Kid-friendly theater abounds this holiday season in area

Yes, we all love Harry Potter, but really, isn’t it a little much? Eight movies, seven books, and 3,407 pages? We’re not even going to try to calculate the number of words.

What if you could do the whole thing in about 70 minutes?

Yep, “all seven books in 70 minutes,” promises British actor Amanda Gann, one of three actors taking turns in “Potted Potter: The Unauthorized Harry Experience – A Parody by Dan and Jeff,” a two-actor, ticket-selling smash from London soon to arrive at the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Live Arts.

“You can come in and not know anything at all about Harry Potter, but definitely the show is for people who love, love Harry Potter,” she said.

The show, which runs Dec. 26 through Jan. 5, “takes the stories, spins them on their head, and maybe portrays some of the characters not so accurately.

“There’s definitely a frantic element,” she said.

Part of that frantic element – otherwise known as children – may be in the audience, as this is the season when families take their kids to the theater.

The offerings are rich. There’s the usual smattering of the Charles Dickens’ classic “A Christmas Carol,” a “Cinderella,” an “Elf,” a “Peter Pan” and a “Peter Panto” version, plus a dazzling return of Cirque du Soleil in “Twas the Night Before.” We’ve listed many of the shows below.

Do puppets count? Even if the plot is more grownup, fantastic, larger-than-life puppets in “Kea and the Ark” tell the story of Kea Tawana, an artist, engineer, and visionary who single-handedly built an 85-foot ark in Newark, N.J.

Curio Theatre Company takes it a step beyond performance, asking youngsters, ages 3 and up, to not only watch theater, but to make it in “The Three Little Pigs,” running Dec. 12 to 29.

Before each performance, they’ll work on producing sound effects and helping to decorate the stage. (They can use markers to draw in real time on a wall on the set! Bet they can’t do that at home.) During the play, they’ll use those sound effects – maybe on cue, and maybe not. We’re talking children here.

“We’re hoping our big bad wolf will be a child volunteer,” said director Mya Flood. “That takes the fear out of the villain if it is one of your own peers. 

“The audience gets to help the pigs build as well. You have giant bricks and sticks,” she said. “It makes them feel like they are part of the narrative.”

Play and belonging

Flood finds it exciting that she and the Curio crew may be the ones introducing youngsters to their first theater experience – as audience members and as actors, set designers, and sound engineers.

“I think any time I’m working on a show that benefits young audiences, I’m always brought back to this idea of play and this idea of belonging in the theater community,” she said. “I get to introduce small actors to their first show.

“It’s important because theater is the one place where you are using your outside voice indoors,” Flood said. “It’s the perfect time for kids to have that opportunity to have all eyes on them, for them to be heard and to be seen.

“It’s acceptable to get out the class clown energy that you may not be able to get out at school and at home,” she said. “That’s the magic of live theater.”

Because the “frantic element,” aka the kids, can be unpredictable, it’s more fun for the grownups in the cast, Flood said. Every show is different.

“Life in itself is like an improv show,” she said, dispatching wisdom for no extra charge. “Sometimes plans change. It’s OK as long as you are rolling with the punches.”

FYI

• “The Three Little Pigs,” Curio Theatre Co., Dec. 12-29, 4740 Baltimore Ave., Phila. 215-921-8243.
• “Potted Potter – The Unauthorized Harry Experience,” Penn Live Arts, Dec. 26-Jan. 5, Zellerbach Theatre, Annenberg Center, 3680 Walnut St., Phila. 215-898-3900.

Here are some other family-friendly shows for the holidays:

• “Twas the Night Before,” a magical holiday presentation from Cirque du Soleil’s acrobats and aerialists involving 25 pots of glitter, 60 cans of color hair spray used during the show’s run, Dec. 19-29, The Met, 858 N. Broad St., Phila., 800-653-8000.
• “Kea and the Ark,” cellos, puppets, dance, and storytelling, Dec. 20-23 at Theatre Exile, 1340 S. 13^th St., Phila., 215-218-4022  
• “Cinderella,” the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Dec. 6-22, Ritz Theatre Co., 915 White Horse Pike, Haddon Township, N.J., 856-288-3500. Also at the Ritz, “Frosty The Snowman,” especially for kids, Dec. 17-21.   
• “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown,” with the whole “Peanuts” gang,” Dec. 6-21, Masquerade Theatre, 301 West Washington Street #100, Riverside, N.J., 856-441-0126.
• “Elf: The Broadway Musical,” must save Christmas, through Dec. 29, Walnut Street Theatre, 825 Walnut St., Phila., 215-574-3550. Also at the Walnut, Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” the classic, Dec. 6-21. 
• “A Christmas Carol,” with Joel McKinnon Miller of “Brooklyn 99” fame as Scrooge, Dec. 10-29, McCarter Theatre Center, 91 University Place, Princeton, N.J., 609-258-2787.
• “The Owl and The Pussy Cat and Other Nonsense,” a mid-winter wedding under the (stage) light of the moon, Dec. 14-28, Quintessence Theatre Group, 7137 Germantown Ave., Mt. Airy, Phila., 215-987-4450.
• “One-Man Nutcracker,” which somehow includes the “Rocky” theme song (don’t ask), by Chris Davis, Dec. 10-29, at the Louis Bluver Theatre at the Drake, 302 S. Hicks St., Phila.  
• “Anastasia: The Musical,” through Jan. 5, at Bucks County Playhouse, 70 S. Main St., New Hope, 215-862-2121.
• “Peter Panto: A Musical Panto,” amusingly sophisticated for grownups and still fun for kids, through Jan. 5, at People’s Light, 39 Conestoga Rd., Malvern, 610-644-3500.“Peter Pan,” the classic tale, through Jan. 19, at the Arden Theatre Co., 40 N. 2d St., Phila., 215-922-1122.
• “Snow White,” the holiday classic about an innocent princess chased from her home by a jealous, vain queen, Dec. 17-29, Storybook Musical Theatre at Gratz College Theater, Melrose Ave. and Old York Rd., Melrose Park, 215-659-8550.

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