Taking the Grandson to Finding Nemo on Ice!

Contd from previous post.....

Fortunately it was only for the two nights as they were up here to go and see the Finding Nemo on Ice Show at the NIA in Birmingham on Saturday. When they asked me to book tickets for the show, there had been a couple of previews on the TV and I thought it would be fun to go with them and enjoy a night out with my grandson, as I don't see them very often. I was horrified to realise that this time it had been a whole year since I'd last seen them!

My daughter drove us into the city using her satnav and we arrived in plenty of time, I think the volume of traffic surprised her as she thought it was rush hour. I explained that the traffic was always that busy as Birmingham is the 2nd city in Britain, so it's very like London traffic. She's not used to driving in traffic like that as she lives down in sleepy Devon. But she coped very well, even when several lanes of traffic converged from different directions as we approached the NIA and all wanted to join the one she wanted, particularly as it was a very dark and wet night, making conditions difficult.

The show was fantastic, with wonderful costumes and great skating. There were two entrances at one end of the large ice rink with a large screen between them, on which was projected appropriate scenes from the movie. From the moment the characters of Nemo and his Dad appeared on the ice after an introductory scene from Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy, it was clear that to my 5 year old grandson they were real. The very fact that it was clearly a woman on ice skates wearing an oversized Nemo belt didn't register. He just soaked up the spectacle of colour, movement and music – and all were there by the boat-load.

The sets were impressive with plenty of eye-catching pyrotechnics when required (grandsons reaction was 'awesome' when we all jumped the first time one went off) and some neat high-wire stunts to get the kids 'oohing and ahhing' on cue - the pelican was particularly fun! The menace was provided by a giant shark and whale but, without wanting to give away the ending, they left the set without satisfying their hunger pangs, while being pretty impressive.

So overall, a fantastic show that enthralled the children from start to finish, and grandson went home happy clutching his souvenir programme and Nemo mug and hat, which he couldn't wait to show his schoolmates the next day.