We began Face Timing with Olivia when our kids moved to Chicago from  Michigan (where they had lived 15 minutes from us.)  Several afternoons a week, Olivia and I read together for a half hour or so and then it’s  Music Time with Grandpa. Face Time + YouTube videos = a stellar musical experience.  Who knew?

Martin finds amazing performances for  them to enjoy together.  They began with the Michigan Marching Band and the The Flight of the Bumblebee performed by the Canadian Brass.  George, an impossibly cute bespectacled   six-year-old introduces viewers to Sydney’s Youth Orchestra.  He kept Olivia captivated from Brass to Winds for weeks on end.

 Martin expanded the repertoire to ballet and opera. Trust me, you haven’t seen the Sugar Plum Fairies until you see them perform in LED tutus. While it would be unthinkable to take a four-year-old to a production of Turandot, it is a snap to find lavish performances from every country and company imaginable.  HIs search for Mozart’s Queen of the Night netted three different productions — two featuring Diana Damrau (costumed in green and in black) and a student production that turns the story on its head. In this last one. the eye-rolling adolescent gets the guy and leaves her mother sputtering in impotent outrage.  I hope Olivia forgets about this one by the time she’s fifteen or my daughter-in-law will have my head.

What’s your theatrical passion? Share it with your grandchildren. YouTube leads the way.

Gotta have an LED tutu for your grandchild? Etsy to the rescue!