Guest writer Liat Ginsberg is a mother and former journalist for the Israeli newspaper, Maariv. She has taught at the Film and Media Department at Hunter College.

There are very few plays that kids and adults will enjoy at the same time. The Pied Piper, which recently ended its run at the New Victory Theater, is one of them. Even if the you and the kids know the story by heart, it was still fascinating to witness the display of 410 handcrafted marionettes, including 300 ravenous rats, who were brought to life by 11 puppeteers. All the marionettes are handcrafted, and the ornate scenery and intricate puppet design are also conceptualized and made entirely by hand in the Collas’ workshop in Milan.

The timing could not have been better to see this show. We are in a high political season. No matter what is your political inclination, the play gives you as a parent, a perfect opportunity to explain politics to your kids.Kids are very naive and tend to believe politicians, the play demonstrated vividly, that some politicians are corrupt, greedy, and make horrible mistakes. Our role, as a responsible society, like the poet, and the daughter of the mayor in the play, is to point out any injustice and fight it. My kids realized that even very powerful people make horrible mistakes and can still admit and fix it.

The Story of The Pied Piper

In 1284, while the town of Hamelin was suffering from a rat infestation, a piper appeared and promised the mayor a solution to their problem with the rats. The mayor promised to pay him 1000 guilders for the removal of the rats. The piper accepted and played his pipe to lure the rats into the river where all drowned.Despite the piper’s success, the mayor reneged on his promise and refused to pay him the full sum. The piper left the town angrily, vowing to return later to take revenge. The piper returned, attracted the town’s children, who followed him out of town, to join the poet and the friendly animals. In this version, the Piper returned the children after payment (donated the money) and admission of guilt.

Lessons learned from a work of art. That’s the way to teach our children.

The Culture Mom is a huge fan of the New Victory’s work. Please check out their upcoming shows here, including Victory Dance, their summer offering.

Disclosure: Our guest writer received complimentary tickets to facilitate this review but all opinions are her own, per usual.

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I have one question about Something Rotten, a Broadway show that just celebrated its one year anniversary. What took me so long?????

The play celebrates everything I love more than life – Shakespeare, musicals, dancing, comedy and a superb cast that includes two of my favorite Broadway/screen actors, Brian d’Arcy James and Christian Borle. James is leaving in a few weeks, and I feel grateful to have seen him play Nick Bottom, Shakespeare’s nemesis who vows to keep up with this arch rival. He’s one of my favorite actors and he plays the role with grace….and so much humor. Between the two of them, it’s easy to see that they clearly loved this play as they both act and sing their hearts out. Ater all, James dropped out of Hamilton last spring after having helped bring it to the Public where I actually saw him play King George).

Something Rotten: The Birth of a Musical

Set during the Renaissance, the play, directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, follows two brothers, Nick and Nigel Bottom, two struggling but brilliant playwrights in London who can’t seem to catch a break with Shakespeare as their competition. So Nick hires a muse, played by Brad Oscar, to help figure out the next best thing in theater. And that’s when the real fun begins as they start to conceptualize the first musical called..what else? Omelet. Meanwhile, Shakespeare, an arrogant local, goes incognito to the rehearsals for the show and stumbles into Nigel’s script that gets rejected by his brother. All I can say is plagiarism….Hamlet!

Yes, it is implied that Shakespeare was a cheater, and it does make you wonder. But the play is so much more than this accusation. It’s full of Broadway references to all our favorite musicals – from Fiddler to West Side Story to A Chorus Line to Les Mis. There are snappy one liners, sexual innuendos and lovely sonnet readings.

I took my tween (or teen? She’s 13.)  We both had big smiles on our faces throughout the show but it was me with the bigger grin. I’ll be downloading the soundtrack this weekend, and introducing her to the musicals she didn’t recognize during the course of the play.

Can’t get tix to Hamilton? Head to Something Rotten, that’s my best advice.

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This a guest post written by writer Lisa Gerstel-Zach: A diverse and seasoned executive who has spent her career in Children’s and Family Entertainment via Publishing, Live Events and Broadcast before stepping back to take a much earned reprieve from the Corporate world in order to reinvent herself and remember why she moved to New York. She lives in the latest hip neighborhood of Williamsburg, Brooklyn with her husband and daughter.

Did you ever think perhaps you were born to the wrong musical era…the music of my generation just doesn’t speak to me in the way the songs of Carole King’s era. Yes, often Carole and her husband Gerry Goffin’s collaborations were considered teen girl bop, but this bop had a soul and the evolution of Carole’s voice has a depth and honesty that pulls at my heartstrings.

Beautiful, The Carole King Musical on Broadway illuminates Carole’s early story as she juggles life as a struggling young mother, wife, collaborator and composer celebrating personal successes and failures. The audience was entranced as the wonderful cast, especially Chillina Kennedy, as Carole, embodied the Shireille’s, the Drifters, and other era notables and as we bore witness to Carole’s moving search for her own voice, culminating in a triumphant return home, home to Carnegie Hall. This show really provided all elements key to a successful musical, love, tears, relationships, friendships, and off course amazing music.

Source: Broadway.com

The show was a fantastic homage not only to a supremely talented individual but also to the spirit to forge ahead and follow a dream. Reminding us all that we must follow the music within us.

“Feh, what’s with the music of today?” I can almost hear my grandparents admonish my parents. While they weren’t exactly part of the beatnick generation or anything as shocking as Elvis’s hips, I wonder if I will use similar sentiments when I speak to my daughter as she explores the playlist of her life. Until that time I will try to influence it…

“You’ve got to get up every morning with a smile on your face, and show the world all the love in your heart, then people gonna treat you better. You’re gonna find, yes, you will, that you’re beautiful as you feel.”

― Carole King

Head to the show’s web site for ticket information and check it out at the Sondheim Theater 124 West 43^rd Street.

Disclosure: Lisa was provided with complimentary tickets to facilitate this review. All opinions are her own.

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Guest writer Liat Ginsberg is a mother and former journalist for the Israeli newspaper, Maariv. She has taught at the Film and Media Department at Hunter College.

Most of us know that watching a movie with an African american (black) crowd, or going to a African american church is a different experience. Now you can add to it going to a circus with African american audience and many African american performers. It’s a wild, fun and very interesting experience. Imagine sitting in huge African american church listening to great voices and dancers and add to it performers doing very daring twirling bicycles, disco dancing pachyderms, free-flying aerial, flipping canines, and extreme motorsports and much more.

UniverSoul Circus

UniverSoul Circus is a highly interactive combination of circus arts, theater, and music  including Pop, Classic R&B, Latin, Hip Hop, Jazz and Gospel. It’s a different circus for many reasons: it’s interactive, the audience is part of the act and people are encouraged to dance and sing on stage or between the isles.

In many circuses you will notice very talented stone faced acrobats who rarely interact with the audience. In the Universoul Circus, the acrobats look like they love what they are doing. They must go to work with a smile. They are  engaging and encourage the audience to have fun as much as they do.

Universoul Circus is for every age. It’s not easy to find an entertainment to take the kids to, that grown-ups will also enjoy. In our case, we enjoyed it as much as the kids.

The audience members in the Bronx were so awesome. We couldn’t stop laughing. At times. we wondered if they weren’t ringers. If you volunteer to go on stage, expect to be asked to dance and have rhythm.

In addition, you will witness Olate Dogs from Chile (winners of AMERICA’S GOT TALENT), Ethiopian Pole Act from Ethiopia, Aerial Duet from Colombia, Bicycle Tricks from China, Airborne Motorcycles from California, Caribbean Dance and Limbo from Trinidad and Tobago, Russian Bar from Cuba and dancing Elephants from the United States, a multicultural, multinational mix of talent.

My family was very impressed by the Airborne Motorcyclist. It will leave you in awe. The riders almost touched the ceiling with their motorbikes. I was wondering, they are so lucky their mothers were not in the crowd, they would have definitely fainted.

When I asked my six-year old daughter what was her favorite part, she replied, “I loved the puppies but did not like the elephants. I felt bad for them, they looked sad.” I told her that many countries have banned live animal in circuses.

My daughter also complained about the very long intermission, almost 45 minutes, which gave many kids the opportunity to ride a pony for 10 dollars. Not a bad thing for a child.

And, of course, there are photos with the clown for 10 dollars and you can also purchase light up toys .

Our family loved Universoul Circus, I recommend it as great family activity,  your kids will remember it for years to come. Here’s info if you want to get tickets:

UNIVERSOUL CIRCUS performs in five different venues:

THE BRONX

March 30 thru April 10, 2016

50 E. 150th St., Bronx, NY 10451 (Across from Bronx Terminal Market at 149th St. and Exterior St. Next to the bridge)

BROOKLYN

April 12-24, 2016

3159 Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn, NY 10451 (Floyd Bennett Field @ Aviator Sports. Just down from Kings Plaza Mall)

QUEENS

April 27-May 15, 2016

Roy Wilkins Park, Merrick Blvd. and Baisley Blvd., Jamaica, NY  11434

NEWARK

May 18-30, 2016

430 Broad Street, Newark, NJ  07102 (Across from Broad Street Train Station next to the Riverfront Bears Stadium)

Visit www.universoulcircus.com for more info, show times, and schedules.  Tickets are on sale now via Ticketmaster.com or 1-800-745-3000. Ticket prices range from $16 through $40.  Prices vary by venue and by day.

Disclosure: Liat received these tickets on a complimentary basis, but all opinions are her own.

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Every now and then comes along a Broadway show that takes me by surprise. I go in to the theater wondering how I will feel when I leave and whether I will recommend it to anyone. Will it sweep me up and transport me into another world where I can escape my daily routine and take me to that faraway dreamy place I hope to land whenever I take in a show?

My most recent Broadway experience, Bright Star, did all this but I must admit that it took time to get me there. Written by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, the show is a bit of a sureal piece of fiction based on reality. It has an explosive plot twist at the end of act one that left me reeling in my seat. Prior to that moment, I was ambivalent about the show and where it was taking me. But that one moment changed everything and during act 2, I was completely riveted.

And then I started to realize the power of what was going on before me….the music, the dancing, the talent on that stage. With the book written by Steve Martin and the songs written by Edie Brickell, there are banjos, guitars and violins playing the score, something I may not have been used to at first but I realized at the end that it all worked really, really well and set out to do what it meant to – tell a powerful story that left me and every audience member shedding a tear…or two…of three.

Set in North Carolina between the years of 1923 and 1945-1946, the show revolves around the experiences of two characters, both writers: Carmen Cusack’s Alice Murphy, an editor of a fictionalized magazine, the Asheville Southern Journal, and Billy Cane played by A.J. Shively, a young man back from World War II who dreams of having his stories published in her periodical. Through a series of flashbacks, their lives pivot and come crashing into each other’s and the results are electrifying. Along the way, we are treated with beautiful songs (Brickell’s lyrics are truly beautiful).

The music is played by an onstage bluegrass band conducted by Rob Berman, which brings the show even closer to our hearts with its interactive, up close and personal feel. The cast is also perfection, which aids the play at certain moments but cheers to Cusack who is marvelous – there is no other way to describe her. The set, designed by Eugene Lee, is also pretty spectacular, showcasing a wood cabin on wheels. The result puts audience members directly into the backwoods of North Carolina, a place I must admit I’ve never been to, despite the fact that I’m a Georgia girl.

If you want to see the show, please use this discount code when you book: BSBLOG303. Tickets are as low as $39 for performances thru June 12th here.

Disclosure: I was at the show as press. However, all opinions are my own.

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Today I witnessed a very special Broadway play. I use the word “witness” because I feel like I was privy to a story that demanded being told. It’s about a group of women in Africa undergoing a very private experience that we otherwise would perhaps never know about…or understand.

Danai Gurira’s original drama is about women’s suffering during the Liberian civil wars and it’s a one of a kind. It stars Lupita Nyong’o in her Broadway debut, but it’s truly an ensemble play in which every actress has a stand out performance playing a woman with her own unique experience during a dire situation. The play is edge of your seat suspenseful, yet beautiful, and directed by a South African director who obviously loves the play  – her name is Liesl Tommy. The staging, the set, the clothing all meshes into very powerful storytelling. The show also stars Pascale Armand, Akosua Busia, Zainab Jah and Saycon Sengbloh, who are, to be honest, all phenomenal.

I went to a matinee, having bought a discount ticket, which I feel lucky to have gotten – the line to get in was around the block. Clearly Nyong’o will bring in an audience for this show, which is so important as it clearly spells out the true dangers that exist today in certain African countries. This play is a clear reminder, a good one, that theater is an excellent way to share important stories from around the world.

The play revolves around a group of  “wives” (code word for sex slaves in this case) of a commanding officer of a Liberian rebel faction. The women must spend everyday awaiting his command. As they go one by one to him when called upon, the return taking a rag and dipping it in water before wiping their private parts. We never see him but we sense their fear. None of these women have names, they are known as wife #1, 2, etc. and they each one is stripped of all dignity. One is pregnant. One is only 15 years old. She reads to the women, she wants more from life. Funnily enough, the book she reads is about Bill Clinton and the women become obsessed with him and Monica Lewinsky. That story is eerily weaved throughout the play….but believe me, it works.

The wives try to protect the youngest from the officer but it’s only a matter of time before he starts to call on her. At the end of act one, when she relays how much she hates him laying his hands on her, we know her rebellion is just beginning.

The play is a look inside what it’s like to live in a war zone. It’s a look into a group of women who have been dehumanized. It’s intense, it’s wonderful. I hope that you see it while you have a chance. Get info about the show here: http://eclipsedbroadway.com.

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Before you bring your kids to new play The Very Hungry Caterpillar, created by Jonathan Rockefeller and based on the books written by Eric Carle, you have to prepare them that the show is about four different books which The Very Hungry Caterpillar is the last of those books. If not, your kids are going to drive you crazy asking tirelessly, “Where is the hungry caterpillar?”

The four books are: The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse, The very lonely firefly, Mister Seahorse, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

About the The Very Hungry Caterpillar

In The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse, the first thing you’ll notice is the bright colors. The audience is guided to pay attention to every color on the stage through the blank white stage. Even the puppeteers’ wear uniforms of white overalls. You will feel as if you are in a field of snow with colorful creatures walking graciously.  The colors and the puppets look just like in the book.

Kids learn colors and use of their imagination. Each time the music changed we tried to guess what animal the artist would draw next: the green lion, pink rabbit, black polar bear, purple fox, or orange elephant who were made from puppets and walked gracefully on the stage.

My daughter noticed that the actor did not really draw the pictures and said enthusiastically, “I saw him, he did not draw the picture, that was pretend, he just turned the page”. Luckily, she only whispered it.

For toddlers, it was magical, most kids in the audience were glued to the stage, the colors, gentle music, the soft voices of the actors, the familiarity of the pictures and very slow movements made it familiar and interesting.

In Mister Seahorse, we are introduced to many nurturing sea creatures fathers, as if the seahorses came to teach us that fathers are as caring as mothers.

In The Very Lonely Firefly, a newly hatched lonely firefly takes us on his journey in the dark to seek friendship. It’s not easy for toddlers to find friends, not to mention adults.

And then begins the familiar caterpillar story we have hungrily waited for.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar travels through the days of the week expanding his diet and his size. Soon he isn’t a little caterpillar any more.The younger kids were mesmerized, the older kids, who forgot the details of the book guessed which fruit the caterpillar ate next. The blueberries were very popular.

The play was very true to the books. It’s also great for a first theater event, good for babies and their older siblings who like to show off how much they know.

The show is playing from now to 3/27: Saturday at 11am & 2pm; Sunday 12pm & 3pm at 304 West 47th Street.

Tickets are $49.50 -$65.50 (Premium Seats) and can be purchased by visiting ticketcentral.com or by calling 212.279.4200. For more information visit HungryCaterpillarShow.com.

Disclosure: Tickets were complimentary to facilitate this review.

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I’m a big fan of the annual Orchid Show at The NY Botanical Garden, and I’m thrilled to be hosting a giveaway to send a family to experience it for themselves.

The year 2016 marks the 125th Anniversary of the founding of Garden. Since 1891 NYBG has been a museum of plants dedicated to achieving excellence in horticulture, education, and plant research and conservation. Today it is one of the great cultural institutions in the world, a preeminent center for botanical research, a natural treasure for visitors of all ages, and a leader and national model for plant-based education.

This landmark year is filled with exciting events that highlight the many facets of the Garden’s mission. The NYBG Orchid Show opens on February 27 and runs through April 17, 2016. The inspiration for this year’s exhibition is the 19th-century craze sparked by a single orchid bloom, which came to be known as Orchidelirium. Visitors to the landmark Enid A. Haupt Conservatory will be transported on an epic journey that engages all of the senses and underscores the allure and intrigue of these exquisite beauties.

The show is truly a New Yorker’s defining moment, and the experience will just add to the pride that you have in this incredible city that we live in. And now, right here on The Culture Mom, you can enter to win FOUR tickets to @NYBG Orchid Show.

HOW TO ENTER TO WIN TIX TO THE @NYBG Orchid Show:

• Comment here and let me know how you engage your children in nature.
• Tweet this message: “Hope I win the @NYBG Annual Orchid Show giveaway from http://bit.ly/1zf1TXV via @hollychronicles”

Contest ends midnight Eastern time, Monday, February 1st.  The four packs need to be used before the show ends on April 17th, 2016. The winner will have 24 hours to accept their prize.

For more information on the NYBG Orchid Show, please visitnybg.org.

Disclosure: These tickets were provided to me complimentary for this giveaway but I was not compensated for this post.

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In preparation for another story, I saw Beautiful: The Carole King Musical last night, and I have only one question: what took me so long?

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical

In 2-1/2 hours, I learned so much about not only Carole King but also the history of rock and roll. Did you know that “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”, penned with Gerry Goffin, was Carole’s first Number One hit, when she was just 17? I had no idea that she entered the music industry as a teenager after meeting the legendary songwriter Gerry Goffin and went on to produce hits like the Shirelles’ “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow,” Little Eva’s “The Loco-Motion,” and the Drifters’ “Some King of Wonderful”. Even better, each hit is sung by an impeccably talented cast, which brought the reality of her own legendary status even more to light with me.

The two songwriters had a loving but tumultuous personal and professional relationship. Perhaps they met too young (she got pregnant with their first child while still quite young), perhaps they were two artists navigating careers that catapulted too quickly, or perhaps it was her humble and modest sense of herself (hence the title of the show- it’s not until the show culminates at Carnegie Hall with King’s performance celebrating the release of her first solo album Tapestry that she truly accepts who she is).

Or, of course, it’s named after her hit called Beautiful where King sings:

When people are gonna treat you better, you’ll find, yes you will, you’re beautiful as you feel.

The show will make you sing – it may make you cry. It will easily make you dance in your seat, and like me, you’ll go home and download and listen to everything King ever wrote. Kudos to Chillina Kennedy, Scott L. Campbell, Anika Larsen, Jarrod Spector, Paul Anthony Stewart, Liz Larsen and the rest of the phenomenal cast of Beautiful.

Head to the show’s web site for ticket information.

Disclosure: I was provided with complimentary tickets to facilitate this review and others. As usual, all opinions are my own.

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If you’re looking for something unique to do in Brooklyn with the kids, look no further than Raaka Chocolate. The home of “virgin chocolate,” Raaka a factory where they make 20,000 chocolate bars a month and offer tours, as well as classes, where kids can taste raw cacao from different parts of the world and make their own creation.

Raaka Chocolate

On a recent Friday night, my family and I ventured to Red Hook, where the Raaka factory is based. Immediately upon walking in, we smelled the fermented cacao beans, imported from small growers in Belize, Bolivia, Madagasar and the Dominican Republic. Owners Ryan Cheney and Nate Hodge process the cacao to a satiny finish and turn it into yummy bars sweetened with honey or maple sugar, or seasoned with tea and sea salt.

There’s a lot to like about Raaka. They’re organic, for one thing. For another, they’re made through fair trade channels to ensure that no child slave labor or other corrupt practices were used in their creation. Raaka supports in-country growth and development by giving cocoa farmers around the world an effective 20 percent raise for their beans. The wrapping is also pretty – and recycled paper. And the flavors – from tehini to olive oil to sea salt to coconut to maple, including vegan and gluten-free – they are truly authentic and tasty at that.

While we were there, we toured the factory and the kids learned how to turn raw beans into bars. They loaded  stone grinders with raw ingredients and poured their  bars into molds, ultimately decorating them with sprinkles and assorted toppings. Classes run on Saturdays and Sundays from 2-4pm and 5-7pm and cost $50 per person. Tours are 45-minutes and cost $10, running on Thursdays at 7pm, Fridays at 6pm, Saturdays at 12pm, Sundays at 12pm.

So, if you’re interested in introducing your kids to how chocolate is made, don’t go to Hershey – head to Raaka, where they use humanitarian methods and are socially aware both as a manufacturer and distributor. Teach your kids about how important it is to be a good samaritan and how it can translate to business tactics…and excellent chocolate.

Raaka Chocolate is located at 64 Seabring Street between Richards Street and Van Brunt Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn (855-255-3354, raakachocolate.com).

Disclosure: My family and I were invited to Raaka as guests to experience the factory so I could record about our experience here and elsewhere.

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