My two daughters, who enjoy live theater very much, expressed an interest in seeing Mary Poppins this summer. When I looked at the available dates, I noticed that Kids Restaurant Week was the end of June and I was thrilled to pair an elegant dinner downtown with Broadway in Chicago. This was the rare occasion when my girls eagerly coiffed their hair and donned a fancy dress without any hassle from mom. We invited their cousins and grandma for a very fancy girls’ night out.
We started our night at Lockwood in the newly remodeled Palmer House Hilton. The young girls’ jaws dropped when we walked up the steps to the main level. From the fine furnishings to the well dressed hipsters milling about, it was one of their more memorable people-watching experiences. We requested the special menu for Kids Restaurant Week, which is an annual fundraising and awareness event for Green City Market in Chicago. Participating restaurants create three course meals for children to introduce them to new dishes made with ingredients from local and organic farmers. My girls still talk about last year - the edible flowers at Prairie Grass and the mini fish tacos at Blue Water Grill (now closed). The menu at Lockwood was disappointing because of the standard fare that was offered to kids. When my daughter ordered grilled cheese, I envisioned whole grain bread with an exotic cheese and baked sweet potato fries. Instead, it was American cheese on white bread with a side of deep-fried potatoes. My other daughter had a bowl of spaghetti with marinara sauce. Both choices were very bland – not what I was expecting from an upscale restaurant participating in Kids Restaurant Week. My niece started with a bowl of fruit that looked delicious, but it did not reflect what is in season right now. Although I was disappointed with the meal, the young girls were thrilled with the ambience and certainly didn’t complain about French fries for dinner.
We went to Mary Poppins at the Cadillac Theater in Chicago and we had a good view from our seats. Ten minutes into the production the curtains went down and the audience was told the show would be delayed due to technical difficulties. The girls were very well behaved for about 5 minutes before they started to fidget. We appeased them with some games on our cell phones and a quick tutorial on how to send a text message to Daddy. When that grew old, we left our seats and walked around the theater lobby enjoying the ornate decor. Almost an hour after the start, a man appeared on stage and said the show could not go on. Of course, the girls kept saying “the show must go on”, and I was thinking the same thing.
We stood there stunned for a few minutes and then started to file out of the theater. My darling 7 year old in her sparkling sequined dress looked up at me with her big blue and said, “Mommy, this sucks.” I asked where she learned that language and she said she heard it at a Blackhawks game. I didn’t bother reprimanding her. I held her hand as we walked into the pouring rain and said, “Yep. It sure does.”
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