Disney Live!
Mickey & Minnies Doorway to Magic
Providence, RI
December 3, 2016

 

I am always hesitant when it comes to bringing my child to any theatre performance. He is very much the modern, spoiled, needs video games, 9 year old boy. When we arrived at The Vets for Disney Live! today, we were surrounded by younger children, in princess dresses and pacifiers. I thought, oh no. What have I done?

I had never stepped foot in the Veterans Memorial Auditorium (The Vets) and was pleasantly surprised with what I saw. Since 1950 this Providence, Rhode Island staple has been host to legendary artists, local performers and community traditions. The theater has hosted a wide range of performers in recent years including Chris Botti, Mavis Staples, Wynton Marsalis, Savion Glover, Amy Schumer and Bryan Adams. It is also home to five resident visual and performing arts companies: FirstWorks, the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra, Festival Ballet Providence, the Rhode Island International Film Festival, and the Art League Rhode Island!

It doesn’t take long to see why anyone would want to perform or call this place home. The staff was welcoming, searching bags for security reasons with smiles, and friendly ushers helping us to our seats. The theater completed $16 Million renovation in 2015 that turned the theater into a state of the art performance facility. It was also immaculately clean, warm and the seats were very comfortable.

The show started and the stage set-up itself was amazing. There were doors everywhere. The smiling cast came out and did a dance number, and then Donald, Goofy, Minnie, and eventually Mickey joined them. During the number there was a magic trick which made Tinkerbell appear.  My son leaned over to me and said “Mom, that was MAGIC”. Then, instead of watching the show, I watched him. He laughed and smiled and clapped along. The stage caught my eye because Cinderella’s castle was shimmering on the backdrop. I leaned over to my boyfriend, and said “I love this, and he LOVES it”, and with a huge smile he said “Me too!”.

By the time intermission came, we were fully engulfed in Disney magic.  We didn’t move from our seats, we just chatted about how great the show was and how we wished we could come back the next day.

The show started up again, and the magic picked right back up where it left off. All together the show with an intermission was about 90 minutes. When the final number came on, my group let out of a defeated sigh, and my son said “I think this is the end, but I am not ready to go.”

Disney Live! transported us with the magic of Disney. We were going through doors with Mickey, and dancing in the streets with Aladdin. We cowered from the Evil Queen and felt freedom with Rapunzel. I would recommend this show to any Disney fan, any kids, or kids at heart.