Sure, you’re still waiting to get your family tickets to see Wicked this April at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, but in the mean time, there’s plenty of family-friendly fun to be had at the center. For something out of the ordinary and something the entire family can watch together, Le Theatre Motus’s Baobab fuses African dance and playful storytelling together for a performance you won’t forget.
For four performances Mar. 4 through 6, the company will present a fusion of puppetry, live musicians and actors to tell West African legends. Baobab features puppets made with percussion instruments such as the kora, or African harp, the balophone (a xylophone-like instrument of Mali), the thumb piano, the shakers and the bolon (stringed instrument from West Africa). The legend of the baobab involves a small boy saving his village from a great drought, but before you even go inside, you and your family can get a close-up look at all the different instruments in the show with a pre-performance in the Samueli Theater lobby.
Renowned musician and storyteller Asha’s Baba will hold pre-performance showcases before the 1 p.m. shows on Saturday and Sunday (March 5 and 6). Asha’s Baba will perform a variety of West African instruments, including ones used in Baobab.
So if you loved the style of the Lion King or you want to expose your kids to a new kind of show, there’s no doubt that Baobab will delight audiences anyone from age eight to 80.
The Segerstrom Center for the Arts is located at 600 Town Center Dr., in Costa Mesa. For more information or to purchase tickets to Le Theatre Motus’ Baobab, call the box office at 714.556.2746 or visit their official web site at www.scfta.org.
Like Haute Living Orange County? Join our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter @HauteLivingOC. Want Haute Living Orange County delivered to your inbox once a week? Sign up for our newsletter.