The Little Big Club

Today was Little Man’s first theatre experience – or musical theatre experience to be precise! We went to see The Little Big Club in The Olympia. The Little Big Club is a ninety minute show starring The Little Big Club band and a selection of their friends – Fireman Sam, Bob the Builder, Pingu, Thomas the Tank Engine, Angelina Ballerina, and Barney!

Little Man was fascinated from the moment Fireman Sam came on stage, and then when Bob the Builder appeared…his eyes lit up! But that was nothing compared to when Thomas the Tank Engine appeared on stage. Little Man visibly leapt in the air with excitement! It almost all went downhill for us immediately after that, however, because Little Man decided that nothing would do but to get up there on stage with Thomas. I think he thought he could go for a ride! It took us a minute or two to calm him down and explain to him that he could “look but don’t touch!”

Each character was on stage for 10-15 minutes, and sang two or three songs. With the exception of poor Pingu that is, who seemed to be hunted from the stage the minute he appeared. I was glad that Pingu isn’t one of Little Man’s favourite characters, because I’d imagine it could have been a bit confusing to see your favourite hunted off stage without a song.

As musicals go, this show definitely doesn’t rank high on my personal list of “must-sees”. The production values were questionable at best, and I will admit I was very glad that it was only 90 minutes long. But that didn’t seem to bother Little Man! All he saw were his favourite characters looking larger than life on stage. I think it was certainly a highlight for him!