Accessibility at the New York City Children's Theater

The New York City Children’s Theater is helping families to get into the holiday spirit with their annual performance: My First Nutcracker! WFUV’s Grace Galbreath takes us to Theater Row to explore the magical Land of Sweets.

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GALBREATH: The New York City Children’s Theater is celebrating their fifth year of family-friendly Nutcracker performances. In addition to the famous Chai-cough-ski music, the performances include narration that encourages guests to stand at their seats, dance in aisles, and join in on the fun! 

AUDIO: *ambient clip*

GALBREATH: Barbara Zinn Krieger founded the New York City Children’s Theater in 1996. At the time, it was called “Making Books Sing”. Zinn-Krieger’s  grandchildren inspired her to create the Children’s Theater. They didn’t enjoy their first time seeing The Nutcracker, so Zinn-Krieger wanted to create a more kid-friendly experience. 

AUDIO: “So I was trying to explain to them, I was whispering this is what is happening now, this is what is happening now and behind me I was getting shh shh shh. We left at intermission, and I felt so bad that they were now able to enjoy the beautiful music and the story. So I said, you know what, we are going to create our own story. We created a story of the nutcracker which uses the  Tchaikovsky music which uses the same story, only the dancers are going to have to talk so that the kids understand what's going on.”

GALBREATH: Melissa Riker choreographed and directed this year’s Nutcracker  performance. The shows  are only 45 minutes long. It’s the perfect amount of time to keep kids engaged while introducing them to the world of ballet. 

GALBREATH: Zinn-Kieger says that there are not many differences between regular nutcracker performances and the Children Theater’s adaptation for young audiences. 

AUDIO: “The only real difference, because in fact, I think it has to be better than working for adults, because you know when kids are bored. They’ll move in their seats, they’ll talk to their friends, they’ll go to the bathroom. It is only an hour because that is a good time for kids. Especially because we have school groups coming. You have to keep them engaged and therefore it's gotta be good. If I see a parent looking at a cell phone while we are on the stage, I know I have failed.”

GALBREATH: The Nutcracker is one of the New York City Children’s Theater sensory-friendly performances. The theater first started offering the performances in 2019.

AUDIO: “They are designed to create a welcoming environment for all families with children on the autism spectrum and related conditions. We make changes in the performance. Including lights staying on a low level, lowering the sound levels, and acknowledging at the start to the audience that if kids want to verbalize, that's okay, if they want to get up and move around, that's okay too.”

GALBREATH: Nick Alsomoh is a professional dancer performing with the New York City Children's Theater for the first time. This season, he will be playing the roles of Fritz, the Nutcracker, and the Prince. 

GALBREATH: For Nick, seeing an audience filled with young children is fulfilling. 

AUDIO: “It is a rewarding profession to be on stage and share something that brings you joy with other people and invite them into it. Even if they can’t fully grasp what is happening, they can at least feel the joy and pick up with it and identify with it. They will remember it and want to ask questions and find a way to experience it themselves.”

GALBREATH: Nick says it’s important for children to see that the world of theater can be a diverse place. 

AUDIO: “I think for me specifically, seeing people perform when I was younger was very important to me. Especially people that I felt looked like me. Seeing them perform was inspiring and I wanted to be like them and it also let me know that I could do it too. Being on this side of it and wanting to potentially make someone else feel the way I did as a child is important to me.”

GALBREATH: Nick says children should be exposed to theater because it allows them to develop a personal connection to art. 

AUDIO: “I think it's good for children to see theater as early as possible, because theater has a way of telling stories in an abstract manner that allows people to connect to it from all different viewpoints. I also believe that by having a story like this that sort of explains the story of the nutcracker as its happening can help children identify with it and the holiday spirit sooner.”

GALBREATH: The New York City Children’s Theater is hosting the Nutcracker for a few more weeks this year, so feel free to stop by until December 21st! The Children’s Theater is also offering several child friendly performances in the new year, including a family-friendly adaptation of Pinocchio in the Spring. For WFUV News, I’m Grace Galbreath.

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