Commentary

NYC Family Of 11 Kid Musicians Coming Soon To TLC

TLC’s big-family reality shows usually come from geographical locales where homes are less expensive and acreage is plentiful.

The opposite is true about New York City where rents and home prices are among the steepest in the nation and generous square footage comes at a premium.

That is exactly the challenge faced by TLC’s newest big family, the de la Mottes, who star in “Big Family, Big City,” a one-off special premiering February 25.

To say that this family of 13 -- 11 children, two parents -- is unusual is an understatement, particularly in Manhattan.

Nevertheless, they are making a go of it renting most of a townhouse in Harlem after moving to the city from California in 2022 in pursuit of a dream.

advertisement

advertisement

Their goal: To establish themselves as one of the best-known families in America based on the children's musicianship on string instruments.

When or if this will pay off for the de la Mottes is the big question. They reportedly moved to New York because their second-eldest, Pearl, now 21, was accepted on a full ride to Juilliard.

Other siblings were eventually accepted there too, according to a very thorough feature story about the family by Suzy Weiss on The Free Press in 2023.

I'm giving credit where credit is due here because an announcement about the show last week from TLC was short on details about the family.

In 2023, when the Free Press story was published, the de la Mottes had 10 children. Another has apparently been born since.

The Free Press story called the family the Von Trapps of Harlem after the famed singing, Austrian family in “The Sound of Music.”

Pearl plays the viola. Older brother Josiah plays the violin. Four younger siblings play violin too. One younger brother plays the cello. An even younger one plays bass.

In the 2023 story, neither parent worked, preferring to manage their children’s lives and education by, among other things, homeschooling them.

Rent -- reported in the story as $9,800 a month in 2023 -- is being funded by proceeds from the sale of their California home, the story said.

Certainly, even traveling around the city together takes a certain amount of doing. On many excursions, the children tote their instruments because they have taken up the activity of busking, which -- for those unfamiliar with the term -- is performing on city streets and subway platforms for money given by passersby.

Three of the kids are shown in the photo above doing just that somewhere in Manhattan. It is possible there are more siblings performing with them who did not fit into this publicity photo provided by TLC.

The 2023 Free Press story reported that a TV show about the family was being shopped around at the time, but mom Amber de la Motte said there were no takers.

Apparently, that changed, and TLC has picked up the family for this one-off special.

Generally speaking, these one-offs are ways of testing the waters for these kinds of shows to see if it is worth everyone's while to commit to a series.

So far, the de la Mottes have relied on social media and on-the-street performing to spread the family's fame.

A TLC TV series might just put them over the top.

Next story loading loading..