A Charlie Brown Christmas With Jazz Trio…LIVE, The Brooklyn Lyceum

I am super excited to be part of this wonderful NYMetropolista family. To be given the opportunity to share with you any new, exciting, off the beaten path places,activities I come across on my many adventures with my family throughout New York City

I am a little late with this review with just three more dates left I strongly suggest it is a must see for the whole family.

A Charlie Brown Christmas (LIVE) Accompanied by a jazz trio who performs the soundtrack composed by Vince Guaraldi, who  is on this classic animated television show. Performed live at this pretty cool venue in Brooklyn called the Brooklyn Lyceum. This production is in its second year at this venue. Having spent my entire childhood in Trinidad and Tobago one of my fondest memories was watching with my cousins A Charlie Brown Christmas. When I read about this live performance of this great classic I knew I had to take my 4 year old son Jaden and husband Joe to see this show. We arrived at the Brooklyn Lyceum and out first impression of the venue was it looked very industrial and organic in nature. Once we were escorted upstairs to where the show was performed we were wowed by how they created the set in a magical sort of way. It is a bit cold so dress warmly and there are heating lamps set up strategically around the seating. To us it just lent to the whole experience of being outside with Charlie Brown and his crew. The set was re-created as perfect as possible to the cartoon and before the show started Jaden got to walk around and tour the stage.

“Pig Brooch Theatre Company, Inc. was founded in May 2004 when their original play Happy Mundanes was accepted into the New York International Fringe Festival 2004. After a successful run, the company teamed up with Dustin Helmer’s Kiek in de KökPlayers to create and produce Love Is in the Air, a lost 1920s silent film presented by a company of Estonian clowns. Love Is in the Air was produced at the 2005 Fringe Festival before touring to Hamilton College in the spring of 2006 as part of a fundraiser for a new multi-million dollar theatre facility. The immensely talented performers from this production come from all areas of the New York theatre scene, from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, to Broadway, to the Metropolitan Opera House, to every rock and roll music venue in the city.A Charlie Brown Christmas is a tradition at the Penn State Theatre program that has finally arrived in Brooklyn. The actors all share a deep love for this holiday favorite and have worked extremely hard to match the exact physicality of the cartoon characters from Charlie Brown Christmas Special”

Joe and I were amazed at how the actors performed the entire Charlie Brown Christmas verbatim, down to the characteristics of the cartoon characters. The live music by the jazz trio performing all the Vince Guaraldi classics made it so magical for us adults  and brought back such warm and “Christmasy” feelings inside. Jaden as well as all the other kids that were there laughed throughout the entire show which was a perfect 40 minutes from start to finish.

I loved this show so much I am contemplating going back again this weekend with some friends. A perfect holiday classic A Charlie Brown Christmas for the young and the young at heart.

SHOW DATES AND TIMES:
Fri Dec 18 – 7pm
Sat Dec 19 – 2pm and 7pm
Sun Dec 20 – 2pm and 7pm

All tickets are $10 and available at: BrooklynLyceum.com

A portion of the ticket sales will be donated to the Children’s Aid Society

Location: Brooklyn Lyceum   227 4th Avenue in Park Slope.   R train at Union Street. 718.857.4816.

Also playing at the Brooklyn Lyceum which I have not seen so unable to review:

“Just in time for the holidays!  Mainspring Collective and The Brooklyn Lyceum present the first installment of their new children’stheater series, Monster Literature, written and conceived by Daniel John Kelley. The first episode, ‘Twas the Night Before…MONSTERS!’ offers a new twist on an old classic when an evil wizard threatens to destroy the holiday spirit by changing the poem ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’ by unleashing his army of silly monsters.  Young heroine Benjy Bleeglehorn (along with her dashing sidekick, Bravo Kirkwood) must battle this army of misguided monsters with their wit and compassion in order to restore the poem and rediscover the spirit of the holidays.  ‘Twas the Night Before…MONSTERS,  featuring original music and video elements, is original holiday fun for the whole family. Join us for some monstrous fun at the Brooklyn Lyceum as we kick off this new ongoing series! Official Monster Literature website: MonsterLiterature.com”

Showtimes and Specifics:
Sat Dec 19 – 12 and 3:30pm
Sun Dec 20 – 12 and 3:30pm

Running time: 30 minutes.  For ages:  Pre-K – 5yrs, and adults too!
All Tickets $5/each or $15/four.

Popularity: 23% [?]