Earlier this year, Liam went to see a local stage production of The Rainbow Fish with his class. He could not stop talking about how fun it was and how he wanted to see more live shows. The theater kid inside of me LOVED this and I was thrilled to help feed this curiosity. So when we were thinking about Liam’s sixth birthday, Fatima and I thought it would be great to bring him to see The Lion King on Broadway.
Rather than throw a big party, Fatima and I are all about the experiences. We’re having a small group of friends and family over for a transportation themed cake (per his request), and then we will see the show! We won’t be able to top last year’s fifth birthday trip to Disney, but we were confident he would love this year’s gift. Fatima and I went to see The Lion King on Broadway many years ago. I cried during the entire open of the show. I don’t know what came over me, but it was beautiful.
To make these signs, I found a perfect transportation sign set on Etsy. I printed them out and Fatima and I taped the transportation signs to toothpicks.
Kid-friendly gifting
To help unveil the gift, we purchased a lion-themed outfit from Zara. I didn’t want to get an in-your-face Lion King shirt for the show, so we went this route. By the way, if you are searching for Lion King merch, it’s everywhere. So much, that I had to look up why all of this Lion King merch was hitting the stores and realized it’s the 30th anniversary of the animated film (and a prequel movie coming later this year)!
We went to lunch, hopped on the shuttle, and skipped off to the theater. I think Liam was more excited to ride the Metro North and subways. We walked up to the theater and we all got excited. We waited in line, and then made our way inside. Liam loved the whole experience.
We finally made our way to our seats and I realized how close we were to the stage. We sat on stage left (aka the right when looking at the stage), first three seats off the aisle in the third row in orchestra. The first time I saw this, we were in middle-orchestra–also great seats–but the seats in the aisle have a special encounter and I wanted that for Liam. Next time, I think we’ll sit a little further back. The seats were great, and there’s something amazing being so close to see all the detail of the set, scenery, and actors in costume. However, there were a few things we could not see happening on the floor of the stage. I think 3-5 rows back would be enough.
Liam loved the whole show. He loved Zazu. He loved the hyenas–they were “funny and scary”. Before the show started, we all clapped for attendees who were seeing a broadway show for the first time, and I cried. And once again, I cried during “Circle of Life” at the top of the show and again at the end.
It would not be a trip to the city without a trip to the Transit Museum located in Grand Central Terminal. We stopped there again for Liam to pick out something. He landed on a BRIO compatible wooden “M Subway Train” to use on Liam’s Train Time.
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