shows that are fun and appropriate for children and educational

[bwaylover86]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 9:31pm

Hey everyone-
Sorry I know questions like these are annoying but I am studying to become a teacher for grades k-6 (ages 5-12) at NYU and one of my assignments is to see a show that would be appropriate to take a class to and to write a review for it and explain how it can also be used educationally, meaning why it would be worthwhile for the school to pay for me to take a class to this show besides it being fun.

I have to see the show before November 15th and the only possibilities I can think of are Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and Tarzan (which i wanted to see anyway ). The show can be at any type of venue, so I am wondering if there are any appropriate off broadway shows or anything else in the ny, nj area that I could see.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Updated On: 10/9/06 at 09:31 PM

[greeneyed_one]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 9:37pm

Lion King would be good because you can show kids how it is possible to be very creative/think outside of the box, especially on stage. Spelling Bee would also be good- it's got a nice message of acceptance and growing up. If you wanted to go for the whole "moral" thing you could also include Wicked and Hairspray.

[Anakela]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 9:37pm

Maybe something at Theatreworks or Manhattan Children's Theatre? Tie it in to seeing a show based on a book, as some type of reward at the end of a lesson where the children have read said book?
Updated On: 10/9/06 at 09:37 PM

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 9:39pm

I'd go with a Disney show, just because the kids will probably know the plot and be able to understand a bit more.

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 9:39pm

Drowsy can teach children about 1920s culture.
Phantom can be done with older kids in conjunction with reading the book.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 9:41pm

One theatre you should definitely consider is the New Victory on 42nd Street which is dedicated to producing shows for children. The couple of shows I've seen there have been well-produced and quite entertaining -- for both kids and adults. They are also inexpensive (usually costing about $25 -40, and even less for groups), are used to accomodating school groups, have workshops and might even have supplemental educational material to distribute to the kids.

There's a puppet musical called "Little Donkey" from the Netherlands that's starting there in a couple of weeks, and in early November have a stage adaption of Toni Morrison's novel "The Bluest Eye" from Chicago's Steppenwolf Company (that received very good reviews there as I recall).

Here's the link:

http://www.newvictory.org/

Good luck!

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 9:41pm

id say either LION KING or BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
good shows for children, with good lessons, and such
WICKED could also work...
good luck!

[bwaylover86]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 9:55pm

thanks so much!
I did find the Little Donkey and was thinking of it so I'm glad to have some background info on the theater being aimed towards children.

I have seen Wicked, and actually someone in my class was seeing it one week of our class and the prof mentioned it may not be appropriate for even 12 year olds in an educational setting but is do-able if we had to, but I would rather do something else.

I am seeing Hairspray November 5th actually since my sister and I won the recent auction, but I have not seen it yet and do not know much about it, is that appropriate for 12 year old or younger kids educationally?
Same with Spelling Bee- I have not seen it yet and wanted to, but I am not sure if it is right for this or not...

[JustABroadwaybaby2]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 10:02pm

Um, well..spelling bee is..erm...inappropriate, to say the least, or you could just cover all of the children's ears during one particular scene/song. If you want kids to know what an erection is, sure, take them to Spelling Bee!
:)
Wicked is appropriate most of the time, good luck getting tickets though.

[emo_geek]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 10:02pm

Spelling be wouldn't work.

[Anakela]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 10:12pm

that's such an age range- does it have to be something that you would take all those grades, from the 5 year olds through the 12 year olds, to? Or can you just plan something for one age/ one grade?

I would take a 12 year old to Bee (although I mean a 12 year old in the context of a 12 year old that I know/am related to, I don't know enough about the rules for taking kids in a school setting- would you have to give the parents a copy of the lyrics to MUE and get them to sign off on it, etc.?), but I would not take a 5 year old to Bee.

[broadwayjavajunkie]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 10:56pm

Oedipus for Kids. No, I jest. I know that's not on Broadway!

Beauty is good. It teaches not to judge people. Or something like that. It's been a while for me, but I've found that all Disney movies have a message. Sometimes you just have to dig a little deeper for them.

[bwaylover86]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 11:31pm

I have to pick one age group it just has to be only for any age five through twelve, and 12 is pushing it- really should be like 11... so grades k-6...I have to plan a lesson taking one of those grades to the show, so not all of these ages just one.

This doesn't have to be broadway, or even off broadway so any suggestions would be great!
thanks so much for all the help so far!

[COOOOLkid]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 11:39pm

I'm sure kids would like to watch something that's more known. I'd go with The Lion King or The Beauty and the Beast.

[NJRae]

Posted: 10/10/06 at 12:27am

Hey, this is bwaylover86's sister . . . thanks for all the suggestions! We actually picked a show based on which one we could get the best seats for out of Lion King, Tarzan and Mary Poppins (we forgot about that one!). My sister was pushing for MP while I have been dying to see Tarzan. I win We found seats almost dead center in the first row of the front mezz for this Friday :) Since we haven't seen that yet and have been wanting to it is not like we're dragging ourselves to something we weren't looking forward to anyway . . . and if she ends up leaving the show feeling like she "can't" write her lesson plan based on this show we have plenty of time to see another. So keep the suggestions coming . . . we may just be "forced" to see more than one, lol.