Beauty and the Beast

 All I wanted for Mothers Day was a relaxed day with my family. The kids all over me and my husband next to me. And that is exactly what I got. It felt so good to hold on to my pre schooler and sleep at 11 in the morning when the rest of the family snoozed away as well.

There was this sweet nothingness of the day which made it all the more special.

I had tickets for 'The Actors Training Center RepertoryCompany' for their production of 'Beauty and the Beast' for the Mothers Day evening. And I was a bit skeptical about driving to 'Wilmette Theatre' due to the distance. But I got over the laziness of the Sunday evening and made the trip. I was so very glad I did.

The theatre itself is small. We picked up more than our share of the Pop Corn from the concession stand and headed over to the theatre. The performance in my five year old's words was 'Breathtaking' She loved the songs, the beast and Belle. She was very scared when the wolves come to take the father away and above all she loved the dancing Tea Cups.

I thought the timing of the play, the characters and the music was just perfect. It was enthralling for the little kids and very simplistic for us. The production quality was ok though. But for the size of the theatre it was just right.

Right after the performance all the characters stood outside to chat with the guests and I think that was so sweet. You get to meet the characters, who were 12-16 year old kids. My daughter was so pleased to take a picture with Belle and was asking the director, Carol DIno all sorts of questions- Where did you get the clothes from, how did the music come etc etc. She was patient enough to answer all the questions.

My husband was outside for a bit and saw that the girl who played Belle had fallen down on her knees during the performance. She was icing her knee in between the shots. When he told me, I was shocked. The Princess didnt show it for the play and the meet and greet after. So very professional.

It is an inspiration to see these kids perform with so much confidence, grace and attitude. It is a lifetime's learning’s for the kids from the Training Academy.

Overall, my Mothers Day got sweeter with this lovely performance.

I received free tickets for the performance for review. The views expressed are solely my own