Off to the theatre!!

I am sure that I have said it before, but one of the best unexpected benefits of homeschooling are the extra-cheap theatre tickets you can get.  We may not know too far in advance what our plans will be, but when we can be spontaneous, there a lot of great opportunities out there.

This past week we took in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown at the Stratford Festival, and Laura's Cow (the story of Laura Secord) performed by the Canadian Children's Opera Company in Toronto.  Both performances were great, and it is so nice to be able to see these productions with the boys.

We have seen a few shows at the local theatre lately as well (the school series that is funded by a large local company) and find that while some of their productions are good, others are really, really, bad.  It is hard to convince kids (boys especially, I think) how enjoyable good theatre can be when they are only exposed to semi-professional production companies who buy their props at the dollar store.

But to be able to take in world-class productions in beautiful theatres, with live orchestral accompaniment is quite another thing.  Even though neither of the boys seemed to think that opera was an art form that they were particularly drawn to, they had to admit that the voices and the acting (especially from a children's company) was spectacular.

As for our next trip, I have my eyes set on $10 tickets to The Pirates of Penzance at Stratford...