Broadway Baby!

Okay, so maybe we're still a few years away from attending a show on Broadway, but Mo successfully attended her first musical this past Sunday. Our local high school is performing Suessical and after a discussion with Bry, we decided it would be the perfect test run for Mo. We haven't taken her to any shows or movies yet (no Disney on Ice, or circus) so I wasn't too sure how she would hold up. She is, as I have mentioned almost ad nauesum in love with music, so I really thought this would be heavenly for her.
I was right, eventually.
I decided not to tell Mo about the show ahead of time. Mainly, I didn't want to have to field questions like "What's Seussical mommy?" or "I go to the show, now?". I just told her a few days before that I had a surprise for her on Sunday afternoon. Bry stayed home with Maeve and Mo and I walked to the high school.
As we climbed the stairs, I told her "Surprise, we're seeing a show here!"
She responded, "I no go to school mommy. I too little!"
I guess I needed to explain a little more.
We walked into the lobby and it was mobbed with people. Some in red shirts with the Seussical logo emblazed, others carrying flowers and holding tickets in hand, while others seem to be like me, and coming in empty handed. Apparently, one should have purchased tickets ahead of time, as seats were reserved. OOPS! As I stood in line holding Mo's hand, I couldn't help but think "Crap, we're going to be stuck somewhere where Mo can't see! Maybe this was a bad idea!" No sooner did I think this, did a man wearing one of those Seussical shirts come over to talk me. He asked if I had tickets, which I did not. He then asked if we would have an aversion to sitting front row, stage left? UM, NO! He walked us to the front row to scope out the seats, explaining that we might have a bit of our view blocked by the piano, (which turns out never was a problem!) we then paid for the seats, and then returned to our prime seats.
Before we left for the show, Bry asked me to snap a picture of Mo in her seat to capture this moment. I kind of gave him a hard time about it, but look at her. Not soon after these pictures were taken did the show start, and not soon after that did Mo migrate into my lap. However, this moment before the lights went down, Mo was excited and nervous. She was frightened that the seat would fold close, which I coudlnt' really blame her. Being as small as she in one of those auditorium seats for the first time would be nervewracking for anyone. She skimmed the program too.


I had mentioned earlier in this post that eventually she enjoyed herself.
The first song she watched bug eyed and transfixed on the stage. By song two, she was sobbing and clinging to me for dear life. I don't know if it was the loud music so close by, or the costumes or the song itself, but Mo was a mess. She calmed down a bit until song three started, and again she started crying and clinging.
We were in the front row, so I didn't want to stand up and walk out because our only exit was through the back. I whispered in her ear that it was okay and coaxed her to watch the musicians in the pit for a little while. She watched the pianist and I pointed out the trombone player and the drummer on is drum kit. This calmed her down.
After about an hour, the first act ended as intermission began. As the house lights came on, Mo asked if it was all over. When I said there was still half more, she responded "Ah, no?"
Of course being the awesome mom I am, I decided to bribe her with a toy Cat in the Hat and soft pretzel. Luckily, it worked. We came back to our seats for the second half and this time, Mo sat and watched mesmorized as Horton, JoJo, and the rest of the cast sang and danced their way around the stage.
Overall, it was a success. I was impressed at the amount of talent amongst these high school and some middle school students. If you ask Mo about the show, she is quick to tell you "I cry, just a little bit." She also will tell you that she likes the little girl. The little girl actually played the charcter of Jojo which is a little boy in the play. I tried to explain to MO that the little girl was pretending to be a boy, and she just laughed at me and said, "Mommy, that's silly, mommy!". So if you ask Mo, Jojo's a girl and she's Mo's favorite character.
I had just written a few posts back about "firsts" and how these events become less and less momentous as our children get older. I'm so glad I have that picture of Mo in her seat as she saw her very first musical and I look forward to many other shows in the future with her both on and off the Great White Way!