Yo Ho Ho!

Building upon Riley's enjoyment of "Schoolhouse Rock!", I bought tickets to a holiday musical, "Yo Ho Ho! A Pirate's Christmas," performed at the Noho Arts Center, a small theatre in North Hollywood.

The story is this: A little girl goes to bed on Christmas Eve, wishing that Santa will bring her a much-longed for toy pirate ship. She then dreams that pirates land at the North Pole. The pirates' intended destination was Treasure Island, but they decide to see what can be plundered on Christmas Island instead. The little girl dreams that she is Eve Christmas, an elf child. Her parents work for Santa. Eve and her family--Happy, Murray, Holly, Ivy, and Noel Christmas--help Santa and Mrs. Claus defend the island from the pirates. It was the "Ho Ho Hos!" versus the "Yo Ho Hos!" Eventually they conquer the pirates and persuade them to aid Santa in delivering all of the toys from his workshop after reindeer problems ground Santa's sleigh.

This was a great musical for little kids. The pirates used ropes to swing down from the rafters and to cross a "whirlpool" between their ship (the audience seating area) and the island (the stage). From that point on, the performers regularly traversed the aisles and communicated with audience members. There was also a lot of general silliness: a pirate raised by goats (who therefore sounds like a goat), a Scottish pirate with an unintelligible brogue, and a pirate with a ventriloquist parrot that falls in love with Eve. (Riley got to pet the parrot after the musical.)

After the performance was over, Santa welcomed all of the children in the audience to come sit on his lap and tell him what they want for Christmas. For the first time, Riley actually wanted to go see Santa. When Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas, Riley said, "A thing that is good and nice." (This is a common response whenever we ask Riley what he would like to do with us or what he would like to receive as a gift.)

Riley was tickled to find a pirate in the bathroom when we stopped to use the facilities before heading home. He learned that pirates have to go potty too and that some pirates are mommies who also have to take their children to the bathroom. He continued to chatter on about pirates in the car until he fell asleep.

(I love how Santa gets progressively wearier and disinterested in these photos.)