The production for our third visit to the dinner theater up in Dayton was The Little Mermaid and I must admit that I had my misgivings going in about how they were going to be able to pull this one off. Half of it was supposed to be under the sea...with mermaids...and fish...and a crab; how do you even do that? What I WAS excited about was our seats. Normally there are 12 of us going and we just get two tables that seat 6 people each; these tables are usually midway up the room, always with a great view of the stage. But this year Bryan would be going with us and the only way to have enough seating was to get two tables that seated 8 people and those tables just happened to be on the floor, up close and personal. With great excitement I told the kids that we would be sitting on the floor this year. Xander gave me a quizzical look and said, "Mom, I might have a really hard time eating my food sitting on the floor." I quickly explained to him that our TABLES would be on the floor, not that we would actually be sitting our bums on the floor, and he felt much better. Kids are so literal!
We always have so much fun when we go, even before the play starts! Gotta have those pre-play pictures! The seating arrangements have stayed the same the past three years - Kellan, Noah, Heidi, Ryan, and me and David, plus Bryan this year...
and Grandma and Grandpa taking charge of Savannah, Xander, McKenna, and Ash.
Such a crazy group! (Just seeing that salad sitting there makes me want some; it's my absolute favorite part of the dinner.)
Noah with his favorite Uncle Bryan, enjoying his chocolate pudding and dirt with worms. I was bummed because there was no key lime cheesecake again this year...boo!
And then things got a little crazy...
Those two!!!
What can I say about the play? It was absolutely fantastic, easily the best production we've seen there so far! Every single actor did an amazing job in their part, the dances were fabulous, the music made me want to join in and sing, and the characters interacted with the audience which made it even more fun. The two eels narrowed in on Kellan and would talk to him or wave at him throughout the play. After it was done we headed to where we could meet the actors and get their autographs. Several of them remarked that they remembered us as sitting in the front row.
The kids with one of the mermaids (she was hilarious and would keep flipping her mermaid tail over her head with this spacey look on her face), a merman, and Chef Louie whose performance in the kitchen chasing Sebastian was spot on!
King Triton - when he first came on the stage Heidi whispered to Ryan, "Is he for real?" The man didn't have an inch of fat on him; his muscles were quite the sight!
Ursula and her eels - they remembered Kellan as the little boy they had been interacting with during the performance and were so cute to him in the autograph session.
Sebastian and Scuttle were hilarious! Scuttle also commented on remembering us and was really great talking to the kids afterwards.
The talented Eric and Ariel - they were wonderful and so gracious while talking to us.
As Dad and I walked outside together he put his arm around me and said, "Well, one thing's for sure...we can never sit anywhere else when we come here again!" That's for sure! I loved being on the floor and having such a personal experience with the cast. What a great night and a wonderful way to end our trip to Cinci.
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