“MasterChef Junior Live!” at the Adler Theatre -- September 21.
Wednesday, September 21, 7 p.m.
Adler Theatre, 136 East Third Street, Davenport IA
A high-energy, interactive stage production will bring a hit culinary TV show to life when Davenport's Adler Theatre hosts the September 21 tour stop of MasterChef Junior Live!, with this immersive family experience finding season eight's winner, finalist, and fan favorites taking part in head-to-head cooking demonstrations and sometimes messy challenges.
An American cooking competition involving children from the ages of eight to 13 that premiered on Fox in September of 2013, MasterChef Junior was based on the format of the British series Junior MasterChef. Any child of the proper age can apply to become a series contestant by applying online or going to an open casting call, and as in its parent show MasterChef, the following challenges have all been regularly featured on the show:
Skills Test: Cooks are challenged to prepare foods in accordance with a list of common cooking techniques or styles, or to replicate a particular cooking method of a dish (i.e. steaks done to an exact wellness). This type of test is also sometimes used as an Elimination Test.
Mystery Box: Cooks are all given a box with the same ingredients and must use only those ingredients to create a dish within a fixed amount of time. The judges will select three dishes based on visual appearance and technique alone to taste, and from these three select one winner who usually gains an advantage of some type in the elimination test.
Elimination Test: After the challenge is explained, judges evaluate all dishes based on taste and visual appeal. The judges nominate the worst dishes for elimination and criticize them before eliminating at least one contestant.
Team Challenge: The cooks are split into teams by either team captains or the judges. They often occur in a restaurant takeover or pop-up restaurant taking the place of the staff of a particular restaurant. Diners taste both meals and vote for their favorite. The winning team advances, while the losing team will participate in the Pressure Test.
Pressure Test: Another form of the Elimination Test, in which losing team members compete against each other to make a standard dish within a very limited amount of time that requires a great degree of cooking finesse. Each dish is judged on taste, visual appeal and technique, and the losing chef is eliminated.
Once the competition is reduced to either the final two or three competitors, the finalists compete against each other in a three-course cook-off. All courses of the meal are judged and an overall winner is crowned, with the champion of each season receiving $100,000, the MasterChef Junior trophy, and the title of MasterChef Junior.
The winner of MasterChef Junior's eighth season was Liya Chu, a 10-year-old from Scarsdale, New York, who is scheduled to appear in the Adler's MasterChef Junior Live! tour stop. While show host Gordon Ramsey will not be in the touring production, the 90-minute event will also boast the presences of finalist Grayson and TV favorites A'dan and Molly, and fans are encouraged to purchase tickets to the show's VIP Experience, with the limited packages including a pre-show meet and greet, signed merchandise, photo opportunities, and more.
The MasterChef Junior Live! tour comes to Davenport on September 21, admission to the 7 p.m. event is $25-45, and more information and tickets are available by calling (800)745-3000 and visiting AdlerTheatre.com.
