When you first read Fancy Nancy to your young daughter, you may have asked yourself, “Do I really want my daughter to put so much emphasis on her look at such young age? Is she going to give me hard time when we buy clothing? Should I start with French classes or is Chinese a better choice?”
But when you watch the play, Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas, which Vital Theatre Company adapted from the Jane O’Connor book, with illustrations by Robin Peiss Glasser, you will realize that Fancy Nancy is not too fancy and has is someone with many good qualities that you want your children to learn from. Her stories are amusing, the illustrations adorable, but they offer really sensible life lessons.
From the moment Fancy Nancy (played by Kaitlyn Sage) walks on stage, she is full of smiles and energy. Yes, she likes the attention, she uses difficult French words (which American kids are not exposed to) but she makes sure that every kid knows the meaning of her fancy words, and opens their horizon to new languages and cultures.
Fancy Nancy is excited about decorating the Christmas tree. She bought a brand-new sparkly tree topper with her own money, but as usual, things don’t turn out the way Nancy planned. She wants an expensive tree topper but does not have the money to pay for it. She is fancy but not spoiled. Nancy teaches us that her family and especially her sister, Jojo (played by the marvelous Gabrielle Pertosino),are more important than any fancy stuff that she could buy.
Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas is playing at the Vital Theatre from now until January 4th, 2015 on Saturdays and Sundays at 11am and 1pm. Tickets cost between $39.50-$49.50 and can be purchased here.
Liat Ginsberg is a mother and a former Journalist for the Israeli newspaper Maariv. She taught at the Film and Media department at Hunter College.
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