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What to Watch with Kids: Films Inspired By Theatre

February 11, 2022
What to Watch with Kids: Films Inspired By Theatre
There’s nothing like live theatre but sometimes trekking to the West End or your local venue just doesn’t fit into your busy weekend plans. Luckily though, with the plethora of streaming services available, there is an incredible amount of shows and theatre-inspired movies you can watch with your children. Kids can still engage with the performing arts and storytelling from the comfort of your own home with our recommendations on what to add to your watchlists right now.

For the under 12s, you can watch Nativity (who says festive films are just for Christmas?) on Netflix, the film inspired hit a West End musical with a huge cast of children. On Amazon Prime, you can catch the Whoopi Goldberg classic Sister Act and you can also head over to Disney+ for Newsies, a musical featuring impressive dance routines and catchy songs, performed and filmed live on stage in Hollywood.

That’s not all the musicals you can see on Disney+ though, with film adaptations of stage classics like Annie and The Sound of Music ready to stream now. Plus, Netflix has the 2007 adaptation of Hairspray to get the toes tapping in your living room.

Children and mother dancing in living room to musical films

For your teenagers, you can see a production of Hamilton on Disney+ and Come From Away (age rating 14+) on Apple TV. The latter being an especially heart-warming true story to watch as a family.

Back to Hollywood movies though as children 12 and up might enjoy watching the film adaptations of Les Miserables and Dreamgirls on Netflix. That’s not to mention the recently released Tick, Tick… Boom!. If they love contemporary musical theatre, they’ll be sure to enjoy Netflix’s The Prom and Amazon Prime’s Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and if they prefer an older classic, they can catch the 1973 film of Jesus Christ Superstar on Prime as well.

If your teens prefer drama to musicals then you can turn to Disney+ for Romeo + Juliet and The Crucible. Plus, Amazon Prime has Macbeth starring Patrick Stewart ready to go for you. And, if you never want to run of theatrical options for your home viewing, there are some streaming services dedicated to providing you with stage shows to watch from your sofa like the National Theatre At Home app and BroadwayHD.

Happy viewing!