Haven't seen a musical or an opera Rio? Sounds like a great idea for a family vacation to me. Go up to Niagara Falls, hike around, see Toronto (I think you get a better view from the Canadian side, haha), and go see one of their major productions. You can always go see Phantom of the Opera, The Lion King (In my opinion, The Lion King is one of the best musicals ever written, and I'm a harsh critic. It's even better than the movie by a long shot.), or several Rodgers and Hammerstein shows. You'll have a blast.
If the vacation thing isn't in the books, there are plenty of community theaters somewhere in your area I bet you could check out. They're usually wonderfully cheap, and since it's almost entirely (if not all) volunteer work, the people are usually genuinely into it for the fun and for the sake of art. It's not uncommon to get to talk to the actors/producers/director/musicians afterward at these places.
Note: While musicals can be great in most any format, from community to Broadway, I would only suggest that you go see opera in a larger scale production, just because of the intense training required for singers AND musicians to be able to surmount their performance tasks.
Oh, and...
Maybe it was anti-child labor laws or something

That made me burst out laughing.
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Music Gear Review - Keyboard/MIDI and Songwriting Editor/Mod
"I don't like it, and I'm sorry I ever had anything to do with it." - Erwin Schrodinger, on Quantum Physics
Keys: Nord Stage 88, Nord Lead 2, Yamaha W7
Upton Bass Custom Upright, BSX Allegro EUB, '80s Peavey T-40, MIM Active Jazz Bass, Godin BG-5, Fender Bassman 100, `68 Fender Bassman 50 head, Gallien-Krueger Fusion 550, SWR (pre-Fender) Goliath III 4x10, Markbass 2x10 Traveler