Admit it, motherhood can be tedious and boring sometimes. Playing Chutes and Ladder for the hours on end; building the same Lego houses over and over again and heating up the same three ingredients for dinner… You get the picture.
But every once in awhile something inspires me to want to put forth more creative effort and do something with my kids that just gets us both super excited. Seeing Ring A Ding Ding at the New Victory Theater was that little boost I needed in my life at this moment.
Oily Cart, a British company, created the Ring A Ding Ding production. According to it’s writers and directors, Oily Cart has been looking for ways to make 360-degree theater: performances in which young audiences are inside a new and magical world alongside the cast, experiencing the textures, fragrances and wonderful visuals and live music within, helping to make the adventure come to life.
In my opinion the company succeeded. My children now want me to help them make their own puppets, so that they can put on their own shows.
The performance began with the cast interacting with the kids to create funny hats in the foyer area. A drummer came out to perform a soft melody building the kids’ interest in the starting of the show. Then the cast showed the kids pictures and introduced all the main characters they would be meeting in the show.
As the kids enter the theater space they are encouraged to walk through a maze of hula hoops leading to circular staging area surrounded by children’s benches and a circle of chairs for the grown ups. The kids get up close and personal as they touch, feel and interact with the puppets and cast throughout the performance.
The hour-long performance followed the main character, Alice, as she searches for her lost puppy, meets characters and discovers new lands along the way.
My four year old son closely followed the storyline and liked how each puppet had a human counterpart that takes over parts of the adventure. The jump from miniature story to life size and back maintained his attention. The vaudevillian comedic elements, such as big expressions and falling down, got some of his biggest laughs.
I highly recommend this performance for kids ages 3-5. Tickets cost $20 and the production runs October 17 through November 11 at the New 42nd Street Studios.
Showtimes are Thursdays at 10:30 am, Fri at 10:30 am and 2:30 pm, and Sat or Sun 10:30 am, 12:30 pm and 2:30 pm. Tickets can be purchased online www.newvictory.org or (646) 223-3010.
New Victory is offering our readers a 20% off discount code to their upcoming production of MOJO: MDMojo3412.
That’s IT Mommy, Jill
* We did not receive monetary compensation for this review. Jill attended a performance of Ring a Ding Ding from MamaDrama and the New Victory Theater free of charge to facilitate this review. This will in no way sway our opinion of the product or service. The review is in our own words and is our opinion. Your results and opinions may differ.
2 comments
Hi Jill,
It was great to meet you – I’m glad you and your kids had a good time! Thank you for saying hello after the show and for this wonderful entry!
I love that the kids want to make their own puppets and create a show – perhaps that’s a future blog post!