The Vital Theatre Company Experience
From the curb to the lunch table — here is exactly what your family's day looks like.
The 55-minute musical is the part you buy a ticket for. It is not the part your child will remember.
They will remember the character who came to say hello at their seat, the dance the cast taught them, the colored marker signature in their program. What you will remember is that none of it was stressful.
Here is what happens, start to finish.
We meet you at the curb.
Our stroller valets are waiting outside when you pull up. Hand the stroller over and walk straight in — no folding it on the sidewalk, no wedging it into a lobby corner, no wondering where you are allowed to leave it.
You go inside with your hands free and your child's hand in yours. That is the whole idea.
You come through the door, and someone is already looking for you.
There is no queue to work out and no desk to find. You walk in and you are expected.
On the other side, our parent helpers are there to meet you. They will:
- Show you the accessible, family-friendly restroom — worth knowing where it is before the show starts
- Take your tickets — show the QR code on your phone, or just give us your last name if you cannot find it
- Walk you to your seats
- Bring a booster seat if your little one needs the extra height
And do not be surprised if a character from the show turns up at your seat to welcome you. They will happily chat with your child. They may want a photo.
The lights never go all the way down.
That is deliberate. Nothing goes suddenly black, so nothing has the chance to frighten anyone — and you can always see your own child's face.
It also means you can move. If someone needs the restroom, go. If your child needs a few minutes outside, take them. Nobody here will make you feel you have done something wrong.
The show runs 55 minutes and goes by fast — laughing, clapping, joining in, calling back to the stage. Underneath it is a genuinely good story, usually carrying a lesson simple enough for a four-year-old and true enough for you.
Then the cast teaches everyone the dance.
When the show ends, nobody hurries you toward the door. The cast teaches the audience a dance from the show, and the theatre turns into a dance party.
The characters come down to the front of the stage.
Not a rope line, not a queue in the lobby. The characters come down to the front of the stage, and that is where you meet them — close enough to talk to, at your child's eye level.
Your own family portrait.
Take your photo with the characters, and take the time to get one where everybody is actually looking.
We will even take the photo for you, with your own camera — so you are in the picture too, instead of behind it.
Colored markers, and a signature in your program.
Just when you think it is finished, wait a little longer. The characters come back out with special colored markers to sign books and programs.
Your child will keep that program. Ours have turned up in a lot of scrapbooks.
And by then, everyone is hungry.
You have all worked up an appetite. Families head out to lunch and spend it doing the best possible thing — talking about the show. Who was the funniest. Who was a little bit scary. What they would have done differently.
That conversation is the point of the whole day.
At Vital Theatre Company, we create core childhood memories that last a lifetime.