Things to Do in Portland, Oregon: Oregon Children's Theatre

My daughter loves the Boxcar Children books, so when the Oregon Children's Theatre announced their production of The Boxcar Children as a play, she was eager to go.

The production was at Portland's Keller Auditorium, a large venue, but I was still able to get second balcony tickets for only $12.00 each plus service fees (other seats range from $16-28). I ordered tickets through Ticketmaster's website, and asked for them to be held at Will Call to avoid mailing fees. Ticketmaster charges fees wherever they can, and even the option to print your own tickets at home costs $2.50, so Will Call was definitely the best choice for our limited budget.

Keller Auditorium is conveniently located in downtown Portland, so we were able to take MAX light rail to get there. Coming from Gateway Transit Center, you can take either a blue line or red line train, and get off at SW Third and Morrison. Keller Auditorium is about one-third mile south of the station on SW Third Avenue at Clay Street.

Oregon Children's Theatre also performs plays at other Portland theatres, such as the Winningstad Theatre and the Newmark Theatre.

Plays feature child and teen actors (along with adults), and the productions are generally intended for children to watch as well, although adults will enjoy the plays as well. The company frequently performs plays based on popular children's books, such as Charlotte's Web, Beverly Cleary's Ramona series, and of course The Boxcar Children.

The Boxcar Children was somewhat different from the original book, but still enjoyable. Both child and adult actors were excellent, and included a three-piece band that provided music for the production with guitar, banjo, fiddle, and assorted percussion pieces, as well as occasionally jumping into the action of the play.

The play was only a little over an hour long, which was a good length for my seven-year old daughter. We had no trouble seeing and hearing the production, even from the second balcony.

After the play, we had a blast joining other families to play in the Keller Forecourt Fountain across the street from the auditorium, before returning to the MAX station.

The Oregon Children's Theatre's 2006-2007 season ends in May with The Red Badge of Courage at the Winningstad Theatre, but they have already announced their plays for the 2007-2008 season, which will include Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, The Ghosts of Treasure Island, and Einstein Is a Dummy. The Ghosts of Treasure Island sounds especially exciting. It's a rock 'n roll pirate musical written by and featuring local pirate band Cap'n Bogg and Salty. Season tickets to all four productions are available, starting at $56 per child or senior and $68 per adult.

I highly recommend the Oregon Children's Theatre as a special, but not too expensive, family outing.