That was the question I was asking myself as I entered the Palace Theatre surrounded by what at first glance appeared to be dozens of munchkins. It turns out they were just kids, like my niece and nephew – the only reasons I was attending a live performance of the ‘Super Why’ PBS show. Friends had advised against it (“They don’t serve wine at kids’ events, you know”), but I didn’t heed the warnings. “What are they going to be doing?” I asked defiantly, “Changing the kids on the floor?!”
I walked in to the theater to find someone in the corner, changing their kid on the floor.
Another friend had said that I should be prepared to engage and possibly dance with some of the performers. When I said that one look from me would be enough for them to know not to engage, they laughed and said that it wouldn’t dissuade anyone. “Would me screaming the word ‘cunt’ at the top of my lungs work?” Yeah, I thought as much. Fortunately for me, and the kids, it never came to that.
The show itself was impressive enough for Noah and Emi, who stood for most of it, excited to see their favorite characters come to life on stage. They actually behaved as well as anyone else there (and, compared with the screeching, crying thing behind me, often better). There were the minor annoyances that attend all children’s events (they did not take kindly to sharing soda) – and I swear that someone (not my niece or nephew) peed on my leg like a dog, but all in all it was a good time.
(And for those concerned that I was left alone with these kids, my Mom was present to see that things progressed safely and without incident. I never even had to make an emergency martini stop at McGeary’s that formed the back-up plan should the heat from the large number of kids get to be too much.)
