March 23, 2010

Having a baby changes everything. Alex is six months old now. He may not be able to say that he is bored yet, but Alex sure lets me know. This morning he would not nap or sit still. He wanted to get out of the house and do something fun. So we set out to Milagros Boutique to see Mr. Ben perform.

For those of you unfamiliar with Mr. Ben, you can view videos of his performances on his web-site and on U-tube. I watched one of the videos with Alex this morning before we set off. In it, Mr.Ben sings Twinkle Twinkle and the ABC song with a Ukulele. Alex enjoyed it very much.

We arrived at Milagros 20 minutes early. Unfortunately the store does not open until 11 and the performance room was still locked, so we wandered around the area for a moment. There is a coffee shop across the street, but pretty much everything else on the block is closed until later. Next time I will aim to be there just a few minutes before the show so I can go straight in. On another note, parking is on the street, so the one benefit of being super early is there are more spots available. There are no tickets for the show, but a $3 per walking person donation is recommended to pay the performer.

The performance room is an eclectic, colorful room that Milagros also uses for classes and birthday parties. The room has couches, chairs, and a play house for the kids. Alex and I were among the first to arrive, so we sat in a couch in the second row of the room. Since it is Spring break this week, Milagros had their largest audience yet for the show, and people were still coming in ten to fifteen minutes after the show had began. The room got pretty full, but I understand that on a normal day there would not be as many people.

Mr. Ben started performing right on time, singing and playing his acoustic guitar. His music was educational and fun, and he encourages the children to join in and express themselves. He sings original songs and traditional songs, often with a twist. For instance instead of Old Mac Donald, he sang Old Mick Jagger and used the song to introduce the members of the band (guitar player, drummer, dancer, singer, etc.).

Unfortunately Alex fell asleep half way through the show and no amount of the rest of the audience singing, clapping, and stomping would wake him up. This is no way a reflection of the show. He’s just a 6 month old baby who hadn’t taken a nap yet and was exhausted. I enjoyed the rest of the show with him asleep on my nap. At the end of the show Mr. Ben pulled out the ukulele and performed the Twinkle Twinkle and ABC songs, then allowed the children to come to the front to hold his ukulele.

I would have loved to get a photo of Alex with the ukulele, but as he was sound asleep, I made a speedy departure in hopes of getting him home still asleep so I could get some work done. Of course he woke up in the car on the way home and is now sitting on my lap yelling at me to pay attention to him. Babies…

Mr. Ben Performs Tuesdays at 10:00 at Milagros. You can also catch his show at Posies Café Mondays and Thursdays at 10 am and at Mississippi Pizza Pub Wednesdays at 4 pm. For Mr. Ben’s current schedule and videos of his performances, please check his web-site at www.mrbenmusic.com.

Mr. Ben is also available to perform at birthday parties and private events. If you are interested in having a performer like Mr. Ben perform at a party but are concerned about not having enough space at your house, consider having the party at Inflatable Kingdom. Parties at Inflatable Kingdom are loads of fun and having live performers is a great option to make a party extra special.

HL

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