We couldn’t have selected a better time to visit Kansas City, Missouri because we were able to see the premiere of Beat Bugs: A Musical Adventure at the Coterie Theater. The musical is based upon the Netflix Original Series, Beat Bugs and the music from the Beatles.
Beat Bugs: A Musical Adventure- Show Information
- What?: Beat Bugs: A Musical Adventure
- Where?: The Coterie Theater . 2450 Grand Boulevard . Kansas City, Missouri
- How Much?: $13.00 (youth under 18, full-time students, senior age 60+), $17.00 (adults) $5.00 – $8.00 (groups of 20 or more)
- When?: April 16- May 19
Before The Show
Before the show, we watched a few episodes of the Netflix series. This helped us to become familiar with the characters and the story line. We also dressed the par by wearing our Buzz costume.
If your little ones are new to the theater experience, the Coterie Theater has created a video entitled, ” An Alien’s Guide to the Theater”. This engaging and funny video can be used to start a discussion about expectations prior to children attending the show.
The Coterie Theater provides lesson plans and additional resources to help educators to prepare students for the performance and to continue the learning afterwards. While the resources were made for older children, we were able to easily adapt them for toddlers. For example we used the caring for the environment lesson to look for insects and collect trash in order to help care for our community. We also used the Central Theme Lesson by drawing pictures of parts of the performance and using them to retell the story. The process of retelling events with toddlers is essential to memory and overall brain development. While our little toddler is not quite ready for the Ride Home Reflection questions, they influenced us to listen to some of the Beatles Greatest Hits in the car and have an automobile dance party! We also looked at pictures of the real bugs portrayed by the characters a few days after the performance.
The Show
The Beat Bugs musical is based upon the adventures of four backyard insect buddies who are on a mission to save the Strawberry Fields from being destroyed by Mr. Mustard, a stink bug who is the owner of Mr. Mustard’s Destruction of Happiness Plant. This show captures the audience’s attention with its vibrant costumes, eye-catching setting designs and musical performances based on the timeless work of musical icons, The Beatles. The writers of the play did an impeccable job of including a story line that is easy to follow by little theater goers and also makes it easy for adults to help children to apply what was included in the play into their daily lives. The play depicts the importance of strong friendships; caring for our community and standing up for the things you believe it all within 65 minutes.
Photo Credit: J. Robert Schrader 
Photo Credit: J. Robert Schrader 
Photo Credit: J. Robert Schrader 
Photo Credit: J. Robert Schrader 
Photo Credit: J. Robert Schrader
After the Show: Meeting the Cast
After the show, we had the opportunity to meet some of the characters. There personalities were just as energetic off stage as they were under the big lights. They treated us like friends and thanked us for coming to the show. This was definitely the icing on the cake and gives us another reason to visit the Coterie Theater in Kansas City, Missouri again in the near future.
Meet the Cast: (left to right): Mean Mr. Mustard (Phil Newman), Walter (Steven Eubank) and Prudence (Mandy Morris)
Advice for Tiny Theater Goers
After the performance, I realized that I should have done a few things differently prior to the performance. I definitely would have selected a seat close to the exit just in case we had to leave the theater for a bathroom or brain break (which we had to do). I would have also probably pre-planned to leave the theater for a few minutes in the middle of the performance to give my little one that opportunity move around a little and explore the theater’s lobby.
Sense-Sational Toddler 