My family was given five free tickets to see Emerald City Theatre’s presentation of Ken Ludwig’s ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place in exchange for posting a review of the show. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own.

Show Overview

Adventure to the North Pole with sweet, fun-loving Emily and her best friend Amos the Mouse, as they join forces with a spritely elf named Calliope to save Christmas from the evil misdeeds of one of Santa’s fallen helpers. Audiences of all ages will be delighted with this fanciful story of bravery, friendship, and Christmas cheer.

Show Highlights

Touching on a traditional Christmas standard, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas takes what is familiar and writes a new holiday story for family audiences. From first stage light to final carol, our family was engaged in this whimsical, magical tale. Here were a few of my favorite takeaways:

Incredible Ensemble

It’s hard for me to watch a show without also noting the strength of an ensemble, and this particular cast is second to none. I was waiting for one character to outshine the others and it just simply wasn’t done. Each actor brought a certain strength and distinctive sparkle to their performance (most had multiple characters to play) and each shone with absolute brilliance. I loved them all!

Gorgeous Costumes & Staging

As you can probably gather from the beautiful production photos by Austin D. Oie throughout this post, without a word spoken or song sung, both the costumes and staging were full of Christmas merriment. Every detail was so beautiful and every scene change magical. HUGE props to everyone behind the scenes who made this production so amazing.

Engaging for a Variety of Ages

With two boys fast approaching 10 and 8, and one just turned 3, it is challenging to find family activities that hit everyone’s interests (that are also not dull for mom and dad). ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas was the perfect holiday show to meet everyone in our family right where they are. My three-year-old watched the entire performance with rapt attention. My husband and I laughed out loud on several occasions. My ten-year-old LOVED the sword fight scenes, and my almost eight-year-old was super impressed with the modern rap take on songs presented throughout the performance.

Story Content & Message

The script was beautifully written, funny, and very clever, communicating messages of friendship, bravery, kindness, forgiveness, and a sentiment of stick-to-itness even when things are hard. There were several well-placed Biblical allusions in this secular story that were really nice for us to touch on with the boys on the ride home.

Overall, we really loved the show. ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas was the perfect start to our holiday season!

Parent Notes

Parking

Parking downtown is generally CRAZY and EXPENSIVE, but the folks at the Broadway Playhouse make it exceptionally easy. We parked in the Water Tower parking garage and made sure to ask for a parking validation ticket when we picked up our show tickets. Not only did it drop the cost of our parking down by $24, it allowed us to leave all our coats and extra stuff in the car for the show, which made EVERYTHING easier about our experience. The garage is heated, and while you exit on the opposite side of a covered street in Water Tower, The Broadway Playhouse is literally thirty seconds out the door. No one complained about the temp, and Mike and I enjoyed not dragging five coats (and hats, and gloves, and, and, and) for the duration of the presentation.

Water Tower Place

I will also put a plug here for Water Tower Place. After the show we ran across the same covered street and hung out at the mall, grabbed a Starbucks and Garrett’s popcorn, and hit up the Lego store. SO MUCH FUN. The Broadway Playhouse is literally the perfect place to see a family show because of everything that is so accessible around it (those of you with girls may want to check out American Girl).

Pictures

Always a favorite with our crew, the actors of Emerald City Theatre hang out at the end of the performance to sign autographs and take pictures with the kiddos. This is the icing on the cake for my boys, and we treasure these photos and autographs as a precious family memory.

Show Run and Ticket Info

Ken Ludwig’s
‘Twas the Night Before Christmas

November 3 – December 30, 2018
At the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place

Directed by Jacqueline Stone
For all ages

Single tickets are available at all Broadway in Chicago box office locations and all Ticketmaster retail locations, or you can call the Broadway Playhouse at 800-775-2000. Group tickets for 10 or more are available at 312-977-1710. For more information visit emeraldcitytheatre.com.