Travelsmartplanet

We were lucky enough to be invited to a Maori cultural group to mingle with women and children. We learned the craft of making instruments. And then we enjoyed singing along (with song sheets) with everyone from kids to their grandparents. All ages joined together to sing – and the kids knew all the words! People are wonderfully inviting all over the world.

Tags: age, Cambridge, children, community, craft, cultural, cultural group, gathering, Grandparent, group, heritage, instrument, inviting, kids, learn, Maori, Maori cultural, mingle, music, neighborhood, New Zealand, people, sheet, sights, sightseeing, sing, sing along, singing, song, song sheet, tour, tourist, tradition, traditional, travelblogger, women, word, world

How would your town (population of only about 10,000) handle it if 38 planes with 6,579 passengers landed on your doorstep unexpectedly? In Newfoundland, they have a local expression about visitors – they call them “the come from aways” – so that’s how the hit Broadway Show Come From Away got its name.

David Hein and Irene Sakoff, Canadian husband and wife librettists and composer-lyricists, took the thousands of stories of passengers and residents on that infamous day, September 11, 2001, when those jets landed in Gander Newfoundland, and turned them into a heartwarming award-winning Broadway musical.

The 90-minute show is drawn from real people’s experiences in Gander on Sept. 11 and on the subsequent days, and  turned them into 12  composite characters: American Airlines Captain Beverley Bass – the first woman captain in the airline’s history, gays, an anxious passenger worried about a missing relative, a man ignored because he looked Mid-Eastern, Southerners, Northerners and foreigners,  These terrified passengers are set down by frightening unexpected circumstances in an unfamiliar land, and are forced to depend on the kindness of strangers.

One can’t even imagine the needs of so many people, besides language, religious and cultural barriers on top of it. Cultures clash and nerves run high, but uneasiness turned into trust when the Newfoundlanders came through with untold hospitality, opening their hearts, their homes, their schools and their stores. When a volunteer went to round up supplies at the town pharmacy, the manager simply said “Take whatever you need off the shelves”.

The dozen in the cast are marvelous, and they somehow 3-D print themselves into a community of people. It’s truly an ensemble, all equally acting and singing their hearts out. To me the superlatives have to go to the set designer, as I’ve never seen chairs star in a show before. Bob Verini of Variety wrote, “passengers and officials…, shuffling set designer Beowulf Boritt’s furniture pieces into a range of evocative public and private spaces”.

Come From Away is now the longest-running Canadian musical in Broadway history. Producer Corey Brunish said, “It’s about how people respond to tragedy.” It shows, he said, that “there’s hope in the world, there’s hope for us as a human race.” “I can’t imagine a musical we need more right now”, Entertainment reported.

Now that eighteen years have passed, you can google the story and learn that the gratitude grew into enduring friendships, and how the passengers paid it forward.

Come From Away is “celebration best of humankind, and an uplifting piece of art for all our times” said The Daily Beast. Go see it and uplift your life.

Location: Elgin Winter Garden Theatre
Address: 189 Yonge St, Toronto, ON
Dates: til September 29, 2019
www.mirvish.com

.

We were totally surprised to find a dozen kids aboard our Trafalgar Costsaver escorted tour through Europe. They sure were lucky to go and they sure had fun.

Tags: Adventure, Austria, children, city, CostSaver, escorted, Europe, family, family adventure, family vacation, fun, Innsbruck, kids, kids travel, sights, sightseeing, tour, tourist, Trafalgar, travel, travel europe, travelblogger, travelling with kids

.

When in London, kids make a pilgrimage to the Kings Cross tube station where Harry Potter left for Hogwarts on special platform numbered 9 3/4. When we first visited this spot, a decade ago, there was the simple sign on the wall. It was a real treasure hunt to find it in the station.
Nowadays, it’s very easy. Just look for the giant lineup of kids and their parents willing to pay to take photos in front of it – AND- the very busy shop next door selling everything Harry Potter possible. You don’t need to pay to get into the Tube to get to this part of the station.

Tags: 9 3/4, Britain, British, children, city, decade, England, Europe, family photo, Great Britain, Harry Potter, Hogwarts, hunt, kids, Kings Cross, landmark, lineup, London, London City Pass, London Pass, London view, memorabilia, parent, photo, photo op, platform, shop, sights, sightseeing, sign, souvenir, station, tour, tourist, Trafalgar, train, train station, travel, Travel blogger, treasure hunt, tube, UK, United Kingdom, wall

Photos of Princess Di and her boys in Kensington Palace which is included on the London City Pass.

Tags: Britain, British, city, City Pass, Diana, England, Europe, family photo, garden, Great Britain, History, Kensington, Kensington Palace, London, London City Pass, monarchy, palace, pass, photo, Prince, Prince Harry, Prince William, Princess, Princess Diana, public, royal, royal family, royalty, sights, sightseeing, tour, tourist, Trafalgar, travel, Travel blogger, UK

During this year’s holiday season, families will be able to enjoy a festive drive through experience at Daytona International Speedway. The “World Center of Racing” will be transformed with hundreds of light displays into a holiday spectacle, a 1.5 mile long Magic of Lights, using the latest in LED and digital animation technologies specifically designed for this iconic venue.

Experience the holiday spirit drive-through from the comfort of your own car. At every turn, and in every direction, the magical route is overflowing with spectacular light displays and animations. Be transfixed when Santa’s team of reindeer cross in flight above your vehicle, see the sweetest 200-foot long Candy Cane Lane, a delightful Snowflake Forest and even more festivities.

Magic of Lights is a fun and memorable family entertainment. To commemorate the season of giving a portion of every ticket to Magic of Lights benefits the Florida Hospital Foundation.

Location: Daytona International Speedway, 1801 West International Speedway Blvd, Daytona Beach, FL 32114
Dates: until Dec 31st, 2018
Hours: every night from dusk – 10 pm
Tel: 330-441-4255
magicoflights.com/daytona
For Regional Accommodations, Restaurants & Attractions: daytonabeach.com

Tags: animation, area, beach, benefit, building, center, Daytona, Daytona Beach, Daytona International Speedway, designed, digital, display, drive, drive i-95, entertainment, facility, family, festive, Florida, foundation, fun, holiday, hospital, iconic, LED, light, lights, magic, Magic of Lights, memorable, midway, motorsport, racing, season, spectacle, speedway, spirit, stadium, technology, ticket, tour, transformed, venue, world

The playground at Crystal World, Innsbruck Austria, is not just for the young. Be prepared get lost in a labyrinth or climb and be a kid again.

Tags: Austria, children, climb, Europe, Innsbruck, labyrinth, outdoors, play, playground, playtime, sightseeing, Swarovski, Swarovski Crystal, Swarovski Crystal World, tour, Trafalgar, travel tourist, travelblogger, Wattens

A half century ago, a creative actor/director and immigrant (from South Africa via England), Maurice Podbrey, together with his equal half, Elsa Bolam (and Herb Auerbach and Peter Duffield) managed to knit together a theater company, Centaur, which was and is no easy feat. If that wasn’t nerve wracking enough for a person, Bolam then went on to start another successful one, Geordie Productions.

In an unintentional but perfect nod to the past, Eda Holmes, Centaur’s new artistic director, brings us Choir Boy set in a boys’ prep school while Podbrey’s first production, The Prime of Miss Jean Brody, took place in a girl’s school. The play is written by Tarell Alvin McCraney, who comes with a pretty flashy CV: he’s the Chair of Yale’s School of Drama, where he is also the Playwright in Residence at the Repertory Theatre. and he was also Playwright in Residence for Stratford-Upon-Avon’s Royal Shakespeare Company – and happens to be a member of the renowned Steppenwolf Theatre Ensemble. And let’s just throw in here that he wrote the story of Moonlight which won Oscars for best picture and for the writing.

The story is mostly about Pharus (played by Steven Charles), a gay student making his way through a very traditional private school. Charles commands the stage throughout, and we can’t wait to see where his star takes him (to the Broadway production?). His fellow students talk, yell, fight and sing a cappella as they share intimacies and rivalries when the old school values conflict with our modern world in rules, nepotism, faith, sexuality and school board traditions.  Tight direction by Mike Payette keeps you riveted throughout, while Lighting Designer Andrea Lundy’s magic creatively moves you around the set (loved the purple).

Floydd Ricketts, the musical director and arranger, was the right man in the right place to be able to create new arrangements of spirituals, gospel and jazz songs for a cappella harmonies.  Ricketts notes, “Even though this music comes from pain, there is also joy in it”. Dayane Ntibarikure, assistant director and choir movement facilitator, did a brilliant job of  having the actors move “slave slowly” around the scenes, adding foot stomping  to song and subtly evoking a chain gang in the shower scene.

Holmes has tweaked the play runs slightly this year by adding (less expensive) preview shows to get the performance just that more perfect for opening night. You know how much I like a deal, and Centaur offers much for FREE with behind-the-scenes info to enrich your  theater experience: Talk Back after the shows , Sunday Chat Up, Thursday Pre-Show Convo and the Saturday Salon.

How perfect that this golden Centaur season started by lifting our spirits with the power of music blended with this timely story. See Choir Boy in Montreal before you can’t get tickets on Broadway (Dec 2018)!

Location 453 St-Francois-Xavier
corner: Notre-Dame
Tel: 514-288-3161
Dates: til Oct 28
www.centaurtheatre.com
Metro: Place d’Armes

Tags: a cappella, actor, Andrea Lundy, Avon, behind-the-scene, boy, Broadway, Centaur, choir, Choir Boy, company, Dayane Ntibarikure, deal, director, Drama, Eda Holmes, Elsa Bolam, England, faith, fight, Floydd Ricketts, foot, free, Geordie, girl, gold, gospel, immigrant, jazz, knit, light, Maurice Podbrey, Mike Payette, Moonlight, music, nepotism, night, Oscar, playwright, power, prep, preview, production, purple, school, Shakespeare, shower, sing, slave, song, South Africa, spiritual, star, Steppenwolf, Steven Charles, Stratford-Upon, student, talk, Tarell Alvin McCraney, The Prime of Miss Jean Broday, theater, world, Yale, yell

Odysseo, the horse centric show, is awesome family entertainment which will WOW every member. If you can imagine taking Cirque du Soleil up a notch by marrying it with a team of gifted equestrians, this would be their offspring.

The show has acrobats, blade-running acrobats and horse acrobats – each team outdoing the other in their antics. There are raucous horses racing through jumps and quiet ballet-like riderless horses dancing to the whims of their female horse whisperer, Sylvia Zerbini.

Then why not throw in some African drumming, singing and dancing – for peace. When you combine 70 horses with 50 performers and all the high technology, multimedia and special effects, you create magic on stage.

The carousel pole acrobatics is  a charming setting for the melange of horse and rider/acrobats, but the white fabric/rope acrobatic act is the perfect “10” for each of the costume designer, set designer, lighting, artistic director and the acrobats themselves.

It’s hard to imagine it fitting into a tent setting, but horses appear on mountaintops, in an ice-scape, the woods, walking down hills, in rain storms, galloping as fast as the wind and even and splashing in a waterfront finale.

This time we attended with a youngster who had enjoyed horse camp this summer. She loved figuring out the equine trivia questions before the show started. In her child-like mind she imagined “horses dancing like people at a party”. We glanced occasionally at her face as she sat in awe, riveted to the stage watching instead a seamless ballet of people and horses.  And she was really hoping to get splashed by the playful horses.

Don’t wait – book tickets now as the run has been extended to Oct 21 and the price reduced to $60.  If you can afford it, the Rendez-vous VIP package, including dinner (roast beef and shrimp options) with an open bar, popcorn and drinks to take in to the show, a dessert buffet at intermission

(so Quebec-like with cheese there too), a stable visit, and a souvenir, really makes the evening special. This is a great idea for a do-ahead holiday gift for anyone – take the family, join co-workers or have fun with friends.

Location: Odysseo White Big Top at the corner of the boul. Rene-Levesque and De Lorimier
Tel: 866-999-8111
Dates: til Oct 21
www.cavalia.com
www.facebook.com/cavalia

Tags: acrobat, artistic, ballet, bar, beef, blade-run, camp, carousel, cave, child, Cirque du Soleil, costume, dancing, design, dessert, dinner, drink, entertainment, equestrian, equine, evening, face, family, female, friend, gallop, gift, Hill, holiday, horse, ice, intermission, jump, lighting, mountain, Odysseo, offspring, popcorn, Quebec, racing, rain, rider, roast, set, show, shrimp, splash, stage, storm, summer, tent, ticket, VIP, wind, wood, work

Haunted Harmonies A Capella Festival – Haunted Harmonies is a one day A Cappella Festival. Vocal Group Competition-2pm, Tabernacle Church (50 Washington St.) Free and open to the public. Street Singing-4:30pm-6pm, Essex Street Pedestrian Mall. Free. Evening Concert-7:30pm, Tabernacle Church (50 Washington St.) See website for tickets. Haunted Harmonies

Howl-O-Ween Costumed Pet Parade – Derby Wharf, Salem Maritime Historic Site, 160 Derby St. 1 pm-2:30 pm. The event will include plenty of fun and games and a parade and costume contest with prizes. The event is free, though attendees wishing to participate in the parade will be asked to register. Further details: Howl-O-Ween Parade

Dark Of Night At Pioneer Village– Pioneer Village, West Ave. – Forest River Park.  Starting at 7pm. In candle-lit cottages at the dark forest’s edge, ghostly tales are told. An annual event for those lucky enough to experience the village in October. Seating is limited. Parking is free. Schedule and ticket purchase: Dark Of Night

On Going Events:
Imprisoned! 1692 : Essex National Heritage Area, 35 St. Peter. St. Weekends in October. Experience the horrors of the Old Witch Gaol (jail), the actual location where many accused were held during the infamous trials. There’s no turning back now. On the eve of the deadliest night of the Witch Trials, the jailer will guide you to hear the stories of the convicted and their final pleas. Their fate has been chosen, but is it deserved? They will let you come to your own conclusions. Information and tickets

Salem Witch Museum 19 1/2 Washington Square North 978-744-1692 – Do you believe in witchcraft? At this museum get an understanding into the complex perception of witches, “from midwives and healers to witch hunts and Wiccans.” Salem’s most visited museum presents the witch hysteria of 1692 in an educational, thought-provoking, and a bit spooky way. You’ll learn about the event leading up to the witch trials, and what life was like in Salem.salemwitchmuseum

Photo Credit: John Andrews Photography

Tags: 4-D, animation, black light, Boston, broomstick, Candle Light, candle-lit, Cappella, celebrity appearance, ceremony, character, children, circle, circus, commemorative, concert, contest, costume, Count Orlok’s, Creepy Clown, cruise, custom, demonstration, Devils Chase, drive i-95, Edgar Allan Poe, emporium, event, exhibit, expo, festival, Festival of the Dead, fireworks, Fright Fair, fun, game, ghost, ghost tour, ghostly, Gothic, Halloween, hanging, Harley-Davidson, haunted, Haunted Happening, haunted house, high-tech, historic, History, horror, House of the Seven Gables, HYSTERIA, illusion, interactive, jury, kids, landmark, lantern, Lighthouse, magic, magical, mansion, Massachusetts, mind reading, Monster, murder, Museum, music, mysterious, New England, nightmare, Oddities, organ, pagan, parade, party, performance, Pet Parade, Phantom of the Opera, photo, Pioneer Village, pirate, prize, psychic, Psychic Fair, psychic reading, Puritan, readings, religion, ride, ritual, Salem, salem witch museum, Samhain, scenic, screening, sideshow, silent movie, soundtrack, spell, spirits, spooky, stunt, superstition, tale, tarot, tarot reading, testimony, time machine, tour, trick or treat, twilight, warlock, Wiccan, witch, Witch House, witch hunt, Witch Ride, Witch Trial, witchcraft, Witchery, witness