Zoey's Mulan Adventure

Here is Nana's account of the evening. Thank you so much for taking Zoey on these excursions. She is so appreciative of them and she talks about them all the time!

Going to Children's Theatre is now a yearly tradition for Zoey and I. In our second adventure, I drove my own car and Zoey was able to use her new big-kid-car-seat that she was easily fastened into. (We decided more outings would be great since the car seat was so versatile.)

The bouncing bundle of excitement was waiting in the driveway. She was smiling so big and clapping her hands - a really fired up five year old. I got her strapped in, we waved goodbye and I felt so bad that Zander wasn't coming with. When he is four he will have special trips to the Children's Theatre, too.

Zoey, the conversationalist extraordinaire, kept talking non-stop the whole way to the theatre. I learned the boy next door wanted to marry her... but, that wasn't a big deal to her, just a passing fact in her everyday life. I asked how was daycare and she said it was good and told me all about her friends in and out of daycare.

She recognized the Children's Theatre when we arrived. We parked the car one block away. She had on a really cute outfit that she got for her birthday ala Auntie Tammy and Uncle Eric and she had on sparkly flip flops. The flip flops kept flipping off when she walked but we managed to get in and up the flight of stairs. Such a fashionista!

She used her magic ticket along with her "real" ticket to enter. The teenager taking the tickets ruined the moment by saying, "I don't want this..." handing the magic ticket back. But, the more mature gentleman taking tickets wanted to take a look and said he really liked Zoey's magic ticket - a slight save...

As we found our seats Zoey was much more the theatre goer. She stayed close to me and didn't run too far ahead. We had third row seats and a great view.

The show started with silver and white clad, 15 foot tall, Chinese ancestors setting the storyline. Everyone ooohed and ahhhed. There was singing and dancing and tai chi moves and humor and an exciting sword fight. There was slapstick and more dancing and funny jokes from the "red dragon" (actor who was one of the ugly stepsisters last time we went). He was marvelous and so was the actor playing Mulan. Zoey laughed and stayed glued watching everything. Her five year old laugh is loud and super expressive so everyone in the theatre could hear. People sitting around us loved her reactions and commented to me that she was so cute.

During the sword fight she got scared a little and I whispered to her that is was just acting and no one would get hurt. She nodded OK and watched with her hands ready to cover her eyes. Then the red dragon came out and blew out paper fire into the audience to stop the fight. It was great. Everyone screamed and applauded.

I think Zoey single-handed kept the audience willing to be involved. The place was only about 2/3 full and I'm sure the actors were disappointed in the turnout. One guy said he had tickets for the night before but the show was canceled. (Probably due to low ticket sales.) They swapped his tickets for whenever he wanted to come back. Two other shows later in the year have also been canceled due to budget cuts. But, with Zoey so lively and into the show the actors get infused with adrenalin and do a good job. It makes their job worthwhile. They should hire her as a plant to get everyone engaged and comfortable.

Zoey was falling asleep on the way home. She was a joy to take out and I look forward to another Nana and Zoey evening at the theatre.

p.s. Mulan is the story of a girl who finds success in being herself. She bravely breaks the tradition of girls being less worthy than boys. By using her brain she was able to show everyone that it is what is inside that counts. Zoey is definitely that type of girl.