So on the 16th I took Than to see Curious George Live at the Ryan center at URI. It is only a few minutes away and we drive past it all the time, so I saw signs for the show for months. As Than is completely obsessed with Curious George I thought he might really enjoy it. But I went back and forth for weeks about going. I just didn't know if Than was old enough to get much out of it; if it would hold his attention, or if he would be fairly well behaved while we were there. Since it was Curious George and a musical I figured it would hold his attention pretty well and then I realized that since everyone else there were also going to have small children no one was going to get upset or yell at me if Than was squirmy, fussed or wouldn't stay in his seat. So when I realized the tickets were reasonable that decided it.
I chose a 5pm show so that it would be shortly after his nap and he would be well rested. I packed lots of different snacks and treats in my bag and off we went. Being a truly wonderful I wife I did not try to get Ryan to go with us. He does not have the patience for such things and would have been miserable, but more important I thought he would really enjoy the luxery of quiet time at home to himself (something that virtually never happens).
The one major thing I did wrong was that I left our house way sooner than necessary. I wanted plenty of time to get there, find parking, pick up the tickets from will call and find our seats. I seriously overestimated how long that would take largely because there weren't as many people there as I expected so parking was easy and there were no lines. Which meant we had some time to kill. If I ever do something like this again I will wait to the very last minute to get there.
My saving grace was that I bought Than this silly spinny toy that lit up. As the photos clearly show it absolutely delighted Than. We spent time letting him run around and go up and down the stairs to our seats to let him burn off some energy. I used the same plan during intermission and it worked pretty well.
When the show started...the music began and Curious George came on the stage I had one of those perfect moments that made it all worthwhile. At that moment Than (who was sitting on my lap) looked up at me with pure delight, kissed me and went back to being totally captivated with the show.
Basically the show held his attention and Than behaved very well during the faster songs with lots of dancing and activity. During the slow songs where it was basically just two characters standing on stage singing to each other, he and every other little kid there started to squirm and fuss. Several times Than would run up and down the aisle for a few minutes, but since not many people were seated in our row it wasn't a problem. Overall I'd say he had a great time.
The biggest hits for Than was the spinny toy and the helium ballon I got him as we were leaving. He loves ballons! He is still playing with the gradually deflating balloon all the time.
Now while I am very glad I took Than, I will admit that it wasn't as much fun for the adults. I couldn't understand half the words to the new songs (but I doubt I would have gotten that much more out of it if I could). Ryan thought it was pretty funny because I think upon our return I announced a phrase he had never heard me utter..."I need a drink, now." So a cocktail or two later I was able to see the whole Curious George Live experience in a very positive light.
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