Playing at New World Stages since 2007, NYC’s longest running family show is now ringing in the season with the first-ever special edition of the world-famous production, the Gazillion Bubble Show: A Holiday Spectacular, transforming its Off-Broadway home into an immersive winter wonderland of snow and haze, festive lights and projections, giant Christmas balls, and, of course, bubbles! Siblings Deni and Melody Yang continue their family legacy of three generations, nearly two decades, and eighteen Guinness Book World Records (including the biggest bubble ever, at 170 feet long, and the most people inside a bubble, at 181), with an all-new reimagined experience of astonishing bubble artistry and the production’s signature finale, which fills the entire house with laser lights and a blizzard of cascading “snow bubbles,” designed to delight all ages, from two to 102.
Melody, dressed in a sparkling winter-white lacy unitard, was the host and bubble-maker on the date I attended, displaying her amazing talent and easy rapport with the audience, introducing the different segments of the show, performing her creative feats, interacting with the enthralled crowd, and selecting volunteers to join her on stage for the bubble magic. But even before she began, there were free photo ops in the lobby, an array of Gazillion Bubble-makers, toys, shirts, and related holiday gift items for purchase, and, upon entering the theater and immediately following the show, the chance (for an additional fee) to sit with Santa, have a huge “Santa Snow Globe” bubble blown around you, and take home a photo of the special moment.
Enhanced with images, videos, and live-feed projections on screens at both sides of the stage, Melody’s performance included creating bubbles of all sizes, shapes, and colors, putting them on top and inside of each other, and even balancing one on her nose, using bubble blowing tubes, wands, and machines, fluid bubble solutions and water for the array of different types and numbers, from one at a time to multiples to a multitude engulfing the entire house in a fragile flurry of opaque white and transparent glowing orbs. Among the dazzling masterworks were the “7 Color Tables,” with bubbles lit in a rainbow of hues and topped with soapy mounds, all blown by the mouth of the artist, and long horizontal bubbles being pulled up and down and across the stage before instantaneously bursting and dissolving into the air.
An integral part of the show comprised entertaining bits of audience participation, with children enthusiastically raising their hands to be chosen, both kids and adults being brought up on stage, posed and instructed to smile by Melody, surrounded by and enclosed in life-size bubbles, then good-naturedly teased and rewarded with Gazillion Bubble souvenirs.
The conclusion of the hour-long high-energy multi-sensory experience ultimately shifted from a more personal to a grander scale, as Melody, in a black and silver futuristic costume, seemingly manipulated laser lights to create moving patterns of lines and colors on the darkened stage, around the house, and to the heights of the ceiling, while spotlights and the eponymous “gazillion bubbles” – or maybe more! – bombarded the crowd, with everyone excitedly reaching out to catch the floating and popping transitory balls of liquid and air.
Self-described as “part science, part spectacle, and all sensational,” the Gazillion Bubble Show: A Holiday Spectacular is all that and it’s also a great way to spend time in a unique family-friendly environment that holds appeal for kids and adults of any age, judging by the excited responses I witnessed in the theater and the smiles on the audience’s faces when leaving. For those seeking a more gentle and accessible experience, a sensory-friendly performance will take place on Saturday, December 20, at 4:30 pm.
Running Time: Approximately one hour, without intermission.
Gazillion Bubble Show: A Holiday Spectacular plays through Sunday, January 4, 2026, at New World Stages, Stage 2, 340 W 50th Street, NYC. For tickets (priced at $71-111.50, including fees), call (212) 239-6200, go online, or find discount tickets at TodayTix. Please note that children aged two and under may attend as lap-sitters, with a required lap ticket.
