Category: Theatre

Halloween 2014 – by Aimee

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My amazing friend Aimee always puts together a wonderful list of Halloween activities every year. I asked her if she would mind if I borrowed her expertise for a “guest blog post” and she has supplied a great and comprehensive list! Here are Aimee’s Halloween Adventures:

Red Butte Garden – Garden After Dark, Once Upon a Fairytale
Oct 16, 17, 18 & 23, 24, 25; 6-9pm 
The Garden has been overrun with your favorite fairytales! From wicked brambles to magic pumpkins, plants are surprisingly prevalent in these famous tales. Enjoy an enchanted evening exploring these connections and hunting for signs of fairytale villains hidden throughout the Garden.
With crafts, activities, light displays and more, this is an event you definitely don’t want to miss! This is an indoor/outdoor, costume, and kid-friendly experience in the Garden to celebrate Halloween.
 
Gardner Village – Witchfest
Now – Oct 31
Lots of events: Witches Brew Ha Ha 5K run/walk; Breakfast with a Witch; Wee Witches Playground. The village is decorated up for the season, and there’s a fun scavenger hunt that will get you peeking around every corner to find the hidden witches.  
 
Sugarhouse Park – Ginormous Pumpkin Regatta
Oct 18; Carving Noon – 1pm, Race: 1pm – 3pm
The 4th Annual Mountain Valley Seed Co. Ginormous Pumpkin Regatta will take place Saturday October 18th from 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm at Sugarhouse Park. Pumpkin carving from 12:00 to 1:00 and race from 1:00 to 3:00. Come watch these heroic growers race their 1,000 lb. plus pumpkins for love, honor and bragging rights.
Cinderella in her Giant Pumpkin carriage


CLAS Ropes Course in Provo – Halloween River Cruise
Oct 1-31; 6:30 until 9:00pm on weekdays, and 10pm on Fri and Sat
A fun 20-minute boat ride along the decorated stretch of Provo River. Not too scary, but pretty and fun to be outdoors during a beautiful fall season. Be sure to print a coupon from the website. 
 
Utah Symphony – Halloween Hi-Jinx
Oct 28; 7 pm
A HUGE costume contest and the best-quality spooky classical music – you can’t go wrong! Tickets start at $8 and little kids three years old and younger can sit on a lap. Check out the program line up, and borrow some of the music from your library or buy it for your iPod and you’ll be a musical expert.
 
Hogle Zoo – Boo at the Zoo
Oct 25; 9am-3pm
Every October, the Zoo puts out a casting call for all princesses, cowboys, superheroes and wild things! Kids 12 and under can come in costume to trick-or-treat at booths set up throughout the zoo grounds. There will be lots of candy and lots to see and do.  Trick-or-Treating activity is free with regular Zoo admission or membership.
 
Wheeler Historic Farm – Pumpkin Days and Haybale Maze
Sept 26-Oct 31; 11am until 8pm weekdays and 9 pm weekends; 10am-3pm Sundays
Hay maze, wagon ride, and a pumpkin to take home. The farm is also hosting a doggie Halloween costume contest and a festival of scarecrows.
 
Thanksgiving Point – Halloween Central “A Nod to Oz”
Oct 3 – Nov 1
Cornbelly’s Corn Maze and Emerald City at Farm Country include lots of fun kids’ stuff. You can add on the Insanity Point haunted attractions if you’re really brave.
 
Heber Valley Railroad – Pumpkin Festival
Lots of outings from Oct 9 – Oct 30
You and your kids will enjoy the annual Pumpkin Festival trains. Your ticket includes a short 40 minute train ride where you will be entertained on board by costumed entertainers! You’ll also get to sample a pumpkin cookie.  At the depot you can take a trip through the fairly spooky haunted car, and then get a Halloween sticker or temporary tattoo.  And of course you also get to select a pumpkin from the Pumpkin Patch and take it home with you! Additional food and snacks will be available for purchase at the depot and in the concession car.
 
Tracy Aviary – Halloween Hoot
In previous years, a few days during October offered discounted tickets for costumed kids. Nothing scheduled yet, but keep checking with them.
 
Retirement / Assisted Living Home Costume Parade

We love to dress up in our costumes, make some fudge, and hand it out to people living at “old folks’ homes.” Call a facility in your neighborhood and ask if you can schedule a little visit. We like to go during social hour when the residents usually gather in the dining room or lounge. We stay for about 30 minutes and hand out our treats, discuss all things Halloween, and make some new friends.

Music for Kids

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Happy Theo at the Utah Symphony

We went to the “Magic of Harry Potter” concert this week and had a great time. There was certainly magic in the air as Theo was able to sit through nearly 2 hours of classical music past his bedtime. It was a sold-out show, and I got a kick out of seeing so many kids (mostly older kids) there, some wearing their Gryffindor scarves and holding their wands. Hopefully they had a good time too, and will consider going to the Symphony again in the future!

“What’s the next song, mommy?”
One of my favorite parts of the evening was watching Theo subconsciously/inadvertently moving his hands around to the rhythm of the music. In his music class at school, they have been learning about tempo and I could tell he was internalizing the concepts. At one point the trombone had a big solo and he moved his arms back and forth mimicking the musician playing the instrument.
I love this book that helps kids (and adults!) better understand classical music and the different parts of the orchestra. We checked it out of the library on a whim when we were going on a long car trip and enjoyed reading and following along with the accompanying CD which was a great audio aid. It introduces readers/listeners to general musical concepts, composers, genres, and each of the different families of instruments.
Now that you’re in the mood to demonstrate your knowledge of classical music and see it live in action, the next concert in the Lollipops family concert series is called Tyrannosaurus Sue: A Cretaceous Concerto and will feature two works, one of which is the titular piece:
The other piece that will be performed is based on the book “The Story of Babar,” in an orchestral piece composed by Francis Poulenc, L’ Histoire de Babar.
My friend Aimee has done a lot of the prep work in finding books and albums from the library or iTunes to help her children get ready for the concert, and I love that kind of effort to help kids better understand the performances beforehand. I think it will make a big difference in their overall enjoyment of the experience!
Since I’m on the topic of music for kids, I also wanted to share a couple of our favorite non-classical book/music albums. Theo has the great fortune of being a child of parents who spent their adolescence during the 1990s. (If you know the song “Stay” by Lisa Loeb and can sing it in its entirety from memory, you too may be a child of the ’90s.) Luckily, Lisa Loeb grew up and had kids too and wanted to write music for them! This is our favorite one of them all which features original music as well as old-timey classics:
The songs are short, catchy, and clever enough for parents to enjoy (sample lyric to The Disappointing Pancake, about a wandering pancake’s misadventures, including to a baseball game: “The crowd yelled, ‘Batter, batter!’ He felt right at home…”). A bonus is that Steve Martin (yes, THAT Steve Martin) also plays the banjo on the songs which I just love b/c I am in love with Steve Martin and everything he does.
The other album that we really enjoyed when Theo was younger was this one based off of the books by Sandra Boynton:

My friend Maggie introduced us to this, luring me with the promise of hearing celebrities singing (Kevin Bacon and Meryl Streep, among others). The lyrics are taken right from the pages of Boynton’s books and are also short, catchy and cute, but not so cute that you want to claw your ears off.

There is tons of music geared towards kids, with varying degrees of annoyingness (see: “What Does the Fox Say?”) but when you can find something that you can both enjoy, it’s a huge win. Of course, introducing kids to “regular” non-kid music is also important, and I’m grateful for my husband for giving Theo a thorough education in The Beatles, among other bands. There’s nothing better than sharing things with your children and having them form an appreciation of something you love.

Holiday Craziness Begins…

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Reprinted in the blog with permission by the author (me) from an email that was distributed today:

Hello!

If you haven’t received an email like this from me before, I like to put together a list of fun holiday events for kids every year. It may seem too early to think about the holidays already but there are a lot of fun opportunities that I thought everyone would like to know about in advance. Events are listed chronologically and I have noted which events we will be attending if you want to join us. Please feel free to forward this on and let me know if there is something you recommend that’s not on this list!
Happy (almost) Holidays…!
Christina

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Molly Mouse’s Sugar Plum Debut (ballet)
Date/Time: Friday & Saturday, November 29 & 30; 1:00pm and 6:00pm
Location: Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center (138 West Broadway)
Cost: $15
Sponsor: Children’s Ballet Theatre
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The Cat in the Hat (play)
Date/Time: December 6-28; various dates/times
Location: 168 West 500 North
Cost: Adults $26, Kids $16
Sponsor: Salt Lake Acting Company
* We will be attending the 12/28, 12pm show.
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Traditional Nutcracker (ballet)
Date/Time: December 6-28; various dates/times; Sugar Plum Parties ($7.50) after 2pm matinees
Location: Capitol Theatre (50 West 200 South)
Cost: $29-$79
Sponsor: Ballet West
* I’m going to wait another year to take Theo to the “real” Nutcracker. We will be going to Nutty Nutcracker (see below) this year instead.

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Babes in Toyland (play)
Date/Time: December 6-24; various dates/times
Location: 3605 South State Street
Cost: $14
Sponsor: Utah Children’s Theatre
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The Night Before Christmas (ballet) Date/Time: Thursday & Friday, December 5 & 6; 7:00pm Location: Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center (138 West Broadway) Cost: $12

Sponsor: Salt Lake Dance Center & Ballet Jeunesse
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Arthur Christmas (movie)
Date/Time: Saturday, December 7; 11:00am
Location: SLC Main Library Auditorium
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Utah Film Center
* We are planning to go.












A Snow White Christmas (play)

Date/Time: Friday, December 13; 7:00pm (other dates: December 14-29)
Location: Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center (138 West Broadway)
Cost: Holiday Special, 5 tickets for $100 on this night only ($34-$54 otherwise)
Sponsor: Lythgoe Family Musicals
* 100% of proceeds towards this particular show benefit Primary Children’s Hospital. The special package is also only available for this night. This show will also run on other dates (http://www.arttix.org/tickets/production.aspx?performanceNumber=11044) but we are planning to go on this night.

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Here Comes Santa Claus! (concert)
Date/Time: Saturday, December 14; 11:00am and 12:30pm
Location: Abravanel Hall (123 West South Temple)
Cost: $6-$18
Sponsor: Utah Symphony
* We have tickets to the 11:00am show.

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Hatch Music & Magic Show
Date/Time: Saturday, December 14; 11:00am
Location: Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center (138 West Broadway)
Cost: $5
Sponsor: Repertory Dance Theatre, Ring Around the Rose series
* We can’t go as it conflicts with the early Utah Symphony show (above), but we went last year and it was really good.
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 Winter Solstice (crafts/activities)

Date/Time: Saturday, December 21; 10:00am – 1:00pm
Location: Children’s Garden, Red Butte Gardens
Cost: Free for Members;

Non-Members: Adults (ages 18-64): $10 Seniors (ages 65+): $8 Military w/ID: $8 Children (ages 3-17): $6

Children (under 3): Free U of U Faculty/Staff: $8

Sponsor: Red Butte Gardens
* We are planning to go.

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Third Saturdays at UMFA (crafts)

Date/Time: Saturday, December 21; 1:00pm – 4:00pm
Location: UMFA (410 Campus Center Drive)
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Utah Museum of Fine Arts
* This isn’t really a holiday event, but I wanted to put in a plug for the UMFA. It is our new favorite place!

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Community Christmas Concert (concert)
Date/Time: Sunday, December 22; Time TBA
Location: TBA
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Salt Lake Children’s Choir
* Hard to plan when we don’t know the time or place, but if it works out, we’ll go. I used to sing in this choir.

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Pupcracker – A Canine Nutcracker (play)
Date/Time: Thurs-Sunday, December 26-29; 2:30pm and 7:30pm
Location: Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center (138 West Broadway)
Cost: $18-$24
Sponsor: Intermountain Therapy Animals
URL: http://www.arttix.org/tickets/production.aspx?performanceNumber=11671

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Nutty Nutcracker (ballet)
Date/Time: Monday, December 30; 7:00pm
Location: Capitol Theatre (50 West 200 South)
Cost: $29-$79
Sponsor: Ballet West
* We have tickets to this show.

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Disney’s Pixar (concert)
Date/Time: Friday & Saturday, January 3 & 4, 2014; 7:00pm
Location: Abravanel Hall (123 West South Temple)
Cost: $18-$85
Sponsor: Utah Symphony
* We have tickets to the Friday 1/3 show.

Taking Kids to Live Performances

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Theo, age 3, at the Utah Symphony

I was so thrilled when my friend D’Arcy approached me asking for a quote from a mother of a young child about taking kids to live theatre. No surprise, I had plenty to say on the subject:

Christina Billings, mother to 4-year-old Theo said, “My husband and I have been taking Theo to live performances since he was 2. He has been to the symphony twice, SLAC once, The Children’s Theatre once, and a few of the Rose Wagner Ring Around the Rose children’s shows. I think it is key to find age appropriate shows, but people should not be afraid to bring their kids and expose them to “fancy” settings. I think this early exposure is crucial to him developing a lifelong love for the performing arts.”


I really believe this. I think normalizing situations for kids (taking them to restaurants, taking them to the theatre) reinforces that there are different ways to behave in different settings. What is theatre etiquette? What are table manners in a public setting? Exposing kids to these kinds of environments gives them the opportunity to learn.

Plus, the magic of live performance just can’t be replicated. The energy and passion of the artists are sensed in ways that you can never achieve from watching a show on TV or movie theater. So, go out there. Don’t be afraid. Your kids and you will both benefit.