Bella’s First Time at the Theatres – The Gingerbread Man by iTheatre

Bella attended her first play (The Gingerbread Man by iTheatre) over the weekend with her big brother Jah and us in tow. :p Well it was technically her second exposure to the world of theatre (her first was with her school last month). But we all know how differently kids behave in school and with their parents.

I was extremely apprehensive about taking her with us, given that she is often little Miss Ants-in-her-pants. However I have to say I was alittle surprised at her level of understanding and enthusiasm.

As usual we arrived about 45 minutes ahead of time which gave both Jah and Bella time to settle down and Bella was more than happy to follow her brother around for the ‘mandatory’ photo-taking. Jah was also extremely happy to have his little sister around to ‘show off to’.

Before even purchasing the tickets, Joel and I had agreed that we would divide and conquer. We decided that Joel would take Bella outside when she starts to misbehave/ cry. Note I said when and not if because we didn’t expect her to last the entire show at all!

Yes this is how we divide and conquer

But not only did she last through the entire show, she also looked like she enjoyed herself quite abit. The catchy tunes from the show definitely helped! While she was definitely still Miss Ants-in-her-pants, moving from Joel’s lap to her chair more than 10 times in that 50 mins, she was also quite transfixed by what was happening on-stage and was bobbing along to the music at various points of the show. 🙂

The serious theatre goers

The jolly theatre goers

I probably had the better end of the deal because I was in charge of Mr I’m a Big Boy and I can use my indoor voice (Jah) but I was very glad that he was not thrown off by his sister’s constant fidgeting.

Nah..we are happy theatre goers

I love the fact that the show had so much audience interaction that it was perfectly acceptable and fun to watch Jah and Bella shout out responses to the cast. The audience was a boisterous bunch and the storyline made it fun for them.

The show is targeted at children 3 years and up but given that Bella is just shy of 2 years old and we made it through ‘unscathed’, I’ll say it would work perfectly fine for a 2 year old as well. That being said, while it was all fun to hear kids shouting out responses and the cast being ever so game to entertain and interact, I fully appreciate and thank the ushers for stepping forward to request that crying babies be soothed at the back or outside the theatre.

We are totally looking forward to bringing Bella with us on all future plays! (in fact we already have 3 of those lined up! 🙂 ) At the end of the day, there is no crying that can’t be soothed by quickly stepping out of the theatre (if and when it happens) and the ability to let both siblings spend a day out at the theaters together far outweighs everything else. 🙂

One of our next few adventures 🙂

My theatre boy and theatre girl

Theatre Boy and Theatre Girl’s Mummy

4May2015

A Night of Magic at Raffles – Joe Labero (Media Invite)

Posted in Media Invite, Plays/ Theatre by jahbella

I’m usually a cynic when it comes to magic or perhaps I have watched one too many episodes of shows that reveal the secrets of the trade. So when I was invited to catch Joe Labero’s a Night of Magic at Raffles, I figured well at the very least it would be a decent excuse for a date night (which Joel and I haven’t had in eons!)

On our way to our first date night in eons!

The Jubilee Hall at Raffles Hotel really lent some spookiness and old world to this magic show

The show was approximately one and a half hour long with no interval and the show went back and forth between ‘simple’ tricks to slightly more intriguing ones. Of course to be honest, the cynic in me was always looking out for the loopholes and trying to figure out how the trick was done. (Note here that I said trick and not magic). While I think I figured out the ‘loopholes’ of a couple of the tricks, there was of course also the question of how it was executed so cleanly and swiftly.

Then came the real deal which left the cynic in me dumbfounded and it was at times, literally jaw dropping. I honestly have no answers to how he managed to connect the wedding rings of random members of the audience or for that matter anything that involved audience participation and their own belongings. I understand that with the right props and the right amount of practice, most tricks can be perfected but the ones that involved the audience simply looked like magic! In fact just when you think it’s over and he wasn’t going to be able to pull out a bigger showstopper, he does!

This is truly a show that I’m glad I caught. In fact I expected Joel to be even more cynical than me but he was surprisingly very entertained and impressed. Trust me, he is not easy to impress! :p

For those who may be partial to magic shows like I was, you will at least be entertained and tickled by Joe Labero’s humour, sarcasm and wit. This guy would have had a good career in stand up comedy if he wasn’t an illusionist. 🙂

We even got one of his autographed ‘flying’ cards 🙂

So yes thumbs up for our first live magic show and I would definitely recommend watching it, if and when he returns to Singapore next.

JahBella’s Mummy

Disclosure: We were invited by Joe Labero and Krall Entertainment to the show for a media review. No monetary compensation was received; all opinions are my own.

1Mar2015

iTheatre’s Aesop’s Fables (Media Invite)

Posted in Media Invite, Plays/ Theatre, Reviews by jahbella

Theatre boy (Jah) and I were invited by iTheatre to their latest production Aesop’s Fables at the Raffles Hotel Jubilee Hall and we decided to bring Papa Joel along. Papa Joel usually hates it when I ask him to join me for a play or musical because he just doesn’t have the attention span for it :p But he was more than willing to come for this production because he wanted to witness Jah’s interest in theatre for himself.

This is our second time at an iTheatre production (the first was Hop and Honk) and I have to say that you realize how super passionate they are for theatre and super good at what they do when you see the effort that goes into their programme booklet, stage set and props.

Mandatory Poster pic

Checking out the programme and activities in the booklet 🙂

Thanks for the goodie bag iTheatre!

Programme Booklet

Awesome backdrop

The 50 minutes show (no intervals) revolved around a theatre troupe, the Crowfoot Troupe taking us through 8 fantastic fables. The show was filled with catchy tunes, intelligent humor and great acting! Jah had declared a few times to me that he was scared of some of the characters even though he understood that it was all pretend, just like in his speech and drama classes. He even said “the uncles and aunties act so well!” :p

Wefie!

The show is suitable for theatre goers ages 3 years and up. Although they do say till 13, I’ll have to say “up” because adults like Papa Joel and I enjoyed ourselves immensely too! Papa Joel actually thanked me for bringing him along for the show!

Not only did I enjoy the production elements of the show, I also truly enjoyed the storyline. It was nice to be reminded of the moral of the story behind each Aesop’s Fable. Yes the ones we had learnt as children but somehow had forgotten that they apply to us even in today’s world. It also has given me a lot of ‘material’ to work with for the next couple of months when it comes to introducing Aesop’s Fables to Jah and telling/ reminding him of the moral of each story.

So if you are looking for some good fun for the family and something educational for the little ones then check out iTheatre’s Aesop’s Fables! We can’t wait to catch Gingerbread Man by iTheatre when it premieres in May! 🙂

Next up!

And I leave you with some ‘moral of the story’ that we took away from the show 🙂

“When you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one.”

“Never trust flatterers”

“Don’t let your greed overpower you or you will lose everything”

“Never swop your friends for enemies”

JahBella’s Mummy

4Feb2015

Aesop’s Fables – An upcoming production by iTheatre

Posted in Plays/ Theatre by jahbella

Do you have a favourite fairy tale or fable as a kid? A story so ingrained in your memory that you find yourself repeating them to your kids even without the help of a story book.

I recently realized that Jah really loves hearing the ‘traditional’ stories that we used to hear of as a little kids. The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood and the Frog Prince are just some of his favourites. Amidst all the new cartoon storylines with fancy songs and dance steps, we have seemingly neglected to tell the age old fables teaching good morals and values.

That’s why I am really looking forward to iTheatre’s new production, Aesop’s Fables which will be opening on 26 February 2015. As the name suggest, it is a theatre play showcasing some of Aesop’s famous stories, using marvelous mask, puppetry and live song and dance.

A perfect combination of theatre, fables and music for my theatre boy!

So if you are looking to introduce your child to some of Aesop’s Fables, check out the poster below for details on the show and how to book your tickets. 🙂

Oh and I wonder how Jah will react when he finds out that there is actually a story that revolves around the Gingerbread Man! Coming soon in an iTheatre production in May!

Stay tuned for our review on iTheatre’s Aesop’s Fables! 🙂