By Jerome, Julie, Jack and Katie Sale
A few years ago, the only ticket worth having would have been Eminem in Milton Keynes.  My little boy Jack (3) loved it. He was coaxed out of his normally reserved approach to these things and joined in with the pantomime style heckling. His mate Noah (Hancock) is a few months younger and was thrilled by the whole thing. | | Jerome Sale |
But, now with two young children, the hot ticket was Noddy at the Oxford Apollo. And the show was hot. Sweltering in fact. The Apollo is formerly and, I understand, soon to be again the New Theatre. Well, lets hope the revamp takes in air conditioning, because Toyland was in danger of melting in front of a jam-packed auditorium. Noddy himself has successfully been reinvented - it's no longer sixpence an adventure. "Make way for Noddy...." went the first song. The two to six year olds' attention was drawn, despite the noise of their younger siblings and the heat, to the stage. It's the theme tune that many kids and parents will associate with early morning TV. Noddy on Five gets more viewers, I am told, than three of the four other terrestrial broadcasters at breakfast time. Parents may not like it much, but the target audience laps it up and the same was true of the stage version. The really successful children's show, for me, works on different levels. There's something for the kids obviously, maybe for students, and also for 'grown ups'. This production of Noddy was a bit one dimensional in this respect but served its purpose. My little boy Jack (3) loved it. He was coaxed out of his normally reserved approach to these things and joined in with the pantomime style heckling. His mate Noah (Hancock) is a few months younger and was thrilled by the whole thing. Their two younger sisters enjoyed the colour of the scenery and the familiar songs of the early stages, but the volume of Noddy, Big Ears, Mr Plod and the gang sometimes wasn't enough to compete with the din hundreds of pre-schoolers can make. Jonathan Hancock and I took the girls and joined the other parents in the cooler lobby while Jack, Noah and their mums enjoyed the last few minutes. Okay, Jack and Noah enjoyed it anyway. It maybe wasn't as magical as I know it could have been - costumes, sound, scenery etc. All could have been a bit more spectacular. But, three year olds, I am glad to report, are not an overly demanding audience and credit should go to all concerned for putting something like this on a Sunday afternoon, when finding something new for children to do can be an arduous task. As the little man in the red and yellow car eventually drove off into the sunset, the lightly cooked youngsters and simmering parents made for a much needed drink. Cheers, Big Ears. | 
