A Ticket To Thrive from Baby Broadway
Welcome to our #TicketToThrive campaign. We believe wholeheartedly that doing something creative with your child will benefit you both. We’ve asked some other people who believe in the power of creativity to talk a little about a benefit they have seen when families get creative, and to suggest a simple activity that you can do at home. Today, we hear from Anna, founder of Baby Broadway.
Tell us about Baby Broadway: Baby Broadway and Baby Gospel are fun, informal family concerts, suitable for all ages from babies to school aged children right up to grandparents. Baby Broadway has West End singers performing popular songs from musicals and films and Baby Gospel is soul, Motown, pop and gospel music performed by professional gospel singers. Both concerts have interactive elements such as bubbles, actions, and puppetry that the audience can join in with.
I have a music background and had worked for six years for a musical theatre company when I had my daughter. I was taking her to a lot of music events but no one was really performing songs from musicals. I wanted to bring amazing singers from the West End and create something that adults would enjoy as much as children, and that would be flexible work for me around being a mum. I tried out a few Baby Broadway concerts, they went down really well and it grew from there.
Ticket to Thrive is all about encouraging families to do something creative together. What do families gain from coming to your concerts? 45 minutes of uplifting, great quality music that is perfect for when you’re sleep deprived! Going to a concert of familiar music is a shared experience that brings a sense of belonging and community. Perhaps you’ll get a trip down memory lane with music from your childhood, that you can share with your own kids. You might get the joy of seeing your little one light up when a song they know is performed right in front of them by an amazing singer. You might spend quality time with them, dancing around to music you love. Your child might surprise you by interacting with the performers or taking the spotlight! You might just get some lovely cuddles with your new baby as they sleep through it all.
Hopefully any of these are a reward for making the effort of getting out of the house with small children!
How can families get those same benefits at home? Throw your small person in the air to the tune of ‘Let’s Go Fly A Kite’ from Mary Poppins. They love it and you get an arm workout!
Encourage any form of dressing up. You don’t need any fancy costumes — just provide clothes, scarves, hats, and anything sparkly. Put on ‘Let It Go’ from Frozen and release your inner Elsa!
Introduce them to the soundtrack of a classic musical — or any type of music — that you love. If your kids see you enjoying something, chances are they will be more interested in it. So whether it’s Moana or Marvin Gaye, play it loudly at home, sing your heart out and do silly dancing. Let loose — they’ll love it. Then come and do it with us :)
Baby Broadway hold wonderful family concerts for babies, toddlers and their parents and carers across Greater London. They have loads of dates coming up in August so take a look at their website for the full schedule and to book tickets. You can find out more about their amazing events and find one near you at their website, or on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. They have also been kind enough to offer us four free tickets to their Baby Broadway show on Tuesday 20th August in Covent Garden, and two free tickets for your choice of Baby Gospel show next week at venues in Putney (Weds 7th Aug), Highgate (Thurs 8th Aug), Sydenham (Fri 9th Aug), and Walthamstow (Sunday 11th Aug). Head to the Let’s Play London accounts to enter (links below).
Let’s Play London shines a spotlight on the best theatre and live performance for Under 5s in London. Find us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
