Odd Squad Live Review

A while ago my son Harrison and I got to attend Odd Squad Live at the Ohio Theatre. Harrison is a HUGE Odd Squad fan and, after seeing how much he enjoyed the (very well produced) Daniel Tiger Live last year at the Palace Theatre, it was a no-brainer to give this show a try.

The show started out perfectly for Harrison with a stop at the souvenir stand for him to get his very own “official” Odd Squad badge and then a stop by a cardboard stand-up of a couple Odd-Squad agents for a photo app.

Before the show started they had music playing and a series of animations from the Odd Squad TV show featuring the Jackelope that kept the kids entertained and even got a bit of audience participation going with a lively trivia round.

The show started with the character “Meg” as a stage manager at the Ohio Theatre. She explained the premise of the show (which you can read more about here). She then introduced Ms. O who appeared in a prerecorded message to all of the “agents” in the audience which of course excited every kid attending, a large number of which arrived already dressed the part in full Odd Squad costume.

One thing that this show did well from the moment it started was to include the audience. Whether it was answering a math problem, activating one of the many gadgets that made their way around the audience throughout the show, or dancing along to one of the MANY songs created for the show, they didn’t give kids a minute to get bored as they developed the story.

At an hour and a half with a 15 minute intermission, a generally fast-paced story, entertaining scene-changes featuring “Meg”, (think Liz Lemon, only geared to early elementary students), it was an enjoyable show. Afterwords Harrison did have a bit of commentary about the songs though: He said would have preferred less singing and more math.

Thanks to CAPA for bringing the show to Columbus and staging it in the always amazing to visit Ohio Theatre. By the way, CAPA has great events for families year round.

“Aaron Sheldon is a Stay-At-Home Dad and photographer. Aaron and his son “Astronaut” Harrison spend their spare time exploring Columbus as the creators of the “Small Steps Are Giant Leaps” project. The project reminds parents that our children are explorers and our everyday world is a vast, unexplored landscape waiting to be explored.”

Follow along with their adventures at: www.smallstepsaregiantleaps.com or on Instagram at: @smallstepsaregiantleaps.