This year my husband and I took our children to see “The Nutcracker” for the first time. The children were familiar with Tchaikovsky, having listened to his music since they were infants. The dancing, twirling ballerinas were mesmerizing for the children to watch.
When we arrived at the theater, we walked far up the balcony and off to the side. That’s what I get for booking the tickets two days before the show. On the website, you could check a box that said you were willing to have an obstructed view. Ummmm… really? Right, that’s what I want when I go to the theater, to have an obstructed view. Why do they even make seats with an obstructed view?? Before sitting down in the theater, I tried to see where the seats with the “obstructed view” were, and my husband said that you had to look through plexiglass at the show.
Even though I hadn’t checked the box “Obstructed view,” unfortunately I had checked the box “Find best price,” which translated means “the worst seats where you will definitely need binoculars.” That is where we found ourselves. Yes, the mice that were dancing around on stage looked like monsters from where I was sitting. Maybe my eyes are going bad…
My musical son had such a beautiful expression on his face as he watched the show. A lovely, tranquil smile could be seen through the glow of the theatrical lights. I could have sat there staring at my son’s expression the whole night.
When the Nutcracker danced with the girl, it was lovely. I prefer dancing between a man and a woman rather than lots of women in stiff tutus. I leaned over to my husband and said, “You probably just see this whole thing as girls dancing around in tutus.” “Pretty much,” he said, laughing.
Later on in the show, I saw my husband laughing to himself, and I said, “What?” He answered, “I always think of pink hippos dancing whenever I hear this song.” “What, from ‘Fantasia?’” “Yeah.”
If you are going to take your kids to the symphony, this is a great way to do it. During most symphony performances, all you have to look at is the musicians. This has the musicians and twirling dancers, with some of the most famous music in the world. I highly recommend going. But book the seats far ahead of time, and bring binoculars just in case…
