As you-all probably know by now, I am unjustifiably proud of my kids. Well, it’s school play season again, and our younger has a great part (again). Here he is in a few pics from today, ladies and gents, I present Nicely-Nicely Johnson!
Makeup artist at work:
How to take a hat off, you can see the great microphone over his ear:
The gangsters all together, Nathan Detroit is in the blue tie:
Left to Right: Rusty Charlie, Benny Southstreet, Nicely-Nicely Johnson, and Harry the Horse.
Nicely singing “Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat” — and as he sank, and he shouted someone save me…
(That’s the moment he woke up — Thank the Lord!)
This production has been great fun. Frank Loesser wrote such great music and lyrics!
Update: the final show is over, the cast party is going on. I am sitting here in my quiet house with the dogs… waiting for Tom and the kids to get home. Why?
Because the fire alarm was triggered with 20 minutes to go in the show… and although there was no fire, we did have to go out in the cold and wait for the all-clear. Silly thing, really. In all the cold weather this last couple weeks, apparently one of the pipes to the fire sprinkler system froze! When it unfroze today, it began pumping water through the system. And when the water reached the sprinkler heads (and the light fixtures, and… ) it triggered the alarm. A cold thirty minutes, but at least no one was hurt and the building is safe.
And, it gave me a chance to be proud all over again. Because the next number up was the big “Rockin’ the Boat” solo for Nicely-Nicely… and he nailed it! As soon as the curtain went up again, everyone was in place and the show really did go on. The entire cast did such a great job, getting back in character and making sure the audience got their money’s worth.
Not a big problem, just a bit inconvenient. And the flashing lights re-triggered the migraine I was just about over. So… my dear friend Sandi brought me home so the star (well, the star of this family for tonight) could have his fun at the party and I could get some medicine and relax.
The young director of this show, Matt Flores did a great job. But I think Josh (I don’t know his last name off hand) who was the music director hit the nail on the head during his speech tonight. He said that being in theater gives the kids more than just a moment in the limelight… it teaches them to follow directions, to work as a team, to improvise, to keep going. So many skills are learned — without being directly taught — intangibles that help in everyday life for the rest of one’s life.
It was a good experience all-round.
*insert proud mama look here*