Surely you Jest

Today in the local paper was an announcement and one that I was interested in. Dora The Explorer Live! was performing at the Heyman Conventions Center right here in lil ole Lafayette. The Heyman hosts musicals and theatre productions and I've always thought that some day I might like to go see a performance. Hot dang! Dora! Oh, not for me but for Carrie. She loves Dora and I could just imagine her sitting there in the audience watching her favorite character in full adult size on a lit stage. For those of you that don't regularly watch Dora on the television, she is a charming animated little girl with a dutch boy hair cut and huge big brown eyes and she always has her backpack over her shoulders. She even has a Backpack song that her little fans sing constantly. (I find myself singing this song then looking around to see if anyone has heard me). This also makes for great marketable items. Carrie has her own backpack just like Dora's. Carrie has Dora underwear, blanket, chair and on and on. You get the picture. Dora is a great money maker.

She usually has her friend Boots with her. Boots is a mischievous little monkey that gets her more into trouble then out. Boots and Dora go on many adventures and all the while they are tempting fate they are teaching lessons in the alphabet, circles and shapes or the Spanish language. Dora is a good thing; a learning thing and Carrie as well as all little people her age love Dora. Oh, if your child is a boy, they have that covered too. They have Diago for the little boys. Yep, they have underwear, blankets and chairs for Diago too. Never a missed opportunity for commerce.

Now I'm all excited. August and Dora will be here and performing. I hurriedly typed in Ticketmaster.com to see about purchasing some tickets online. After a few mouse clicks I was there. I scanned the seating and picked the area I wanted to be in and hit the "purchase tickets" icon. What????? How much??? No, that can't be. Surely they jest! 382.00 per ticket? 22.00 TAX, 68.00 for the fee to purchase online? I just sat and stared at the computer screen. Two tickets wouldn't break my bank but I still wouldn't pay this much for tickets. I had no idea. I just was not expecting the price to be this much. I backed out of the site and resumed breathing. Carrie will have to settle for watching her Dora on the Disney channel and not life size.

I'm wondering who pays those prices for a 3 yr. old who will probably never remember seeing them a few years from now? It might take me a few days to recover from the shock; I might have to find a theatre showing a good matinee movie to entertain Carrie. It won't be with Dora and Boots.