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By
Jerome, Julie, Jack and Katie Sale
A few years ago, the only ticket worth having
would have been Eminem in Milton Keynes.
 My
little boy Jack (3) loved it. He was coaxed out of his normally
reserved approach to these things and joined in with the pantomime
style heckling.
His
mate Noah (Hancock) is a few months younger and was thrilled
by the whole thing.
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| Jerome
Sale |
But,
now with two young children, the hot ticket was Noddy at the Oxford
Apollo. And the show was hot. Sweltering in fact.
The
Apollo is formerly and, I understand, soon to be again the New Theatre.
Well,
lets hope the revamp takes in air conditioning, because Toyland
was in danger of melting in front of a jam-packed auditorium.
Noddy
himself has successfully been reinvented - it's no longer sixpence
an adventure.
"Make
way for Noddy...." went the first song. The two to six year olds'
attention was drawn, despite the noise of their younger siblings
and the heat, to the stage.
It's
the theme tune that many kids and parents will associate with early
morning TV. Noddy on Five gets more viewers, I am told, than three
of the four other terrestrial broadcasters at breakfast time.
Parents
may not like it much, but the target audience laps it up and the
same was true of the stage version.
The
really successful children's show, for me, works on different levels.
There's something for the kids obviously, maybe for students, and
also for 'grown ups'.
This
production of Noddy was a bit one dimensional in this respect but
served its purpose.
My
little boy Jack (3) loved it. He was coaxed out of his normally
reserved approach to these things and joined in with the pantomime
style heckling.
His
mate Noah (Hancock) is a few months younger and was thrilled by
the whole thing.
Their
two younger sisters enjoyed the colour of the scenery and the familiar
songs of the early stages, but the volume of Noddy, Big Ears, Mr
Plod and the gang sometimes wasn't enough to compete with the din
hundreds of pre-schoolers can make.
Jonathan
Hancock and I took the girls and joined the other parents in the
cooler lobby while Jack, Noah and their mums enjoyed the last few
minutes.
Okay, Jack and Noah enjoyed it anyway. It maybe wasn't as magical
as I know it could have been - costumes, sound, scenery etc. All
could have been a bit more spectacular.
But,
three year olds, I am glad to report, are not an overly demanding
audience and credit should go to all concerned for putting something
like this on a Sunday afternoon, when finding something new for
children to do can be an arduous task.
As
the little man in the red and yellow car eventually drove off into
the sunset, the lightly cooked youngsters and simmering parents
made for a much needed drink. Cheers, Big Ears.
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