Later in the month, on July 29, we'll try to clop over to the Bob Baker Marionette Theatre for the new musical "Arabian Nights." This is a perfect opportunity not just for entertainment, but enlightenment.
Halfway through the show, I'll nudge the children and point to one of the puppets.
"See that?" I'll say. "That's Daddy."
Then I'll point to where their strings disappear above the top of the set.
"Up there somewhere?" I'll say. "That's Mommy."
On Aug. 15, we'd like to go back to the Hollywood Bowl to watch Enrique Diemecke conduct the L.A. Philharmonic with pianist Nicolai Lugansky in a Rachmaninoff program. Our two older children play piano. They might not listen to us encouraging them to practice, but they'll listen to Rachmaninoff.
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Don't worry, we'll leave the youngest child at home that night. Our it-will-cost-you-more-if-you-actually-want-me-to-turn-off-MTV baby-sitter needs to make another car payment.
On Aug. 19, with school approaching, we'd like to attend a reprise of the three-actor production of "History of the World" at Miles Memorial Playhouse in Santa Monica's Reed Park.
Why?
The play has been highly recommended to my wife by that fascist dictatorship known as One of the Other Mothers at School. We've even once changed schools based on One of the Other Mothers at School.
Now that we're passing out mind candy, it would be cool to end the summer at the Burbank Center Stage on Aug. 26 with a revival of Ray Bradbury's musical, "Dandelion Wine."
Our 10-year-old daughter has read the book. We hope a trip here will convince her of the wonders of theater. We also hope it will remind her the book is always better.
