hands. Kids, those scenes in Taxi Driver, Midnight Cowboy, and Basketball Diaries were rooted in reality. Broadway was both dead and deadly.

How much has changed! My daughter and I are about to board the subway to go see Grey Gardens, and security is less of a concern to me than the cold weather tonight. We also hate when the little kids make noise or take pee breaks, but how nice to see the demographics changing in Times Square!

I was also of the group who was taken to the theatre at a young age (about 5 or 6), and while I don't remember everything, I am quite grateful to be able to remember things like aspects of Rex Harrison's performance in "My Fair Lady." I am very grateful for that, and the chance to have a love a theatre instilled very early.

Unlike many, I haven't had that many problems with sitting by children in the theatre and at the ballet. Most (not all, but most) have been surprisingly well-behaved. Many years ago I was stunned and somewhat perturbed when a family brought in a brood of kids to see Kennth Branagh's "Hamlet" at the Barbican in London (4 1/2 hours!), but as far as I could tell, all the kids did well and appreciated the experience.