NYC: Five non-traditional holiday shows for children and young adults

There is no reason why this season cannot be a time of creative discovery for children and young adults. Of course, seeing The Nutcracker or a long-awaited movie release such as the one “in a galaxy far, far away” can become personal history. While there is nothing wrong with Tchaikovsky or Radio City, these shows are exciting alternatives.

The Golden Bride (Di Goldene Kale) at the at the Museum of Jewish Heritage’s Edmond J Safra Hall

Recommending a 92-year-old operetta with English and Russian subtitles to kids is a stretch. The National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene’s production Joseph Rumshinsky’s The Golden Bride is a lively immigrant fairytale fusing Klezmer and American music. Younger audience members will recognise Yiddish theater’s enduring influence on mainstream American culture.

Suitable for teenagers or older children who can read the subtitles and like musicals.

The Golden Bride runs through 3^rd January 2016 at Edmond J Safra Hall, for further information visit here.

 

A Wilder Christmas with Peccadilio Theater Company at the Theater at St. Clement’s

Thornton Wilder’s two 1931 plays are bittersweet meditations on the holidays. The Long Christmas Dinner lasts 90 years in the Bayard family, and the semi-autobiographical play’s structure is deceptively simple but moving. Pullman Car Hiawatha is a brilliant, unconventional voyage for passengers and audience on the December 21^st overnight to Chicago.

Suitable for teenagers, particularly those who resist Wilder’s Our Town from their required reading lists.

A Wilder Christmas runs through 3^rd January 2016 at the Theater at St. Clement’s, for further information visit here.

 

Time Keepers: Story of the Loon at the 14^th Street Y

Rachel Sherk’s heartfelt puppet show musical for the very young, but with plenty to appeal to their older companions too. With the help of marionette Time Keepers, a curious Loon (Sherk) brings the Sun and the Moon together to build the first clock. Children assist the cast as well.

Time Keepers: Story of the Loon plays at the 14^th Street Y on 12^th and 13^th December 2015, for information and future performances visit here.

 

Carnival of the Animals at the Miller Theater

Camille Saint-Saëns’s musical menagerie has been a ballet and Bugs Bunny cartoon. Now theater artist Lake Simons uses Ogden Nash’s narration, placing the Carnival in a Victorian toy theater populated with puppets. Here’s hoping the Swan fares better than she usually does. The hour-long program also includes holiday music.

Suitable for ages 6 and up. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

Carnival of the Animals plays on 19^th December 2015 at 3pm and 7pm at the Miller Theater, Columbia University, for further information visit here.

 

American Dance Machine for the 21^st Century at the Joyce Theater

The revamped 1980s company specialises in performing original numbers from classic Broadway musicals. Among those scheduled are dances from Oklahoma! and the Christmas party number from Promises, Promises. What could be better during a time of celebration and renewal than to introduce younger audience members to the something truly joyous?

Suitable for children 8 and up.

American Dance Machine for the 21^st Century runs through 3^rd January at the Joyce Theater, for further information visit here.

Patricia Contino