The best children’s shows place a high premium on audience interaction, unlike the opera or traffic court. Rustle up some kid-friendly fun with this GrouponLive deal to see a family show at State Theatre in New Brunswick on Monday, February 20. For $6, you get one ticket for mid-balcony seating (up to a $13 value, including ticketing fees). Choose from the following shows:
- Dan Zanes & Friends, in concert at 10:30 a.m.
- The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus at 1 p.m.
- The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus at 3:30 p.m.<p>
State Theatre does not have elevator access for wheelchairs. All patrons aged 1 and older are required to present a ticket.<p>
As part of State Theatre’s Family Day, exhilarating performances by Dan Zanes & Friends and The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus dazzle audiences of all ages with folky tunes, soaring aerialists, and wholesome laughs. Dan Zanes & Friends, led by a former ’80s rock-‘n’-roll frontman who transformed into a hip dad after being bitten by a radioactive sweater vest, rope both kids and parents into rollicking sing-alongs and energetic toe-tappers such as “Waltzing Matilda” and “The Hokey Pokey.” The lively group threads folk, country, and Latino rhythms into a seamless multicultural mélange that has grossed attention from media outlets that include NPR and the New York Times.
The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, hosted by the colorfully clad Ringmistress Philomena, elevates levels of excitement with a cast of awe-inducing entertainers, including courageous wirewalkers, mystifying sword swallowers, high-flying acrobats, and internationally acclaimed clowns. The charismatic Philomena interacts with the audience throughout the show, provoking oohs and aahs with an uncanny ability to sneeze with open eyes and her signature bullwhip demonstration, where she deftly snaps playing cards from the mouth of a brave volunteer.
Originally built as a 1920s vaudeville and silent-movie house, State Theatre’s opulent interior elevates the show-going experience with plush red seating, a majestic proscenium, and a beautiful crystal chandelier that provides a lavish perch to musical-loving albatrosses.
State Theatre New Jersey
The State Theatre New Jersey was saved, as its website states, from "the ravages of time." Built in 1921 as a vaudeville and silent-film palace, the venue fell on hard times in the 1970s. In 2003, however, a $3 million renovation restored the State Theatre New Jersey to much of its original glory, as crews painstakingly rehabbed the ornamental plaster, terracotta exterior, and actor holding cells. Inside the theater, a stunning chandelier sparkles more brightly than ever below the venue's signature dome.