A common criticism of musicals is the disconnect created by the spectacle of people bursting into song and dance in the middle of doing, well, whatever it is they’re doing. “Preposterous!” cries the critic.
One of the things I’ve noticed with kids is that children inhabit the reality of the musical. The notion of being properly publicly undemonstrative is a foreign territory; at the drop of a hat I can end up with a two and seven year old narrating or simply enlivening their world with song. Catchy music in a shop? Dancing ensues. It’s a charming experience. Well, it is for me. It seems to be for more than a few passers by, at least if the smiles at two small people chanting “Mary Had A Little Lamb” more-or-less at random are anything to go by.