Le Jazz Hot!
It’s back-to-school time, and the children are almost certain to need some quality entertainment to help get them back into the groove. Fortunately, this month offers a band playing classic children’s songs in a jazz style, a band of theatrical pirates that hit the seas for one last time, a musical story of a fish who stands up to the bullies, and a beloved musical based on America’s favorite comic strip.
Do you like teaching your children their ABCs with Armstrong, Brubeck, and Coltrane? If so, maybe you should take them to Joe’s Pub on September 9 for a performance of Baby Loves Jazz. Performed by a band of accomplished and professional musicians, this project aims to introduce kids to jazz with fun and authenticity. The band gives “Happy and You Know It” a New Orleans feel, interrupts their “Working on the Railroad” with funny ad-libs, and performs “Ten Little Monkeys” as though those primates were swinging on the bed.
The Striking Viking Story Pirates have been at it since 2004 — taking stories by and for children and adapting them into a quirky blend of sketches and songs, so you might want to check them out. The musical Blue Lou and the Bullyfish takes place in the turbulent waters of the Rainbow Sea, where our aquatic hero has a decision to make. He wants to be a member of the Big Fish Club, and the bullies won’t let him in unless he eats his good friend Shrimpy. Will his desire to fit in turn him into a predator? To find out, visit the 45th Street Theatre on Sunday, September 17.
Revivals of the musical You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown are as reliable as Lucy pulling away the football before a punt. That’s because the Clark Gesner musical is as timeless as the Charles Schultz comic strip that inspired it, and the landmark Atlantic Theatre Company offers family audiences another chance to see it at its theater on West 16th Street from September 24 to October 14.
The Jewish Museum is starting its new season of Storybook Monday on September 11 with “Animals in Art,” an event that combines classical storytelling with a tour from the Museum’s permanent exhibition. Birds soar, beasts roam, and other creatures lurk in every gallery. See how they become a part of the story in this unique interactive tour.
How do you get to Sesame Street from Long Island? You go to the Nassau Coliseum, where Elmo, Big Bird, The Count, Cookie Monster, and Bert & Ernie will be performing Sesame Street Live: Elmo Makes Music from September 14 to 17. Speaking of making music, Brady Rymer is taking The Little Band That Could to the Sid Jacobson Jewish Community Center in East Hills on Sunday, September 10.
