Five Dollar Fun

The Ford Theatre Delivers $5 Family Fun

What can you get for five bucks these days? A latte? About a gallon of gas? You certainly can't see a movie for $5 – not even a matinee.  How about a one hour musical production at an outdoor theater in Los Angeles? Ding, ding! We have a winner! The John Anson Ford Amphitheatre offers $5 (for adults - kids are FREE!), one hour family events through their Big! World! Fun! program at 10:00 a.m. every Saturday throughout the summer.

Ava loves dancing, movement and lots of color so I was very excited to see one of the programs offered was a Bollywood style dance show produced by Blue13 Dance Company. Doug conveniently had to work that Saturday morning, so I dragged a dear friend along with us for the experience. We met for breakfast at 8:00 a.m.at the Good Neighbor Restaurant in Hollywood (they were very baby friendly even though there isn't a changing station in the bathroom) and then we headed over to the Ford Theatre in time to find our seats for the show.

The production was definitely interesting. They performed various dance routines and had an audience participation song where the kids were encouraged to get up on stage and learn a bit of Bollywood choreography. While Ava was too little for the dance instruction, she loved the colors and the movements just as I had expected she would. She was enthralled with group ensembles and the melodic music.

I wish we had experienced more of the Big! World! Fun! productions earlier in the season because it's something different to do as a family. And for five bucks you can forgive any performance for not being Broadway worthy. We had lovely Saturday morning and then a pooped out princess on our car ride home. She slept for almost three hours that day.

There is one more program left in the summer series. This Saturday, August 31^st, DAFRA West African Drum & Dance Ensemble will be performing the finale. We actually saw this group perform a few weeks ago when we visited the Noah's Ark Exhibit at the Skirball Culteral Center. And since Ava was captivated with them as well, we very well may head back to the Ford to say good bye to summer and this family affair. I forgot to mention – parking is only $1. You can't beat that!

For more information, visit: www.fordtheatre.com