"Impossible Things Are Happening Everyday"

Way back in September, I mentioned that Lorelai got a part in her school's stage production of Rogers & Hammerstein's Cinderella. Well, after months and months of practicing, showtime finally arrived this last Easter weekend! It was a great opportunity for Lorelai and it was really fun, as her mom, to watch it all unfold. I had actually never seen Rogers & Hammerstein's version of the Cinderella story before, so that made it doubly exciting for me.

When Lorelai first got a part in the play, I was a little worried she would be jealous of the kids who had bigger parts. As it turned out, she was content with her smaller role. Lorelai isn't a very "dramatic" girl (not as much as her younger sisters, anyway). Although Lorelai can be a ham within our house, she is more reserved in public and doesn't actively seek out the limelight. She has a good singing voice and speaking voice, but she doesn't use either very loudly. So it made sense for her to be part of the chorus, and fill some small supporting roles. She was still excited to do these small parts, and to watch the whole thing come together as everyone contributed their efforts.

The rehearsals were almost always after school on Thursdays, and I didn't see any of them. In fact, I didn't even drive Lorelai to the rehearsals most of the time! Thursday afternoons tend to be one of my busier days of piano teaching, so I always had to find someone to take her back to school for me. Luckily, my friend Shannon, who lives pretty close by, had two children also in the play (in fact, her oldest daughter Sarah was playing Cinderella for the Saturday night performance!). She graciously volunteered to drive Lorelai to and from school almost every week. I was so grateful to Shannon this school year...and to all the other moms who helped drive my daughter around! Without them, she might not have had the opportunity to appear in the play at all.

Here's Lorelai reciting her line

Even though Lorelai's part was small, she did have a solo line as a towns-person in the opening number, "The Prince Is Giving A Ball." Officially, her character's name was "Sloppy Sister," and her line was "I wish that I were nice and neat." This was one of the biggest numbers in the whole show; everybody sang it. As a result, I would hear Lorelai loudly singing this around the house for months. Each cast member also got a CD with all the music from the play on it, and so I had some familiarity with all the numbers long before I ever saw the play. I probably wasn't as sick of the music as the directors were, though!

Besides that opening number, Lorelai appeared in a number of choruses and one additional dance number as a member of the royal palace staff. The staff were all carrying large platters of food to show to the king and queen, in preparation for the upcoming ball. Lorelai was the shortest of the dancers, and she was carrying a huge (fake) turkey on a plate. I thought it was pretty adorable.

The play director (a woman named Diana, in my LDS ward) enlisted the help of several other church members to put the play together. The bishop's wife sewed dozens of costumes. Another woman was the "voice coach" who helped the kids learn how to sing the songs. Still another woman choreographed the ballroom-dance numbers. Others helped build the sets, distribute flyers and generate publicity, run errands, and do any other number of things.

Sadly, I didn't get to help much on the play at all, due to my aforementioned busy schedule. As a former drama club member in high school, I am very aware of how much work it can be to put on a play...especially on the level Diana was shooting for. I felt a little guilty about not helping out the whole year, so when performance week rolled around, I overcompensated by coming for all the dress and technical recitals. I even volunteered to be backstage for the Friday night performance, to help change scenery, costumes, props, and the like. By then, the show was running pretty smoothly (well, as smoothly as it can when elementary and middle schoolers are the stars!). However, it felt good to provide help, miniscule as it was.

Plus, I got to take some really cute pictures of the kids in all their costumes.

It was so cool to see them all dressed up and reveling in their characters! Those were very long nights (especially the tech rehearsal, which involved stopping the actors over and over and over again to tweak the sound/lighting/etc.), but the kids were patient and all the adults were troopers. I don't think I cooked a proper meal all week, but my family was incredibly understanding. It was a fun week...it reminded me of the "performance weeks" for all the plays in high school, and the adrenaline rushes they produced. However, I think I am a little older now than I was then, because I was totally wiped out when this week was over, while Lorelai seemed to recover a lot more quickly!

I went backstage before the show on both Friday and Saturday (the Primary room had been converted into the girls' dressing room), to help Lorelai get her hair and makeup done. Being a Plain Jane myself, I actually had to watch the other moms to see what to do with both hair and makeup. I felt pretty worthless, especially the first night! Luckily, there was a ton of extra makeup handy to bring out Lorelai's eyes, cheeks and lips.

She looked so lovely, no matter which of her costumes she was wearing. No matter what she thinks of herself (in her personal bio written for the program, Lorelai said, "I am a tomboy"), Lorelai is turning into a beautiful young lady. She had fun oohing and aahing over herself in the mirror after she'd gotten all dolled up.

 

One of the many things this week taught me was that my girls are growing up fast, and before I know it they're going to want makeup of their own (which I should have had ready to hand for this play!), and hairstyling supplies of their own. They're going to want their ears pierced (in fact, Lorelai is already begging to do just that). They're going to want their own sets of curlers (Celeste has already borrowed mine within the last week). In short, I need to start stocking up on more beauty supplies! Whether I use them or not, chances are my girls will make good use of them eventually.

The show played twice: Friday, April 18th and Saturday, April 19th, 2014. Diana was very fortunate to be able to use our local LDS Stake Center. It was a really nice venue in which to hold the play, reflecting well on both the church and the school. It also ended up being something of a missionary opportunity, as people from other faiths attended both shows.

Nathan was originally going to bring the family to just one show, but ended up attending both. That way, he was able to compare the two shows. The seven or so largest parts in the show were double-cast, meaning that a different crew played the main parts on each night. This gave more kids the opportunity to gain performance experience. While I had certain actors I preferred to others in certain parts, all the main actors did a great job. The sound system and lighting were semi-professional, as well. All told, it was very impressive for a play put on by a K-8 school!

I was also so glad my dad was able to attend; his hearing is starting to fade, so I'm not sure how much of each play he heard (despite the nice sound system). However, he was so patient and kind in his support of his granddaughter.

Lorelai looked so cute in her "ball gown" at the end! However, she wasted no time in changing out of it; she couldn't wait to be back in her T-shirt and shorts again. At least I managed to take a few pictures.

 

A couple of weeks later, every member of the cast got a DVD copy of both performances. It was very well put together and the girls loved it; they watched it over and over again for a few days!  We also got extra copies to send to both sets of grandparents. We are very happy to have a physical back-up of the experience.

When the play was finished, everyone was exhausted but very happy...especially Diana and her sister Cindy, who'd served as assistant director. On Saturday night, Diana said she would have to wait a few years before trying the show out again. Then suddenly, within a week, she totally reversed course, and declared that yes, there would be another musical put on next year. And it would be Disney's Beauty and the Beast, which will be a more complicated production in many ways! I have to admire her ambition. On the plus side, though, she will be able to recycle a lot of the costumes & sets she used on Cinderella, so from a budget perspective, the play won't be as challenging next year.

Despite being a little burned out after Cinderella wrapped, Lorelai is eager to try out for the play again next year. With a little more performing experience under her belt, who knows? Maybe she will land a bigger part next time. Or maybe she'll still have fun taking it easy as a chorus girl. Either way, I hope she has as much fun next year as she did this year. And I hope Celeste and Aurora will get their chance someday, too (Celeste will still be too young to try out for Beauty and the Beast next fall). I am so glad my daughter got this chance to be on stage; it made for a really fun school year!