Monday, December 5, 2011

The Flying Latke @TheFleaTheater

Yesterday morning Alison and I visited The Flea theater to see Arthur Yorink's  The Flying Latke, a tale of Chanukah celebrations, holiday dysfunction and the miracle of a soaring potato pancake.

The Flying Latke. Photo Crystal Arnette

Adapted by Yorinks from his children’s book, The Flying Latke tells the story of young Danny Silverstein and his family as they celebrate the first night of Chanukah. Danny, like most teens, is mortified by his crazy family- their quirks and their quarrels embarrass him so much that he's painfully reticent to retell the tale that leads to their enlightenment. Thank goodness he works up the courage because the story is a scream and can't help remind you of how important your family is, warts and all.

In this story a dispute over something as innocuous as the model of a car starts a food fight that sends a latke sailing out the window and over the city, causing a UFO frenzy that alerts the Air Force and the media. With the press camped out on their from lawn, the Silversteins hunker down in their home, with their extended family visiting, 'till the attention dies down. Here's the catch- there is nothing left in the house to eat but latkes, and, in keeping with history of Chanukah, the latkes, of which there was enough for the one evening's celebration, miraculously replenish to last for the eight days of self-imposed sequestration. The miracle latke-on-the-loose comes back on the eight day when the family has finally stopped bickering, and learns to respect each others thoughts and feelings.

The lesson wasn't lost on my 6 year old and certainly the adults in the audience appreciated the amusing reminder of the tolerance required in any and all things family. Four thumbs up from Alison and I.

Alison and her new dreidel.

Don't be afraid of off-Broadway mums and dads - at $12/ticket its a bargain and the most affordable family entertainment in the city. Note that this is a limited engagement- performances are on December 10,11 and 17th @ 11:00am.
When you order tickets, use code BLOG5 and get $2 off your ticket - that makes them only $10 each. Deal!

For more blog posts on The Flying Latke, visit MamaDrama.



Disclosure: I attended this performance, with complimentary ticketsprovided, as a reviewer and contributor on behalf of MamaDrama. The opinionsexpressed here are strictly my own.

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