The Children's Theatre of Cincinnati

We are on our second round of drama classes for our 8 year old here and we love it. We have been going to shows since our boys were very little and never disappoint. Their new facility on Red Bank is amazing. Beautiful space rhat offers plenty of room for classes and performances and a wonderful lobby and waiting area for parents.

We had the pleasure of taking 3 of our 4 daughters to see Alice in Wonderland. Our other daughter saw it with her class. It was absolutely AWESOME!!! Everything was wonderful...from choreography to special effects. The colors were bright and bold, and kept the attention of little ones. The Cheshire Cat was my favorite. The effects were phenomenal! The overall acting was spot on. I'd definitely recommend any parent to take their kids to a Children's Theatre production. We can't wait to take our girls to their next shows, especially Elf Jr!

I guess I'm a jerk for thinking this but when I got tickets to the Children's Theater of Cincinnati I expected a kid's play. That is, not so good kid actors playing around with cardboard sets mumbling their lines.I guess I am a jerk.While kids were a big part of the cast this was no kid's play. It was a very professional production. I saw Peter Pan Jr. It was well set, well acted, well directed and the wire work was impressive. The fact that it's held at the historic Taft was even better.My only gripe - and this is minor - is when one of the staff came out before the performance to admonish the kids to behave. For one, this is the parent's job and two (and this is especially so for boys) it's the first step on the path held by too many grown men that 'theater is boring and not a place for fun'. I saw that thought planted in the heads of several 7 year old boys that day. But then again I've not spent weeks putting my heart & soul into a production that could be ruined by one wailing kid.

The staff was rude to us when we came for a field trip and the field trips were a nightmare of logistics. We are super disappointed and will not be coming back for future field trips.

I had the opportunity to chaperone my sons class visit to see The Little Mermaid this past week. I was very excited to see a performance here as I was a theatre major in college and did Children's theatre professionally, right out of college. I arrived early and was in the lobby while the staff prepared for 40 school busses to arrive. They were very pleasant and prepared. It was very organized and went super smooth. (Nothing to do with the actual performance but good to know they are concerned with getting children in efficiently and safely)The show started on time and the kids seemed to enjoy it. This show was probably better for kids slightly older than the Kindergarten class I was with. Some of the actors were better than others, I would say they were all better singers than actors. The costumes were wonderful. The Ursula costume was pretty fantastic. Each tentacle had a human moving it about. The set was really beautiful, the lighting and sound were all good, too. This show actually had some flying. Of course, all the kids loved pointing out the wires. It made me nervous as it just didn't look super natural. Maybe they needed a few more performances to be 100% comfortable? The length of the show was just right for the squirmy kiddos. My 5 yr. old said there weren't enough jokes. I agree. A few more jokes and audience interaction would have made this a 5 star performance. We would definitely give another show a try.

My grandsons live every play and activities we attend. The new theatre/school is outstanding.

We saw Willy Wonka last Saturday, and had an absolutely wonderful time (yes, according to my driver's license I am an adult)! Bob Herzog, was hilarious...he is Cincinnati's Jim Carey!

We took 2 families to the Magical Adventures of Merlin. It was OK, but for $27 per ticket, it seemed very short at only 1 hour.One thing to consider changing with this particular production: The director of the theatre appears to really enjoy being on stage and spent a long time with the opening admonishments. It would be a lot more fun to have a little magic show (hey, it's Merlin, after all) prior to the show to warm the kids up and give them something to do besides play with their parents cell phones.The seating is a little cramp and not graduated enough for little kids to see.On this particular show, don't expect the men to be manly and the princess Guinevere to be the typical princess. She is sword hacking right along with the guys.