Let’s Go: Little Mermaid Jr.

“Did you know that every kid who shows up gets to be in the show?” The gentleman walking out beside us asked.

“The best thing about Upstart Crow shows is that EVERY kid is included!” Shared the woman sitting next to us.

This is the first Upstart Crow show I’ve seen, and my 8 year old and I didn’t know what to expect when we arrived at the Hult Center. We were delighted with the whole experience.

Little mermaid Jr. includes a great mix of new songs and some of the recognizable classics from the Disney movie. We had a great time figuring out which sea creatures were represented by the creative costumes, and dreaming of making our own jellyfish umbrellas. An audience participation portion did not disappoint and included waving light up wands as the cast walking through the audience. (Light up wands are available to purchase before the show and during intermission & are totally worth it)

My daughter was engaged from beginning to end, and her attention is not easily won.

Before we go on, I need to confess that I have an aversion to small children singing. Playing Wee-sing CDs in the car make me want to drive off the road. I don’t know what my deal is, and I know it’s just a matter of time before one of my kids takes up some sort of performance art and I have to do massive exposure therapy to get over myself. That said, I had NO IDEA what I was sitting down to watch at the Hult tonight until a group of kids walked out and started singing. I was skeptical to say the least.

Here’s the thing though. There is this vibe with the Upstart Crow crowd. That thing that I kept hearing about? That they include EVERY KID. Every. Single. One. Everyone I talked to tonight gushed about how cool that is. How can you throw shade at that? YOU CAN’T. You just can’t. It is amazing.

I found myself smiling as a bigger mermaid comforted an upset little mermaid. What? Kids are singing am I’m smiling? Who am I?!?!  Turns out that my love of compassion and inclusion are WAY bigger than my phobia of tiny kid voices.

Bonus: The theater was full of families, and I never felt like I needed to hush mine as she asked questions and marveled about the show out loud.

So, even if you typically get your fill of kid performances just by dragging yourself into the next room to watch yours do a puppet show, I highly recommend taking your family to an Upstart Crow show. Who knows, maybe your kid will love it so much they want to join! (& take it from me, you will love it!)

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Little Mermaid Jr
Hult Center for the Performing Arts this Weekend!
Saturday, March 10, 2pm and 7 pm
Sunday, March 11 2pm


Click here for tickets

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Kate Becker is a straight up super hero who saves GoMomGo every day. She & her awesome family love to find and photobomb every single free family event around town. Her 3 kids collect cats, okay fine, Kate collects cats, and the kids collect giant gross motor aparati and coerce the cats to try them. Trampoline cats anyone?? =)