kid stuff

Hamilton Obsessed Kids? Other Kid Friendly Musicals

July 20, 2020 by Rachel 28 Comments

When I heard that Hamilton was going to be released on Disney+, I was ecstatic. I’ve been a fan of musicals for a long time, and I was thrilled to be able to share something as awe-inspiring as Hamilton with my kids. The first time I watched Hamilton, I just couldn’t take my eyes away.

By and large, musicals seem to be one of those things. Either you love them, or you hate them. The thing is, Hamilton seemed to break that barrier for a lot of people. Hamilton is funny, it’s edgy, and it uses modern and masterful language in a way that makes people think. I think that’s part of the reason it’s been so prevalent in our culture. If you think about it, Hamilton has caused an entire generation to fall in love with musical theater.

What musicals should your kids watch next?

If you want to build that kind of love of theater with your kids, then Hamilton is, of course, a great place to start. But there are other musicals that can help them build that relationship with musical theater. I’ve put together a list of some of my other kid friendly musicals that are some of my favorites.

Into the Woods

This was one of my earliest introductions to musical theater. The first time I watched Into The Woods, it was a bootleg VHS copy of the Broadway production that my English teacher put in to keep us occupied the week before the holiday break. The dialogue was rich and listening to Bernadette Peters sing made me believe that some people were born with natural gifts. She is amazing. While there has been a major Hollywood movie made of Into the Woods, the Broadway production is available on Amazon Prime’s BroadwayHD. It’s far better than the movie. The cast is exceptional and the production values are incredible. There is some adult humor, but it’s definitely a musical for kids.

The Wiz Live

I was never really a Wizard of Oz girl. My mother liked to watch it every year on TV. If anything, it gave me a healthy phobia of tornados! But The Wiz is a whole different ballgame. I highly suggest the NBC theatrical version that aired in 2015, starring Queen Latifah, Shanice Williams, and Mary J. Blige. The original version, available on Amazon, has a few mistakes, like pyro going off at the wrong time; however, this is a great way to prepare your kids for the realities of going to see a musical in an actual theatre setting!

Annie

Annie was one of the first musicals I ever saw live. When I was really angry at my mom, I would sing “It’s the Hard Knock Life” when I was doing chores. You can guess how that went over! I did love the show, though. While it’s a little dark, it’s another great kid friendly musical.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

This biblically inspired musical has been very popular since I was young. The Donny Osmond version, long considered the standard, is available on Broadway HD. This Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber production is still popular after all this time because the production values are top-notch and the cast is fabulous.

Mary Poppins

Really, who doesn’t love Mary Poppins? I think everyone has a memory of being home sick from school and watching Mary Poppins while sitting on the couch sipping Ginger Ale and eating saltine crackers. Older kids are definitely going to think it’s a little hokey, but it’s perfect for younger kids.

Cats

As with Into the Woods, stick to the theatrical production available on Amazon Prime’s Broadway HD and skip the movie version. Cats was composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber and was based on T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. It’s one of the most popular Broadway productions of all time, with more than 7,000 productions.

The King and I

The King and I is another historical musical. Although the lyrics are not quite as edgy as Hamilton, the story is quite interesting. The musical is drawn from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who worked as a governess (more like a teacher than a nanny) to the children of King Mongkut) of Thailand (which was called Siam at the time). While it’s not as historically accurate as Hamilton, it’s an interesting look at a different time in history.

Newsies The Broadway Musical

This one is based on a movie, which was based on a real-life event that happened in 1899. Newsies is a great musical to watch if you’re studying history, so it’s perfect for distance learning or homeschooling. The stage version on Amazon was filmed in Hollywood, so you may recognize some of the faces, including Christian Bale!

The great thing about Disney+ streaming Hamilton is that this is such a great time to introduce your children to an entirely new genre of entertainment using a style of music and art that is familiar to them! Take advantage of that and use this time to help them develop a love of something that may just last a lifetime!

Tell me — what other kid friendly musicals would you recommend?

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weekend wrap up //

April 14, 2015 by Rachel 2 Comments

Friday //

After a long day at work and a long day at the sitter for Moosh, we wound up at our favorite local indoor play place, Café O’Play, to try and burn off whatever energy he had left.

He had fun, but that quickly turned into a meltdown. So we headed home thinking the dude was just exhausted. And he was. So we put him to bed and Chad and I settled into bed to watch Going Clear on HBO. If you haven’t seen this documentary, go right now and watch it. Totally messed up!

Well Moosh never fell asleep. Like, he really wouldn’t. Three-plus hours of him talking in his crib. Finally at 11 PM, still wide awake and screaming “MOMMY!” from his crib, I ended up bringing that booger into bed with us. He finally fell asleep; we didn’t. That always makes for a fun night.

Saturday //

We slept in for as long as we could. But we had places to be! A couple of months ago I registered us for a visit and tour at the NASA Glenn Research Center. Moosh was ornery, considering he was running on a few hours of sleep. But he was a champ. He sat through a 35-minute “safety” discussion (which was mostly a discussion and powerpoint presentation on the history of aviation).

When we visited the Aero-Acoustic Propulsion Laboratory — also known as the “Dome of Silence;” where they test noise-reduction methods for aviation. Chad was intrigued, Moosh was bored. Luckily the giant dome was sound resistant so everytime he yelled “MY CHOCOLATE MILK!,” which is his go-to crazy-pants, I’m-so-tired, phrase, very few people were interrupted from the tour.

It was definitely a really cool facility. But nearing the two-hour mark really put Moosh at his limit. We planned on grabbing a real sit-down lunch afterward, but we decided to just hit up Earth Fare. We needed to grocery shop anyway so we grabbed lunch first to calm the beast (aka – Moosh), and then did all of our shopping!

I seriously LOVE family grocery shopping. I love that time we spend time together planning meals and planning for our week. By the time we came home, we were well past a time to actually get Moosh to nap; so we all just relaxed for most of the afternoon. But I had a massage scheduled for 8PM. At first I thought “WHY in the WORLD did I schedule this for a time that is way beyond PJs-o’clock?!” but it really was exactly what I needed.

Sunday //

We slept in, thanks in large part for forgetting to bring the baby monitor to our room! Ha! Woopsie! It was a beautiful morning so we headed out to the Towpath Trail to get in a run/family walk! I ran for a few miles and caught back up with Chad and Moosh in the stroller. And I’d like to say that I made the most of the beautiful day, but in truth I cleaned the whole house and napped in bed for about 2 hours while Chad watched baseball. Perfection!

While Chad and Ari went back outside to play, I finished up the dinner that Chad started — taco salad bowls with Chad’s homemade cilantro slaw and avocado! Delicious!

You would think after a long weekend, short on sleep, Ari would be ready for bed at an early hour. But nope! He wanted to take a late-night trip with me to Target for a few odds and ends. Anyone out there deal with a 2-to-3 year sleep regression?? I’ve read a little about it, but I cannot figure out if that’s what this is!

It really was another fabulous weekend. And I couldn’t be happier. <3

Day Out With Thomas // Recap

May 21, 2014 by Rachel 1 Comment

Here’s a moment of mommy-honesty… I am not at all a fan of Thomas the Train. In fact I pretty much despise Thomas.

But whatevs. The Moosh straight up LOVES him some Thomas! So we purchased our $18 per person tickets and anxiously awaited the big day! I honestly could not wait to see his reaction. I knew it would be priceless! He makes this super funny noise when he gets excited.

The first thing he saw was a giant Thomas-shaped balloon… and he made the “gasp”-ing noise. Immediately. I will never forget the excitement he had from the second he realized there was Thomas EVERYTHING.

I knew there would be other things to do in addition to the train ride; but I didn’t realize those things would all be so fun — and FREE! I assumed that the train ticket would be our meal ticket to the rest of the events — totally not the case.

Pre-train ride we got hooked up with a pretty awesome Thomas tattoo.

The decorations on the train (which were minimal at best) were apparently incredible to a 19-month old Thomas fanatic.

He alternated sitting with Mommy + sitting with Daddy. And climbing between seats.

The train ride itself was… a little boring. But also a little stressful. Because trying to keep a 19-month old in a seat (aka – not running through the aisles) for 40 minutes = not that much fun for mom and dad. Everything else was awesome. We couldn’t even get him to look away from the train table for three seconds… seriously.

If Moosh is still into trains at this point next year, we’re definitely going back. HECK – we may go again this weekend just for the fun stuff! 🙂

If you haven’t yet purchased your Day Out With Thomas tickets, use code THRILL14 for $2 per train ticket!

And I vow to never forget the look on his face the first time he ‘met’ Thomas… <3