Imagination Moved

Killian and I attended an Imagination Movers concert/live show at Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC) on Sunday, May 22nd.  It was the best father and son experience we have had (in my opinion) since the day he arrived into my life.

[Click on any of the pictures for a larger version]

The setup:

Killian started watching the imagination movers with regularity starting when they first aired in 2008 on the Disney Channel.  It's the only fad I can bring to mind that has retained his keen interest from then until now.  He absolutely loves the show and can sing along with pretty much every song in every episode aired to date.  We keep a steady queue of 7 of them (more than any other show) on our DVR at any given time.  The three word synopsis:  He's a fan.

Way back in January the Disney channel started advertising that they were touring and Killian immediately began telling me every time this commercial aired.  In secret, I purchased tickets in February and managed to keep that and our attendance under wraps until the minute we arrived at the venue.  I pondered for a bit over which tickets to go with as seating varied in price and they had a special "Mini Movers Package" which allowed for attendance at an "after party" photo op/meet and greet following the show.  I finally decided on the best seats and tacked on the Mini Movers Package.  I figured what the heck, you only live once eh?  So, $250 later, we had our two tickets and I had my surprise to try to contain for the next 3 1/2 months.

The day of:

I told him that I had to run some errands, he had to come with me and it was going to take a few hours.  He wasn't so happy about that since it was 2:00pm on a beautiful Sunday afternoon and he wanted to stay home and play outside.  Nonetheless, I convinced him of his fate and we were on our way to the 4:00pm show (doors opened at 3:00pm).  We made great time and found a good parking place quickly.  I popped in his Imagination Movers CD for the ride so I was cleverly prepping him without direct awareness.  What a sneaky dad.  

So we go to the theater at about 2:30pm and the 1:30 show was still running so we had to sit on the steps outside and wait until they let us in once that show let out.  While we were sitting there, they were playing the 1:30pm show over the loudspeakers.  That was kind of a bummer because I figured it would ruin some of the show for him if he heard end of the story/plot while we waited.  It didn't take long before his ears perked up and he said "Daddy, that's the Imagination Movers!".  I responded with a "What?  Where?" and he hopped up ran to the spot underneath the speaker playing the music and said "Right there!  That's them!  Are they here?!?  Are we going to see them?!?"  I told him that we were and that I had bought the tickets as a surprise and that we were going to see them in about an hour.  Now I don't know that he somehow manually prevented himself from doing so, but I'm willing to bet by the look on his face that his pants came very close to being officially "pooped".

He then proceeded to inquire with any theater personnel that he could access as to the intimate details of the lives of the cast members.  None of them knew anything about the Imagination Movers, of course, but they were exceptionally nice and friendly to Killian's endless stream of inquiry.  When they finally opened up the doors to allow us entry he saw the banners and lobby decorations and was unbelievably additionally excited.  This was my first time at DPAC and, in case I forget to mention it later, it was a really nice facility.  I look forward to seeing other shows there in the future.  We walked in and got in the special line to pick up our Mini Movers Package which included an after party pass for each of us (pictured below this paragraph) and a special wristband to indicate our seating section (Orchestra section, back row, toward the right D 111 and D 112 - section (1) on this chart).

Once we had our creds, we headed upstairs to the theater seating level.  As soon as we got to the top of the stairs there *they* were.  In plain site for all to see doing the photo ops at the after party with the folks from the 1:30pm show.  I can't confirm that Killian was vibrating at this point but he was a bit blurry.  Once he recovered from his initial awe, we made our way over to the souvenir table where he selected his official souvenir for the show: a stuffed animal of Warehouse Mouse (a puppet character from the show).  His choices were a pick of 3 different Imagination Movers shirts, a replica of Smitty's cowboy hat or an official Imagination Movers jumpsuit.  OK, to be fair, at $70, I took the jumpsuit out of the list of options for him.

Once we had secured his souvenir friend, we waited about 10-15 minutes for the theater doors to open to allow seating.  Again, I must speak to the politeness and friendliness of the theater personnel.  It was amazing considering the throngs of 3-7 year old children in the midst.  We headed in, plopped down in our seats (so awesomely close to the stage) and awaited the beginning of the show.  We were surrounded on both sides by friendly and talkative concert goers which helped to pass this short time.  In fact, one of them even took this picture of the two of us while we waited.

Here's a pretty terrible shot of our view of the stage.  My apologies for the darkness:

The show finally began with a performance by Choo-Choo Soul.  For only two of them they were very entertaining and engaging.  Genevieve has a great voice and D.C. is a beatboxing and breakdancing maniac.  It was a great opening to the show that had all of the kids up and out of their seats jumping and dancing along with the pair.  They performed for about 20 minutes and then introduced the Imagination Movers.

Once the Movers came out the kids and parents alike offered up a healthy greeting and so began the main show.  I'm not going to describe the show round for round but suffice it to say that it was really fun and engaging.  The sound was great and the volume was pretty much perfect.  They spent a surprising amount of time meandering through the audience during their performance (it wasn't difficult with 5 of them to split up between the stage and the audience).  Our seats afforded Killian the opportunity to see each of them up close and get multiple high fives and they frequently used the aisle between the orchestra pit and the first seats of the next section up as an easy path.  We were at the very back of the orchestra section so he was able to easily pivot in his chair and face them as they passed and stopped throughout the show.  That said, a high five to dad for picking some great seats.  

They played for about 60-75 minutes and announced during the show something that came as a surprise to me.  This was the last show of the tour.  It was their 101st of 101 shows starting in January.  I had inadvertently bought tickets to the last possible chance to see them on this tour!  That was also great news because it added a little something to the show.  They did a couple of extra numbers and spent some extra time at the end of the show celebrating on stage as well as some extra thanking of the audience for the support over the course of the tour and such and to the staff and cast.  I'm sure they thank them all as a typical part of the show but you could tell these were the "thanks for the whole tour" ones.  Pretty cool.

Following the show we made our way over to the after party which was held in an area that was basically the size of a large school classroom.  There were roughly 150 attendees at the after party not counting staff/cast.  On average, they consisted of families of four so it was a pretty close to even split of adults/kids.  They had a couple of snacks and bottles of water (so needed) for the attendees which we munched on while we waited for the movers to arrive.  After about 15-20 minutes the Movers and Choo-Choo Soul arrived to the room.  It was really pretty neat because it was intimate enough to be up close to them as they just kind of mingled their way into the room to the thrill of both the kids and many of the parents.  The Movers did a couple of impromptu songs with portable mics and guitars.  That was fun because Mover Scott was out among the pool of kids singing as the other guys were standing up on a table playing and singing their parts.  All of the kids were involved and Killian was right there front and center.  It is impossible to describe his elation at this experience.

Once they wrapped up the short performance, they moved over to the photo op section of the room and the attendees lined up in groups for a chance to get a picture with the guys.  We were in group A so we got to go up among the first crowd.  They greeted each family with equal excitement and genuine thanks for attending, shaking hands and asking names.  The emcee announced that autograph opportunities and such would follow the photo ops so if you wanted to stick around you could.  When we got our turn for the photo, each member made a point of shaking hands and thanking us for coming out to the show.  Like everyone before and after me, I'm sure, I told them that their performance was great and thanked them for putting on a good show.  They seemed genuinely appreciative.  Truly so or not, they convinced me so that's good enough to me.  Here's our official photo:

Since everything was going well and Killian was in an ongoing great mood, we stuck around while the rest of the crowd had their photo ops.  In the meantime, Genevieve and D.C. from Choo-Choo Soul were readily available for autographs and conversation and were very friendly and approachable.  D.C. kept crowds of kids occupied for about 45 minutes drawing pictures on inflated balloons, having a balloon fight, signing autographs and teaching kids to beatbox.  He was really awesome with them.  Genevieve was as beautiful as she is on television and was very friendly with parents and kids alike as well.  I wish them both great success and told them as much as well as congratulating them on a great performance.

The place cleared out considerably as most people left following their photo op and by the time the entire group was done getting pictures taken only about 30 of us remained.  This allowed Killian virtually unfettered access to his TV heroes and they were amazing with him.  They answered his relentless questions without hesitation, looked him in the eye truly engaged and shook hands, hugged and high fived him at his command.  With each question answered that confirmed the magic of the show (Dave's hat *was* really full of all those things and Warehouse Mouse *did* really talk and Smitty could understand him), Killian looked up at me with amazement and a giant smile having proved that it was all "real".  Humorously, he was totally shy around Nina which kind of bummed me out because I was all for spending more time with her.  ;)  In addition to the autographed poster they provided along with the photo op, Killian managed to get his CD booklet (which daddy cleverly thought to bring in with them) autographed by all of them as well.

As we finally were getting ready to walk out the door, Rich and Scott both came over individually to bid us farewell and thank us again for coming out to support them.  Just the cherry on top of the whole experience.  They seem to be very genuinely good guys.

Once we got into the car I looked at the clock and it read 7:00pm.  We had been there for 4 1/2 hours and it seemed like maybe 2.  To Killian it likely seemed more like 30 minutes.  It was a truly wonderful time.  I had tears in my eyes on at least three separate occasions but I managed to choke them back in manly fashion and keep my rep in check.  It was just so touching and special to witness a dream come true for your child.  To see TV step off the screen and be right there to engage and touch.  In addition to that, the show has special ties for me as Killian began watching it right before Bobbie became really ill.  It is something that he was able to share with her several times and I thought to myself how much she would have so very enjoyed being there with us as he got to experience this fantasy.

As I started with, it was the best father and son experience that I have had with Killian.  As a result, the Imagination Movers have made a fan for life of me thanks to their approachability and sincerity and the magic they brought to a day in my life with Killian.  There is no price that can be put on that.  If I'd known the wonderful time that it brought us, I would have readily paid ten times the ticket price.  No question about it.