Baby Shark's Big Broadwave Tour: Mom-of-Four Review

My family got to enjoy the first performance of Baby Shark's Big Broadwave Tour live on stage, at the Sioux City Orpheum on February 3rd, 2024, thanks to press passes from the production company, a division of Cirque du Soleil. I'm excited to share our experience with other families to help you decide if going to see Baby Shark might be a great fit for your family too! Here's what you should know about Baby Shark's Big Broadwave Tour:

What is Baby Shark's Big Broadwave Tour?

This colorful live show for kids brings the beloved characters of Pinkfong's Baby Shark universe to life on the stage in a brand-new musical. The basic premise of the show is that Baby Shark and his friends William the Fish, Vola the Octopus, Goldie the Goldfish, Chucks the Seahorse, and Hank the Whale have to save their beloved Party Puddle Theater from being bought and bull(shark)dozed by Bentley Barracuda. To do this, they have to put on an epic show. But can they pull it off??

Bentley sabotages them every step of the way, but Baby Shark and his friends respond to every challenge thrown their way with teamwork, creativity, and cute songs. 

The show runs for 65 minutes plus a 15-minute intermission about halfway. Everyone is welcome, but it designed to be especially fun for 2- to 8-year-olds. 

Our experience watching Baby Shark's Big Broadwave Tour

My family and I had so much fun seeing Baby Shark and his friends live on stage. My teenager is a bit beyond their target age range but my other kids are huge fans of Baby Shark and his friends, and they were so excited to go see the show. 

First, we surprised the kids by going to the VIP event before the show. This requires a separate ticket, but then you get to actually meet Baby Shark! This VIP experience happens an hour before the actual show, and my kids were so thrilled to give Baby Shark a high-fin (the shark version of a high-five) and take some photos with Baby Shark. 

Then we went out to the lobby for a few minutes where there were concessions and souvenirs for sale, plus a cute backdrop to take pics (without Baby Shark, but still pretty great.) And we even ran into some friends who were also attending the show!

And then, we got to go find our seats! The stage was cute even with the curtains pulled and my kids had fun playing with some souvenirs while we waited for it to start. The doors to the theater opened about a half hour before the show, and it was noisy throughout the theater. Pretty much the entire audience was families with young children, which led to a really relaxed atmosphere. There was no pressure to keep kids seated or quiet until the show actually began. And that held true throughout. While most kids seemed to stay engaged for most of the show, it wasn't distracting at all when kids did get wiggly because there was so much singing and dancing and the volume of the show was loud enough (without being too loud) that you couldn't really hear kids in the audience making noise.

I was really impressed with the show. I went into it knowing that there was definitely a chance that it was going to be a disjointed assortment of songs from the Pinkfong YoutTube channel and a loose plot that was mostly a vehicle for those songs. But this production actually had a cohesive plot and original songs that flowed nicely. It felt more like a classic Broadway musical adjusted to fit the very young audience than a YouTube video extended to the stage. 

But the thing I was most impressed with was the cast. They were clearly both talented, and hardworking, which led to a really well performed show, especially for such a lighthearted concept. With preschoolers and early elementary age kids as their target audience, some performers might be tempted to coast on their talent and call it good enough. But I felt like this cast combined their talents with hard work and energy to make it not just okay but genuinely good. The singing, dancing, acting, and choreography all seemed much higher caliber than would be expected for kids show. 

Our favorite was Bentley Barracuda. He was the villain of the show, and they chose an actor who had a great voice and great comedic timing. The kids in the audience totally ate it up every time he came on stage, and we couldn't get enough of his "bad, bad, fishy" theme. I would voluntarily add it to the Spotify playlist of kids' songs that we listen to in the car in a heartbeat. 

There was one dramatic moment that was not scary, but we'll say kind of exciting. One of my kids decided to hug me at that point just in case *I* was scared. And the gasp from around the theater let me know that the rest of the kids in the audience likely felt the same. My almost-2-year-old didn't seem to mind that part, and the show did keep her engaged the entire time. I felt like it was ideal for my 6.5-year-old, and that the show is probably optimal for kids about 2-8, and beyond that range if they are big fans of the Pinkfong/Nickelodeon Baby Shark universe like my tween with special needs. He was a huge fan of the whole experience and did a great job of behaving appropriately. 

Budget-friendly or splurge?

Seeing live theater can feel really fancy, especially in a beautiful theater like the Sioux City Orpheum Theatre with its chandeliers and gilded decor, but it can be surprisingly affordable. There are lots of options for seeing this show, from ways to make it work for tighter budgets to ways to upgrade the experience and make it truly epic. And ultimately, everyone gets to see the same show regardless of where you're sitting. 

If you want to see this show in a budget-friendly way, my best tip is to be sure to follow your theater on social media and sign up for their email newsletter. Our Sioux City Orpheum had several ticket sales in the days leading up to the show, including coupon codes and group discounts that made the ticket prices for the most affordable seats comparable to the cost of a movie ticket for our city. 

And while souvenirs are definitely optional, they are fun. Prices may vary slightly by venue, but at our show, the least expensive souvenir option I saw was the $5 sticker sets, which came with pretty large sticker backgrounds and like 100 repositionable stickers.  They seemed like a good value for something kids really enjoy. There were also plush, clip-on sharks with Baby Shark, Mommy Shark, and Daddy Shark options for $10 each, and they were soft and cute. 

Or if you want to splurge and go for all the bells and whistles, you can look for box seats, the VIP pre-show event I mentioned before, and be sure to stop by the souvenir stand. There were lots of plushies, light-up toys, and even bath toys for sale that would all be such cute ways to remember the event. 

How to see Baby Shark's Big Broadwave Tour

To catch one of the upcoming shows of Baby Shark's Big Broadwave Tour, check out the official Baby Shark On Tour website to see where they are headed and/or check with your local theater. They have shows planned for the first half of 2024 all over the US, including shows in Ohio, Illinois, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Kansas, Missouri, and Texas. Some of the scheduled winter/spring 2024 performances of Baby Shark's Big Broadwave Tour that are happening not too far from Siouxland include:

• The Civic Center in Des Moines, IA on February 13th
• The State Theatre in Minneapolis, MN on February 17th and 18th
• The Orpheum Theater in Omaha, NE on February 24th
• The Kansas City Music Hall in Kansas City, MO on March 2nd
• The Lied Center for Performing Arts in Lincoln, NE on March 12th