The New Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley at the Adventure Theatre at Glen Echo is a ton of silly, song-filled fun.  My kids were cracking up the entire time.  This production takes the classic book and series that we grew up with and grows it into a big, whimsical production with humor aimed right at the pre-k through elementary school set.

There’s a singing mail lady, a bratty but brainy brother, clueless parents (the kind in all the BEST kids’ movies and plays),  guys dressed up like girl hula dancers, talking paintings at the Louvre and a flat-as-a-pancake Stanley who gets to travel the world for the cost of a postage stamp.

My family and I laughed the hardest when Flat Stanley’s brother loves Harry Potter a little too much (going so far as to shout Expelliarmus! mid sibling brawl) and when Stanley has a very L.A. Story experience when he goes to visit his Hannah Montanaish friend on the West Coast.  And OK, especially when the male hula girls with hairy legs and black socks really got into shaking their grass skirts.

It’s a riot. 

The songs are also pretty cute.  They’re not the stuff of Disney animated films or Broadway musicals, but it’s family theatre, not RENT for kids.  We liked the  original compositions and the actors sung their hearts out.

It was one of our fave shows at the Adventure Theatre to date, and with my kids’ previous devotion to Go, Dog.  Go!;  Babe The Sheep Pig; Goodnight Moon and The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, that says a lot.

Upcoming Showtimes

Friday evening 7pm March 12

Saturdays and Sundays 11am & 1:30pm until April 3

Spring Break Daytime Weekday Performances March 29 – April 1

ASL Interpreted and Autism-Friendly Performance – April 3 at 1:30pm

Weekday Fieldtrips for Schools at 10:30am, schedule here

Tickets available for weekday 10:30am performances depending on school field trip bookings

You can book a birthday party performance viewing (or a LIGHT SABER birthday party, my son covets this big time) too

And local youth actors are also putting on performances of Alice in Wonderland – check out the performance times for this show (I haven’t seen it) here.

Tickets:  Adults $15, Children 12 and under $12, all children must have  a seat

Highly recommend for your rainy weekend!