We enjoyed a fabulous mother/son date this past Saturday as I took William to his first musical, Peter Pan. I had not seen Peter Pan on stage (well other than a high school production), so was very excited as well since this is my favorite all time story.
I even decorated William's nursery in Peter Pan and now his big boy room still has several Peter Pan framed pieces and a pirate feel. He really loves the story now too and the new Jake and the Neverland Pirates show on Disney Jr. has furthered that love. He really adores Captain Hook and Smee, as featured in Jake.
I splurged and got us front row seats. There weren't really many great seats left as I bought them the night before. I really actually wanted further back to get a better view, as too close can be bad. But we ended up with front row on the end of the center section so we could escape for a potty break if necessary.
William does not sit well through movies. The only one he sat quietly through was the Pooh movie last year or year before. Otherwise, about 30 minutes in, he is asking me when it is going to be over and ends up in my lap. He just gets tired of sitting there and wants to leave or talk.
I wasn't sure how we would fare. He knew he was supposed to be quiet. It turned out not to be an issue at all. He was an angel. We arrived a little early and he wanted to wear his Peter Pan costume from last Halloween. He was already getting comments and oohs and ahhs the minute we walked in.
We picked up our tickets and they told us to head back to the Kids area. Before the show, they had an area roped off with Disney radio there, coloring pages, ice cream to eat etc. Three of the actors from the show were also signing autographs. So we got in line for that and had Michael and John, plus John's understudy sign for us. The Fair Park Music Hall wanted to get pictures of William in his costume next to a few tinkerbells also in costume.
We went and rented our little booster seat for him and found our amazing seats. William enjoyed checking out the orchestra too, right in front of us (and below). Finally the show started and I don't think his eyes ever left the stage. He was completely immersed.
He loves singing songs and they do a lot of singing at his school to remember the days of the week, solar system, how to spell certain words etc. He just totally loves it. So I think the whole musical aspect was something he connected to. He absolutely loved it. We had such a great time and the show itself was amazing. Cathy Rigby did a fabulous job as Peter Pan. She's still got it after all these years. She actually has grandchildren now and is still flipping and flying in Peter Pan.
At the end, we took our time and waited for the crowds to clear out first. As we were exiting, we saw the line for Cathy Rigby's autograph. William immediately wanted to get in line. He saw how long it was, but didn't care. We took a little shortcut by buying a poster which got you into a shorter line. The longer line was for those having her sign their playbill or something else. William got his signed poster and we were on our way. He asked to go see another show again sometime.
It was a really special mommy/son date and we will remember it forever. Now to find him some other shows to see!