Zoey and Nana go to Cinderella

Thank you Nana and Poppa for treating Zoey to such a wonderful evening! She tells everyone about how much fun she had!

Story written by Nana:

Zoey got a magic ticket on her fourth birthday from her Nana and Poppa. It was a fun but risky plot of ours to give this gift 5 months ahead of time. We kept our fingers crossed that all of us would be healthy during the flu season when the date came for us to see Cinderella at the Children's Theater. Finally, November 29, 2009 arrived. Poppa became the driver of the family coach, and Nana and Zoey, of course, were the Princesses being driven to the theater.

During the drive Zoey made conversation by pointing out the city buildings and lights of Minneapolis. She knew already that it was a big city that we were in, but how, I don't know. It is so amazing to view the world through Zoey! AND I really can't say that enough. That's one of the best things about children and grandchildren -- taking a look at the world anew.

When extracted out of the car seat, quite a feat for Nana and Poppa to deal with, she bravely walked right up to the huge glass doors of the Children's Theater building like she belonged there. She and I climbed some long stairs to behold a wonderland of activity. Little girls were dressed in their best dresses. Some were sporting tiaras. Zoey started waving at all the 4-6 year olds as if they were her closest friends. One little girl even had a Cinderella costume on. Zoey made a beeline over to the costumed cutie to say hi! The little "Cinderella" was shy and taken back to have such a friendly little encounter. Zoey scooted over to see her three times. I finally got Zoey distracted to something else and she told me that the little girl was Cinderella, her friend, and she was going to be in the play. I filled her in that this little "Cinderella" was just a little girl, who, like her, was there to watch the play and that she had worn a costume just for fun and Zoey would see another Cinderella very soon. The real Cinderella would probably be wearing rags to start off with. Zoey accepted this with a little skepticism but soon believed me.

I had Zoey pose in front of the Cinderella Coach for pictures but it was hard to get her to be still. There was so much going on. (The pictures didn't turn out great.) Overhead they announced the start of the play - we had 5 minutes until show time. A strolling choir came up the stairs dressed in Dickens-like attire and they led everyone to the lobby entrance. Zoey headed for the ticket takers by slithering in among the parents and Nanas. I had to hold her back to stay in line to keep her from budding in front. I gave her the ticket that was hers and she, very gown up like, presented it to the lady ticket taker. Zoey has no shyness at all... she was on a mission. We entered the theatre. She didn't realize we had reserved seats so she headed right to the front near the stage. "I want a front row seat! let's go," she said. "Don't worry, (I'm almost running) we have good seats in the third row." I explain as we hurry along.

We found our seats. Great view - seats perfect for Nanas and grandkids. Good support for the back and lots of room for squirmy kids. Zoey could not take her eyes off the whole auditorium and all the great decorations. It was done up extra for Christmas.

The play was out of this world fabulous. I loved every minute and so did Zoey. This was not the Disney version of Cinderella but it had all the wonderful characters including the mice and the birds that help Cinderella. The main characters were the two ugly stepsisters, Pearl and Dorca, played by two guys - one who looked like Chris Farley, as huge as a line backer, and one tall, with bulging muscles. The mean Stepmother ran the show and moved the story along. These characters were the stars of the show. They were so funny and so very pitifully ugly women (although they thought they were gorgeous!). A lot of the humor was not only directed to the kids, who love the slapstick comedy, but to the adults, with little asides that only the adults would get. The scene where they are all getting ready for the ball was outrageously funny -- plucking nose hairs with surgical instruments and shaving under arms and tying up corsets made for all sorts of gross things kids laugh at. Zoey laughed really hard at this and kept up with the story and knew intuitively that the old hag that came to the door later was really the fairy godmother. She said in a whisper to me. "that's the Fairy Godmother, Nana."

The scenes kept changing, there was lots of singing and dancing and the special effects were wonderful. The fairy godmother's wand turned the pumpkin turned into a coach, the mice into footmen all in the blink of an eye and Cinderella was breathtaking when she arrived at the ball. Zoey's sparkling eyes and amazing grin was something I'll never forget when she saw Cinderella come down the staircase at the ball. Zoey would look at me and back to the stage and look at me with the WOW factor that we both understood. The Prince danced with Cinderella and her gown shimmered and the glass slippers shone. The ensemble was decked out in powdered wigs and purple Louie the 16th gowns and finery. We feasted on the spectacle. After all I'm a ballroom gal and I totally understand all that sparkle on the gowns and fine lace and delicate dancing. AND, I think Zoey has some genetic material that indicates we both really love dressing up like that. "Birds of a feather" and all.

There was so much excitement over the whole thing and laughter for us both and wonderment for us both that at the end we were both exhausted from the adrenaline. The family coach came and Poppa got us home. What a fantastic evening. One we both will remember for a long time.