Kids Take the Stage: Family-Friendly Theater--The family-friendly theater scene is flourishing these days. There's so much going on that it's best to check New York magazine, Time Out New York, or the Friday New York Times for current listings. Besides larger-than-life general audience Broadway shows, the following offer some dependable kid-targeted entertainment options.
The stunningly renovated New Victory Theater, 209 W. 42nd St., between Seventh and Eighth avenues (tel. 646/223-3020; www.newvictory.org), reopened in 1995 as the city's first full-time family-oriented performing arts center and has hosted companies ranging from the Trinity Irish Dance Company to the astounding Flaming Idiots, who juggle everything from fire and swords to bean-bag chairs.
The Paper Bag Players (tel. 212/663-0390; www.paperbagplayers.org), called "the best children's theater in the country" by Newsweek, perform funny tales for children 4 to 9 in a set made from bags and boxes, in winter only, at Hunter College's Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse, 68th Street between Park and Lexington avenues (tel. 212/772-4448). If you can't make it to the Kaye, call the players to inquire whether they'll be staging other performances about town.
TADA! Youth Theater, 15 W. 28th St., between Fifth Avenue and Broadway (tel. 212/252-1619; www.tadatheater.com), is a terrific youth ensemble that performs musicals and plays with a multiethnic perspective for kids, teens, and their families.
The Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre (tel. 212/988-9093; www.centralpark.org) puts on marionette shows for kids at its 19th-century Central Park theater throughout the year. Reservations are a must.
The "World Voices Club" of the New Perspectives Theatre, 750 Eighth Ave., between 46th and 47th streets (tel. 212/730-2030; www.newperspectivestheatre.org), has a different puppet show based on fables from different world cultures each month.
While David Mamet hardly seems like a playwright for the kiddies, the "Atlantic for Kids" series is making a go of it at the Atlantic Theater Company, 453 16th St., between Ninth and Tenth avenues (tel. 212/691-5919; www.atlantictheater.org), which Mamet cofounded with Academy Award-nominated actor William H. Macy. The Phantom Tollbooth entertained in 2003, so it's worth seeing what's on while you're in town.
Another excellent troupe that excels at children's theater is the Vital Theatre Company, 432 W. 42nd St., between Ninth and Tenth avenues (tel. 212/268-2040; www.vitaltheatre.org); it's well worth seeing what's on.
If you want to introduce your kids to the magic of live opera, check out the "Opera in Brief" program, which runs most Saturdays at 11:30am, at Amato Opera. For kid-friendly classical music, see what's on at Bargemusic, which presents chamber-music concerts for kids throughout their regular season. Look for Young People's Concerts and Kidzone Live!, in which kids get to interact with orchestra members prior to curtaintime, at the New York Philharmonic. Also check to see what's on for the entire family at Carnegie Hall, which offers family concerts for a bargain-basement ticket price of just $5, plus the CarnegieKids program, which introduces kids ages 3 to 6 to basic musical concepts through a 45-minute music and storytelling performance. Finally, don't forget "Jazz for Young People," Wynton Marsalis's stellar family concert series at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
