A child’s first real Philadelphia theater experience.

Recently we had the great opportunity to see the Enchantment Theatre Company‘s production of The Adventures of Harold and the Purple Crayon.  We have been reading a collection of Harold stories since Christmastime when Santa gave my son a book of four Harold stories.  I was fortunate to receive complimentary tickets to see Harold through a social media group to which I belong.  The performance was at the Prince Music Theater in the heart of Center City Philadelphia.  My son enjoyed taking the train into town and was great about walking to the theater from the train station.  This was his first Philadelphia Theater experience, although he has enjoyed the plays and productions at the Please Touch Museum.

If you are not familiar with the Harold stories, they are basically about a four year old little boy who uses his imagination and his purple crayon to create a pretend world for himself. With his crayon, Harold draws all sorts of adventures, from going to the moon and Mars, to visiting the circus.  In the performance, an actor portrayed Harold by wearing a mask and carrying a large purple crayon. To draw the images, he used the crayon to scribble in the air and the images appeared behind “him” on a screen.  (“Him” was really a she!) It was incredibly clever and looked realistic.  
There was an essemble of characters that interacted with Harold, including some very silly clowns and a princess/friend.  Mostly dressed in purple, the ensemble cast also contributed to the special effects of the show, helping create Harold’s bedroom setting, a garden, and a fun magic show.   The performance lasted about an hour, which was possibly a bit too long for us, but we made it through!  Towards the end was one catchy number that drew back my son’s attention when they told a story about the alphabet.  After the performance, the cast came out to take a bow and removed their masks so that the audience could see who was performing.  They also held a short question and answer session and gave a brief history of the show.

I was impressed with the magic that went on in order to create the special effects of Harold drawing and then some of those drawings coming to life, such as the rocket ship pictured above.  We had great seats in the second row, but I think even a seat further from the stage would be more magical, as I could see a few of the “how-to’s” of the special effects, but I don’t think the kids saw it.

When looking at the photos online of Harold, I was a bit concerned that the mask would appear frightening to my son.  It is a bit odd looking, but in person it was not as strange looking to me and my son did not seem a bit scared of any of it, even the witch!  (Although he said he didn’t like the witch.)  Seeing the actors afterwards also helped with understanding the masks and costume concepts.

If you are in the Philadelphia area, this is a great kids theater experience to enjoy!  The show runs until May 22.  Check out the shows website for ticket information.  The only thing missing was a corporate sponsorship opportunity with a famous local crayon company…it would have been great for kids to receive a purple crayon!  This was my first time in the Prince Music Theater and it was just beautiful!  I will be on the look out for their show schedule in the future.

Photo credits:  The first photo was taken by the author, the second two are from the theatre company’s website, as photography was not permitted during the show.

Thanks to the Enchantment Theatre Company for providing us with tickets!

Mama Diane

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