Magic School Bus

This show is NOT a kindergarten level show. It went way over my 5 yr olds head and she was bored about half way through. Another lady whom I didn't know, without my saying anything, said the same thing. We wouldn't see it again and I wouldnt' recommend it for a 5 yr old, maybe not even first grader.

This show was great. The length of the show was just long enough to get the message across and not have restless children in the audience. The visuals even kept the smaller children's attention. Because of the location of the show, my son and I turned it into our "little date night", by going to a nearby downtown restaruant for dinner. He say the lights and horse carriage rides, which was magical in itself for him.

My friend, sister, and I took our children ages 5 and 12. We were all disappointed with this event. The props were not of quality, the sound was low, and the show did not engage the kids until the show was ending (one song). I would recommend keeping the ticket money in your pocket.

I was disappointed that there were no more props used in the performance

The program was very lively with great music! Information was presented clearly and with the importance the facts deserve. My 10 year old was commended in school the very next Monday for being able to tell his class "a lot" about the greenhouse effect of global warming when the teacher asked if anyone knew what co2 was as an intro to her next chapter! I'd say THAT was one great recommendation!!

Let me state first that I thought the musicians all sang well and the musical numbers were delivered in an entertaining manner but was not enough to compensate for what seemed to me quite underwhelming for a professional stage show. My disappointment rests in the following areas: Time - The program was barely an hour in length. Maybe this is normal for the family series and children s programing, but from the perspective of the children with me (ages 9, 7 and 4), they all were surprised that it seemed so short. It just seems like a hefty admission price for something that lasted shorter than most school programs I have seen. Perhaps the thinking is that since there were activities beforehand available the cost is justified - I do not agree. The show itself should be worth the admission price. Props and staging - The props used to convey the story seemed equivalent to what we might do around the house with our imaginations. I have seen better use of creativity and props at school programs than what was offered through the paid professional venue. Maybe this was on purpose because the story line wrapped around the children doing thier own program when the power went out; if so, I get it. However, Magic School bus is in fact magical. Besides the bubble machines blowing bubbles as molecules, the rest was less than magical. I know it doesn't take much to convey a magical environment to children, but this did not seem to make a worthwhile attempt. Content - Though I realize there is importance in teaching children the skills and responsibility of resource conservation and not wasting energy, I felt the content was agenda-filled, environmental rhetoric that sounded more political than educational and left us with the suggestion that mankind is the most evil of all aspects of the natural world and that our own existence is an intrusion. I came away wondering of my children were going to ask if it was okay to exhale in their natural environment for fear of displacing too much carbon dioxide. It is one thing to make a point, and another thing entirely to instruct and attempt to indoctrinate children into thinking they and their parents are to blame for all the concerns in the environment. With all the fascinating elements of science and nature to explore for an hour (or more) through song, this was a bad pick.

While the talent was good, the sound system fails miserably.... very loud and words were hard to understand. The almost 4 year old that loves the books, got so bored we had to go sit in the lobby My friend and I were bored, too, but our 6 and 7 year old grandchildren did seem to follow it, laugh in right places, and said they enjoyed it (although both agreed the other event they had seen recently at the Orpheum (The Nutcracker) was better. Tickets were way overpriced! This event should never have cost more than $10.. we paid $20 (tax, etc.). I expected much more interaction with audience since it is for children. Overall, very disappointing.

The props where not good and the subject matter was a little complexed for small children. More geared toward middle school. I was able to follow along but they could have done a better job with the props man... Come on! It was cheaply done... It also was only an hour...

It Did not capture my 8 yr olds attention. She was bored- luckily it was only 55 mins in length!

Took my 6 and 8 year olds. At the beginnin "Arnold" was doing great entertaining the kids but that changed with the first "flight". My kids had no idea that the class was flying to Antartica. Most of it comes from the sparingly created props. I know that kids have a great imagination but this was sad. We also had a hard time understanding the songs as the music was too loud and we could barely understand the lyrics. To make matters worse, crying babies were allowed to stay - and I'm not talking about a little cry here and there. The theater should have the right, and if they do should step up to it, to ask patrons to leave if their children make it impossible to hear.

We went to this event as a family. Great activities before the show began. Kids loved it! The show was about an hour long. 45 minutes into it the whole crowd became restless. My husband & I asked our kids about the show. They said they were tired of the adult actors using high pitched "kid voices" and they couldn't understand what was being said or sung because of the fake kid voices and they talked way too fast. Too bad because the message is important...

In this age of technology, you don't bore people to death with a rolling cart School bus. The kids loved it but most of the adults were on their iPhone Within 5 mins. The message was great but that was it, you couldn't compare it At all to the magic that comes to live in the magic school bus series. I was so disappointed If there was a way to ask for my money back I would have. A total waste of money, I had such high hopes for this one. The commercial for the play was totally misleading

The kids were eager to go to the Orpheum and see Magic School Bus Live. We love the TV show and books, and my three-year-old daughter was thrilled by the whole performance. She was on the edge of her seat, clapping and laughing the entire show. My 5-year-old son and I, however, were so distracted by the difference between Ms. Frizzle's voice and the live cast Ms. Frizzle's voice that it was difficult to get involved or excited about the performance. She did a wonderful job, and if someone has never seen the television show, I doubt it would be an issue. The performers playing Arnold and Liz completely stole the show- they looked and acted the parts very well. I would not attend another Magic School Bus Live if given the opportunity.

Actors did a great job, and the characters were easily recognizable. The production, however left a lot to be desired. The show definitely could use better props and back drops. No intermission made the show rather short.