Columbia Marionette Theatre

Three year old Eva has been unbelievably excited about Valentine's Day, every day asking "Is it today?," every day working on a little craft project for somebody's valentine. Patti soon realized that she needed to do something special on Valentine's Day or this little girl would be quite let down.

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In addition to serving pink, heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast, Patti decided to make the day special by taking Eva to the Columbia Marionette Theatre's performance of "Beauty & the Beast." And they invited me! (I might have been more excited than Eva.)

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The Theatre has been open since 1988 and is currently located near Riverfront Park in Columbia, SC. This is a few miles off the beautiful downtown Vista area & a few blocks from both the children's museum, Edventure, and the SC State Museum.

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At the theatre, "all productions are created entirely in house. The script is written, the puppets are made, the soundtrack is recorded, and the sets are painted by our team of talented artists. With dedicated full-time staff members, each production takes several months to create from start to finish."
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Beauty & the Beast is running now through April 4. Pinnochio opens up April 11. Shows are Saturdays and the third Monday of every month. Shows cost $4 and those under 2 are free.
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Beauty & the Beast was performed brilliantly. It was simple enough for the young children to follow along & the set and puppets were great.

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Pictured to the right is the Beast proposing, yet again, to Beauty.
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Following the show, we met Connie and Grayson at Carolina Wings for dinner. Patti described the Beast as looking a lot like Chuck E. Cheese.

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To which Connie responded, "Mmm hmmm... see the economy is getting so bad even Chuck E. Cheese had to get a second job."

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After the show, we took Eva around to look at the theatre -- it's display of former puppets & the cute artwork. Patti found herself trapped in a Jurassic corner and high-tailed it out of there, narrowly escaping with her life.

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If you have young children, the Columbia Marionette Theatre and the Edventure Children's Museum are absolute "must-do"s.

Aw, heck, Carolina Wings is also a "must-do."