Making Believe

Edge of Make Believe—Kids Venue

The show starts out fun when everything goes wrong for performer Jason Broadfoot. Being a veteran presenter, I know what it’s like when a tiny bit goes wrong—imagine the catastrophe when you witness cascading failure across the board. This sets the stage for hilarity as Broadfoot attempts to salvage the show.

Broadfoot’s energy grabs the audience and has the kids cheering in support as they eagerly try to help him back on his feet. Through ingenuity and his tickle-trunk of goodies, he manages to scrape together enough to start the show.

That’s when it all falls apart.

This twisted rendition of Little Red Riding Hood attempts to be comical but it’s too juvenile for adults and not simple enough for kids—and frankly, a lot of the jokes aren’t funny (for kids or adults).

Before Little Green Baseball Cap makes it to the forest, the kids are already shifting restlessly in their seats. The dialogue drags on and on; there’s only so much charm in puppets if there’s no substance in the delivery.

On a personal note, I want to give special thanks to the kids’ organization that showed up at the last minute. Otherwise, it would have been just me, a mom, four kids, and Broadfoot. Yikes!

Ray Yuen