There's a scooter in the house

We were invited to our grandson's first theater performance*.  He had auditioned for a part (Kyle was a gremlin in the chorus), been rehearsing all week, and was now excited to show off his thespian talents to family.  Being cast in a chorus has the advantage of having no lines to learn, fret about, and then forget on stage.  He had minimal peformance anxiety and was just required to be animated—a personal strength.   Objectively speaking, Kyle was the best gremlin.

Kyle's Gremlin gang

A traveling drama team comes into town with a pre-written play, the set, two adults, and lots of fundraising 'opportunities'.  In one week, they audition and cast the play, loan the costumes to the cast, rehearse, put on their performance, reclaim the costumes from the cast, and move onto the next venue.  It funds a regional program that promotes participation in the arts and is quite time efficient. The children learn commitment, discipline, and some drama appreciation through auditioning, rehearsing, and performing. Voice projection and stage presence, being adult concepts, aren't expectations of the audience.  The most important thing is your little thespian has fun.  That's worth the exorbitant ticket price.

It's interesting to observe a presentation in a 'have' school filled with parents and grandparents**.  This auditorium was packed (standing room only).  Although they may have the same time, work, and family concerns as parents and grandparents of 'have not' schools, it can be more do–able to attend a child's performance.

The'core' fairy tales

In order to increase casting capacity, the fairy tale 'Rapunzel' became Rapunzel, Billy Goats Gruff, and the 3 Bears (minus Goldilocks).  Throw in 2 'Ears' of corn, a potato with 'Eyes' (and some funny dialogue) and an irrelevant Bucky the Beaver, Mushrooms, Fairies, Pixies, Gremlins, Ogres and you have a full cast.  If you recall from your childhood, Rapunzel, Billy Goats Gruff and the Three Bears are old Grimm Brothers Fairy tales and end badly for the antagonist. That doesn't work in this time of political correctness.  The revised ending had Rapunzel's captor mending her ways and 'Trying a Little Kindness' (cue finale song by entire cast for a more positive life lesson).

Mushrooms, corn & potato, Prince

Oh, please! (Intent, not content...)***

Again, Skeeter made my participation easier. This time, I had Earl to drive, load and unload the scooter, as well as lead the way. The trouble with having disabilities is that there are a lot of other disabled people and they tend to take up all the good parking.  Although distance doesn't matter with the scooter, it was dark.  I have been in that situation before****. My anxiety increased as we approached the school, but there was a perfect spot waiting for us—close to the school, fairly well lit. Since we were early, the crowd wasn't yet perilously huge.  Fortunately, Heidi had saved us seats on the outside aisle, so I could scoot right up and park.  Primo second row seating insured good stage viewing, lower risk for obstruction by photographing parents, and potential for a straight shot exit at performance end.

Gremlins and pixies and bears–oh my!

At the end of the program, I did however, underestimate the crush of parents bent on getting the best photograph.  I've never seen so many still cameras, iPhones, iPads and video cameras!  I tried to scoot out of the way, but to let me out would have necessitated giving up a front row spot and no one was going to do that.  Getting a picture of a costumed cast member trumps everything—even a woman on a motorized scooter.  That said, I could afford to be judgmental, knowing that the video and photo taking were covered by Kyle's other grandparents.  However, we did take advantage of the nearby direct exit and left as the photographing parents surged forward.


The lesson:  Earl and I exited unscathed. The kids had fun and were enormously proud of their accomplishment.  What else matters?

 *Previous post: Summer Reading Camp
**Previous post: Knock, knock–who's there?
***Previous post: Intent...Not Content
****Previous post: I'm Going to Disneyland!