Wheelock Family Theatre — Attraction in Boston

The staff and seats were great! I went with my son to watch Flora & Ulysses. The actors and actresses are very talented! The set was also really amazing.

However, the script was a bit underwhelming, and didn’t sit right with me. Flora’s mom was portrayed ignorant and heartless, choosing to show more affection to her decorative lamp over her daughter. The main character Flora conversed with her parents and others (the waitress, her neighbors) with angst and attitude in her tone and body language. In addition, Flora repeatedly did things behind her parent’s backs, like keep the squirrel in her house without first discussing with her parents, reading comics even though she promised she wouldn’t etc. She also was critical and disrespectful of her mother’s profession/passions. When her mother took her squirrel out, her solution was to take her mother’s lamp as a threat to her mom instead of a respectful confrontation. It seemed like the play prioritized her friendship with the squirrel over trying to work on family ties. This was supposed to be a performance for children, but there were so many elements that felt opposing to the values and morals that we should model for our children. This was my personal experience, at least.

Hopefully there will be other plays that we will enjoy here...

Went to see Billy Elliot - sadly shocked. We heard lots of great things about this theater and had high hopes. The musical was not for families, well not for families for kids in middles school/grade school. Practically every other line of dialogue had a swear, songs of spousal abuse, and other adult material would make this a Rated R play if ratings could be given out. I'm sure for an adult audience it would be a good artistic dance/musical, but it definitely wasn't a family musical. I wish Wheelock Family Theater would have given proper warning and and/or not advertised this as a family event and saved us the cost of 4 tickets. We ended up leaving at halftime but wish we left...

Extremely grateful for how inclusive this theater was for children with disabilities. My son is autistic and we discovered the social story in the “Resources” section which made a HUGE difference as we prepared for and during the show. They also had a squishy toy available upon request and, upon seeing him having a difficult time entering the theater, a staff member offered us an extra set of ear muffs for the show to reduce sensory input. We were able to take several quiet breaks and potty breaks during the show, as other children also needed the same so it did not feel disruptive. Overall, it was a truly wonderful afternoon and a special place for children with...