age minimum for broadway shows

hello

this will be our first trip to nyc. one thing we want to do is see a show on broadway but we will have a 4 yr old with us...are young children allowed?

age minimum for broadway shows

Unless we are speaking of perfomances designed expressly for young children (and most Broadway plays do not fit into that category) no child should be brought to the theater who is likely to make the theatergoing experience any less pleasant for anyone else. Children (or adults) of any age who cannot sit still for the duration of a performance without talking, squirming, or otherwise making themselves annoying to other people who have paid just as much for their tickets do not belong in a theater. If your 4-year-old child is able to sit quietly in a seat throughout an entire show, I congratulate you. I will also tell you that your child is one in a million, because asking for proper theater manners from children that age (and other theatergoers have the right to expect proper manners from everyone sitting nearby, regardless of age) is often coimpletely unrealistic.

age minimum for broadway shows

The Disney show Shrek is the only way that%26#39;s advised for 4 and up.

www.nytix.com/Links/Broadway/showsummary.html

Here%26#39;s a discount to buy in advance.

broadwaybox.com/shows/shrek_the_musical_nyc_鈥?/a>

It has also been at the TKTS booths is you want to wait until you get here. You will need a ticket for your child.

Meant to type ';the only ONE that%26#39;s..';

Another option is the Lion King. Here is their website:

disney.go.com/theatre/thelionking/#/home/

The issue is not age, but rather temperment. If your child can sit still for a couple of hours, by any means a show such as Shrek or Lion King is appropriate. If not, do something else. A miserable kid makes for a miserable Broadway experience - not just for your family, but for those around you.

Actually Mel, on that link I posted it says Disney suggests 6 and over for Lion King. It%26#39;s not just about whether the child can sit still. I think for some kids the adults in animal costumes can be a bit scary. I don%26#39;t think anyone will be turned away from a Disney show with a 4 yr old but if Disney is not recommending it, I%26#39;d take note.

Thanks for all of your replies,I don%26#39;t know what we will do yet but I was thinking of seeing The Little Mermaid.If so don%26#39;t worry,I would leave right away if my child gets fidgety....I%26#39;m excited about New York but also over whelmed...where to start,what to do....the only thing I know for sure is that I want to eat as many different things as possible...

I tried being nice and discreet about this, but clearly niceness and discretion does not always get the point across. Let me be more direct: Leaving ';right away'; when a 4-year-old gets ';fidgety'; at a Broadway show is leaving too late. If your child is likely to get fidgety at a Broadway show at all, you should NOT bring your child in the first place. You may think your child is lovable and charming. The rest of us, however, are not obliged to share this opinion, and all of the rest of us think that a child who with his or her ';fidgeting'; disrupted even two minutes of our enjoyment of a Broadway show -- for which we paid quite a bit of good money, and which we looked forward to with a lot of anticipation -- disrupted two minutes too many, and that the parents of that child are selfish and inconsiderate clods who whould have known better.

Am I being harsh? No, not at all; I am being honest -- and also accurate: little children who fidget in the theater are not self-centered and rude, but their parents who presumed to inflict them on the rest of us by bringing them when they should not have done any such thing most certainly are.

Shrek is about 2-1/2 hours long -- one full hour longer than the movie -- and The Lion King %26amp; Mary Poppins are longer (and less suited for young children). I can%26#39;t recommend any Broadway show for that age.

For other, age-appropriate possibilities, see this other, current thread:

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k2448999鈥?/a>

Alternatively, a fair number of hotels advertise they will arrange for child care, and the Babysitters Guild has received some positive comments here.

http://babysittersguild.com

Neglected to include the running time for The Little Mermaid: ~2.5 hours long -- about *twice* as long as the movie.

I%26#39;m 32 and even I get bored at Broadway shows.

Don%26#39;t get me wrong, I like them. But they are long and you have to be quiet and sit still and you can%26#39;t move around and you get tired and hungry and thristy and sometimes you can%26#39;t see because of the person in front of you, so then you get REALLY bored and then your back and neck hurt because you are straining to see. Did I mention I%26#39;m 32? Imagine that for a 4 year-old and you have your answer.