Things to Do in Austin: Goodnight Moon at Zach Scott Theatre!

There are few things I love as much as theatre, with the exception of a great book. Wanting to pass both of those loves along to Ava, you can imagine my excitement when I first heard back in December that Zach Scott theatre would be staging a production of Goodnight Moon this spring!

Though it's not technically "spring", the play/musical opened up this past Saturday, with public shows each Saturday at both 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. through March. We had been fortunate enough to win tickets from R We There Yet Mom?, and so we attended the opening production on Saturday at 11 a.m.

Here we are, getting ready for our mommy/daughter date!

I wasn't sure what exactly to expect going into the theatre. Would they just be acting out the book while reading aloud? Would there be singing? Dancing? Since it was based upon a short board book, how would they fill the extra time? I didn't know exactly what I was walking into, but Ava and I were both really excited for it!

As it turned out, my expectations were so completely surpassed - the show was AMAZING! The actors (Frank Nappi, Jill Blackwood, Amy Downing and Jerome Scholar) did such an amazing job of bringing the characters to life, while managing to tie in other children's riddles, stories, fairy tales and morals. Not only that, but I enjoyed it as much as Ava: What mother can't relate to chaos that ensues when your child fights the bedtime ritual?

As far as the theatre goes, I was just as impressed with the Kleberg Stage (the smaller-capacity stage in the building to the right of the main theatre building) as I was the main stage - there is truly not a bad seat in the house the way that the stages are set up! The costumes, the set, the props - everything was top notch!

Check out the spectacular stage:

And a shot of my little one before the show. She saw another little boy asking his mom to take a picture, and she was camera-ready in seconds!

Here she is again, this time with Little Bunny (Frank Nappi) and Mommy Bunny (Jill Blackwood), who were kind enough to pose with Ava as we were on our way out! Thank you - you made this little theatre-lover-in-the-making's day!

Goodnight Moon runs through March 23rd, with shows open to the public Saturdays. Other showings are reserved for schools and other groups. Tickets are $14 for children and $16 for adults, and totally worth every penny, if you ask me :)