Theatre 2016: Review Thirty-Three

My Great Orchestral Adventure, Royal Albert Hall, London. October 2016.

Being an auntie is great, not only do I get to spoil my nephew rotten I also get to try loads of new theatre experiences with him. We've seen traditional children's theatre, Disney musicals and also watched Pixar films accompanied by a live orchestra but this was different again as it was almost just a classical concert.

The idea for this concert was very simple - Tim the conductor has lost his 'magic' baton and so can no longer conduct the orchestra. His brother Tom, with the help of the audience is going to go on a journey to find it and restore order to the instruments.

Well known classical pieces were played as we looked for the baton in the Hall of the Mountain King, in outer space and also on our way to Neverland.  We also fought with Valkyries and Sirens and danced with swans as well as taking a detour to go on a Bear Hunt.

I thought this was a really good event, of course being aimed at a younger crowd the audience was fidgety but the story was clearly told and the music brilliant.  It was also a great exercise in imagination and concentration and once my nephew got the idea that it was all imagination I think he loved it too. Our favourite pieces were the Neverland Suite and We're Going on a Bear Hunt - singing and dancing in the Albert Hall was fun and my nephew sang the whole of the Bear Hunt on the way back to the tube!

I think that we'll wait until he is a bit older before we try another classical music concert but I will look out for other new experiences to try - perhaps an introduction to more traditional ballet (after all we have all loved the Snowman) or even a first trip the Globe...