ARIEL Theatrical

I went on a field trip with my daughters class today to see The Lion King Jr. and it was amazing!!! The kids loved the performance. The costumes, the songs the background and the acting abilities the cast displayed was great, from the youngest ones to the older members. We look forward to another performance by them.

Fantasy theater. I took my 2 and 4 year old and t was amazing! I love how talented the young actors were, how beautifully organized and prepared. We will be coming back for sure!

I was not happy about how they helped me. My son was also not happy with directors and instructors so if you want your son or daughter to be happy go to the western stage, they have more plays to experience then being stuck in a fur suit and standing in 85 degree hot lights on stage for 1 hour.

Saw the play Christmas Carol here last week. It was an awesome performance! Nice theater.

Great place for family entertainment and summer children's programs. I have been here many times as a cast member and audience member. Ariel is more than a place of entertainment and acting, but it is also a place to learn about work ethic and form great attitudes and habits.

Loved it. They are very good with the children. Teaching them good values. All the children were obviously enjoying putting on the play.

My son has been playing the drums for a few productions. We catch the show every time and it is wonderful the kids are great actors.

Amazing people! Gail is amazing. Teaches kids how to be responsible and is not pretentious. Very affordable programs as well.

These are always the most well performed, and expertly done stagecraft that you'll get in Monterey County; you will always enjoy the plays here

A wonderful children's theater performance group with a rotating cast. Great shows. I have watched generations of children that go through this program. Tonight's performance of A Christmas Story was no exception. Wonderful performances all around. Make sure you catch a the finale show. Tickets are $13, which is a bargain in my book.

Ariel Theatrical is committed to helping young people learn to lead principle-centered lives. You can tell by their hard work and dedication from their young actors and actresses. We saw the Disney Frozen Jr production and were so impressed! You could just feel the excitement in the audience since it was a full house and we left smiling from the experience. Bravo Ariel!

I've been trying to get my foot in the door for acting for a while now. I know you have to get experience so I took up Ariel when I was 14 and I'm still doing it now as an adult. The plays here are a high quality production of some of the best stories and fables ever told. All the plays are musicals which they are always a treat to listen to. I always enjoy working as a team with everyone here and putting on a great show. Please, I would recommended everyone (Even if you don't want to be an actor). You learn so much here from Acting, dancing, singing, choreography and how to be a human, in a good way. One part I love is when a year ends I get excited to see what plays are going on this year.

I love this theater! My 9-year-old daughter was in her first performance last year, and I was amazed to see all the benefits she gained from the experience. She is finding new friends and a new sense of confidence. All the employees and staff are also wonderful, and I encourage anyone to attend a show!!

My granddaughter, Kaitlin Grace Whitaker, was in a total of seven productions during the years she was acting there. She played a variety of characters and it spawned a continued talent in acting as well as kept her singing and dancing gifts alive and thriving. It was a greatly positive experience for her and for my husband, James, and I, who attended every show Kaitlin was in and I greatly enjoyed acting in one production myself along with doing a bit of costuming. The staff is in one word, "Awesome!" If you want your child, or yourself, to have an excellent growth experience, get involved in Ariel Theater! Love to all the staff from James and LaVonne Kinney and Kaitlin!

Ariel Theatrical, Inc runs a great program for local children of Monterey County. The founder, Ms. Gail, and her staff allow children from all walks of life to feel special, whether their part is small or big. Everyone gets to play an important part in the production. The staff treats the children with respect, while at the same time teaching life lessons. I'm not sure if parents, whose children participate in Ariel, realize this. There's a 1 Star review on Yelp from a women, Elizabeth I. I think she missed the mark. Ariel theatre is not about making, "Movie Stars." It's about allowing every child, to learn and experience being part of a Theater production. Learning to respect each other, and appreciating the advice that they are given to improve on their performance.

This is a place where my kids and I are happy to return to, again and again. This is worth every minute spent there. It shapes the future generations. It gives children and young adults a healthy outlet for themselves.

This place is a good daycare for kids to be in theatre productions that cost a fortune and don't return much. I've done many productions of much higher quality all across the country that were significantly cheaper, none costing $500 a head. The audience says a lot about quality as well. The productions I have been in always drew a huge crowd including families, friends, and the public of that city. Whereas, you can tell the audience at Ariel is only parents coming to see their kids. For sure some of the songs and stories are cute, and some of the kids involved have skill and sing and act well, but they're not getting the highest quality training here to further their potential. If you can, look to other places in town or drive a little farther to Monterey or San Jose to take part in high quality productions and receive quality training to further your singing or acting skill.

I've been to quite a few theatres in my time. Myself and my husband came to Ariel thinking it would be fantastic (as a friend's child was performing) and I was thoroughly astonished by how low the quality of the production was. The music was all from the left side of the stage and the instruments were not coming through the PA, making it hard to hear and imbalanced sounding. The loudest instrument was the piano and it was very clunky and annoying sounding. By far the worst theatre production music I've ever heard. The mic's and audio were constantly cutting out from where I was sitting so it made it impossible to hear some of the dialogue. The adult actors were awful, and the sets were extraordinarily poorly made. Even with no budget many high schools put together better sets. It really seemed to me like the people running this place just didn't care, and were solely putting on productions to sucker the kids families out of their money. The kids were cute, and some were excellent actors, so that was its only redeeming quality. Though I can't help but feel they were far too good for that stage. The staff were rude and a bit loony seemingly, I would absolutely recommend you spend your money elsewhere. The Monterey Golden theatre and Western Stage were both much better productions, try those instead.

Ariel provides wonderful, inexpensive and wholesome shows for children (especially kids 4 and up). For less than the price of a movie, kids can experience an intimate entertainment experience--with a positive message--on their own level. For the past few years I've seen many children (especially young ones) absolutely mesmerized by shows featuring kids not that much older than themselves. (DISCLAIMER: I'm a frequent volunteer, my daughter has been in Ariel productions for the past 3 years and has loved every minute of it.)

Ariel is a fabulous place to bring the family. The shows are always wonderful; from the little kid shows to the larger productions. If you have never been, it's A MUST!! It's an inexpensive way to enjoy theatre and have a fabulous night out!

Being a singing teacher in Santa Cruz I'm always looking for theaters where our vocal students can show case their talents. This is the place! The staff is extremely professional. They have a variety of shows for different ages and skill sets. I highly recommend this theatre for students wanting to grow and evolve in a group setting after their private singing lessons with us.

This is such a great organization and such a gem for Salinas. My kids were in a one week summer camp and my son enjoyed it so much he is asking to go back again for more. Both of my kids enjoyed it so much. They came home happy each day from camp and are still singing the songs they learned and talking about the experience. We have also gone just to watch a few shows - Frog and Toad, Jungle Book and Ugly Duckling. I'm not going to lie - that cookie song from Frog and Toad is still in my head. Speaking of cookies, love the cookies at intermission! Always a fun treat!

Finally got over to experience Ariel Theatrical - what a treat! The costumes were engaging, kids were adorable, music was foot tapping. My 8 yr old loved it as much as I did and Diana and Robert Rosett were great on music. I'll have these tunes ringing in my head for sometime. Thank you for a very fun family date night!

Friends of ours invited us to see "Fiddler on the Roof", because they won four tickets. I wasn't sure that I really wanted to go, as I visualized a zillion kids running around on stage. Was I wrong! The production was very entertaining, and the adult cast was quite good-- especially the lead character. The show ran for 2 hours and 40 minutes ), and I didn't race for my car during intermission. The seating is tiered perfectly, so that my view was quite clear. Sound and lighting was good. Are these future Broadway stars? Well, no. But the kids who were in the chorus made my cuteness meter soar, and the four of us agree that we would return to support this wonderful venue. This is a surprise gem of a find in South Salinas.

My child attended Kids on Stage, last summer and absolutely love it. After the camp, he still kept on talking about his experience and the friends he made. My other child decided that he wanted to attend this summer. I felt comfortable leaving my child at the theater and the staff is amazing.

Narnia is a wonderful show! the kids in costumes just keep coming and coming. It is very exciting!

Went to watch my nephew and niece with a great time in mind unfortunately was treated very rudely. The staff had a stick in their you know what. Been to Broad Way Shows in New York and never treated this way. It's a real shame that people have to act so stuck up, loosen up it's not Broad Way!

My kido loves being in the productions. Live theater is so much better than going to the movies.