I was delighted to be able to share with my son, Amaru, the music of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra this past Sunday at its Kinderkonzert featuring Bob McGrath from Sesame Street.
We started the afternoon out by enjoying some pre-concert activities in McGinn Lounge at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. We were able to create a mask of Big Bird (Amaru's had two beaks), get a free tattoo, be scared by strolling costumed characters, and touch and explore a whole table of real, live, musical instruments. Very cool! There was even a teeny, tiny violin perfect for little ones to pick up and play a few notes.
The Marcus Center for the Performing Arts itself was a fun place to be for Amaru. He went up and down the stairs about twenty times, was fascinated by the fountain, and loved pressing his hands up against those big windows and watching the people ice skate, the snow fall and the big plows go by.
The concert itself, however, was definitely the highlight. The Sesame Street theme song started things off with a blast and fully enraptured my soon-to-be-3-year-old. "If You're Happy" was familiar enough to captivate the kid crowd and "Your Face" incorporated movements which also kept them glued to the stage. "People in Your Neighborhood" was cleverly altered to introduce various musical instruments and the enthusiastic crowd was encouraged to sing along. It struck me that the parents in the crowd were more attached to the verses they were belting out than the kids were, but the kids were groovin' on that.
Then came the story of Lieutenant Kije by Sergei Prokofiev, which was played out by actors and puppet-like dolls in colorful costumes. I could appreciate the effort to try to cleverly introduce kids to classical music, but somehow I found the story not quite appropriate for children, and too long. It kind of struck me as an attempt to kill some time.
Thankfully the kids hung in there, and were rewarded with some favorites; "Rubber Duckie" and the "Five Little Monkeys." Yee-hah. Apparently they even handed out some little rubber duckies to kids in the crowd. I almost shed a tear during the Kermit-love slideshow of all our favorite Sesame Street characters set to a heartbreaking rendition of "Rainbow Connection"-- one of Amaru's favorite lullabies.
Things finished up with a stage bursting in color and enthusiasm as dancers and mermaids swayed to "Under the Sea" and "Sing" (as in "Sing a Song"). It was certainly a nice treat on a snowy, Wisconsin, winter afternoon. Thanks, Bob! (And you too, MSO.)
Jessica Laub was born in Milwaukee in the spring of 1970, thereafter spending her childhood days enjoying the summers on the shores of Lake Michigan and winters at the toboggan chute in Brown Deer Park.
Alas, she moved away to broaden her horizons, and studied out East for a few years at Syracuse University. After a semester "abroad" at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, she graduated with a B.A. in English and advertising.
After college, she worked at Glacier National Park, a ski hill in Steamboat, Col. and organic farms in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and California.
In 1995, Laub moved to Nicaragua where she worked on community gardens, reforestation and environmental education as a Peace Corps volunteer. While there, she learned to speak Spanish, pay attention to world politics and how to make tortillas.
Laub then returned to Milwaukee to join the ranks of the non-profit sector. Currently, she works at the United Performing Arts Fund (UPAF) and keeps busy by painting, throwing pots, reading, trying to understand her two-year old son, seeing performances and howling at the moon.
