Aida

On Tuesday, the monkeys' elementary class was invited to the dress rehearsal of Aida. They went to the dress rehearsal of Madame Butterfly last school year and LOVED it, so everyone was very excited.

Last year their friend Theo rode with us, so naturally he had to ride with us again. I think it's really cute how the monkeys dress like their dad and Theo dresses like his. (Warren doesn't wear 3D glasses like Jiro did, but he has a pair of red sunglasses he thinks are fancy.)


Last year the class ate dinner at the Majestic beforehand, so naturally they wanted to do that again too. The Majestic is so cool. They created a menu just for the kids and printed it in a little workbook that included a coloring scene from Aida and an Egyptian word search.

Satchel sat with Theo and his other bestie, Will, while Jiro joined his buddies on the other side of our section. Good thing I brought my mom with me so I didn't have to sit alone!


The Majestic gave us great food and great service. Everyone's Shirley Temples stayed full and everyone enjoyed a great meal and was done with plenty of time to get to the Orpheum.

The Opera itself was fantastic--especially the first act. The sets, the ballet dancer with a huge snake, the camels, everything was spectacular and incredibly exciting to both kids and adults. (Several times the girl next to me gasped!)

The only thing kind of funny/sad was the flabby Egyptian extras. I don't think the cast realized they'd have to be shirtless for three hours when they signed up!

The second act was a little long winded, or maybe we were all just tired. It was 10pm when we left and we didn't even make it to the end! If you are taking kids--and I think you should--skip out during intermission. (wink)