So…what I learned from Willy Wonka is to “be positive and write in purple!” Recently, I took my boys for an unknown adventure and bought tickets for a morning show of Willy Wonka at the local theater. For a video game playing, scientifically oriented teen-ager, nothing is more excrutiating than waking up early over the summer to go see a play. But new experiences can be fun and despite my older son complaining a bit, he concedes. My little one is quite excited and I love that enthusiasm in him as it makes everything more exciting for the rest of us.
We arrive at the theater a bit early and it is a dilapidated old building in a not so modern part of town. The boys upon seeing it, immediately want to leave. They are used to the Houston Symphony and its grand elegance and sweeping roof lines, carpeted floors, and beautifully dressed patrons. Instead, this is just a small local theater. I remind the boys that is not best to “judge a book by its cover,” that we are here, I had already bought the tickets online, and so we are going to make the best of it.
When we finally go in, the receptionist warmly greets us, “Please have a seat,” she says, pointing to a bench. Waiting there tightly squeezed next to each other, we are the only people in the ante-room; the theater is visible but closed off by worn, dark draped curtains. Again, I am confused because I saw online that so many of the seats were taken, how could we three be the only ones in the waiting room? Looking around, we see many pictures of the productions and all of the stars look quite young.
Finally, just a few minutes before show time, a young girl, dressed very casually, takes us to our seats towards the center aisle, in the 2nd row. My little one selects the aisle seat, I sit in the middle, and my older son next to me on the other side. The theater is dark but it is extremely easy to find our seats because we are the only ones in the theater! I look for our hostess’ puzzled expression but do not see one. She is not at all perturbed that just a few minutes before the show is supposed to start, there are only three people in the audience.
Just then a swish of hands comes silently and abruptly closes the main curtains of the stage without being seen. Clearly a show is going to start! I am suddenly feeling bad for the artists, thinking, wow…who would want to do a show for just three people? As I see the boys look around the empty theater, I say, “You see, this experience is so unique, I wanted it to be perfect and rented out the whole theater for us.” The boys laugh half-heartedly, their uneasiness still apparent.
Just moments later, a woman with her two daughters, roughly the same age as my two boys comes and sits down in front of the us. Finally, someone else to watch the show . Things are looking up. Then, a cackle of laughter from the back and a long line of little kids emerges, obviously from a daycare group, their 5 and 6 yr old excited selves at the thought of coming into a darkened theater. They take all of the remaining seats with their myriad of chaperones so that within two minutes, the theater is full.
I relax into my seat and allow myself to be entertained now. The production begins with Willy Wonka, a young man who is a mix of Johnny Depp’s charm and Rob Lowe’s good looks, being center stage. Slowly the other characters appear too, one by one, raconting their story and singing their song. Charlie, one of the main characters in the story is a young boy who has a beautiful singing voice and plays his role so sweetly that we all forget our humble surroundings.
Being in a tiny theater, and in the aisle seat second row, my younger son is most amused with the characters as they fall down around him or do the dance routines right next to him. He is in the middle of the fun! The show’s many characters are all children except a few adults in the appropriate roles; Charlie’s grandfather is particularly entertaining. But the young kids too are wonderful to watch and you cannot help but smile at their boldness to come and act on stage with full force while being so young. I am certainly no critic but I was just glad to be there with my boys watching them watch the show.
Every now and then I look over at my younger son, who was rapt with attention, his expression frozen and focused in the play. Even my older son, once resistant, is captivated by the actors. Such a small theater makes you feel like you know the characters more intimately and it does make the production more enjoyable. When it ended, I thought for sure that my little boy would want to meet the actors who waited patiently on the stage allowing the daycare kids to come and greet them. But alas, no, that was asking my kids for too much. They came, they saw, they conquered. They didnt need to make friends too; that was above and beyond the plan. But it’s the experience I know they wont forget….and I am so glad to have taken them. If you havent had the opportunity to go to a small local theater, I highly recommend it! It might just turn out to surprise you……