On stage

I love going to school plays, concerts, and recitals -- which is a good thing because I have so many kids and extra kids that I go to lots of them. Sometimes I will drive to Camera City to see Drama Niece in a play, but all of my other extras go to schools nearby, which makes going to their events easy. Last Friday night we went to the play at the private school that Older Neighbor Boy goes to.

This play had all kinds of stuff worth seeing. Colorful costumes! Hand-painted sets! A cleverly choreographed scene in a train performed by teenage boys who took their parts very seriously. A dance scene performed by four girls have had ballet lessons and three girls who were trying very hard. The male lead was a bit young for the part but he had this terrific catlike way of moving across the stage. One of the actresses had a beautiful voice, and the others get credit for enthusiasm. The director had clearly taken liberties with the play itself because I could see older people in the audience looking puzzled. It is very hard to follow the plot of any school play when you haven’t seen the original so I was a little fuzzy on what was happening myself. Anyhow, the play did have a happy although somewhat strange ending that included herds of young people marching through the audience and playing musical instruments.

We sat in a big group, those of us who had come to see Older Neighbor Boy. His Mom and Dad were there, of course, and both his siblings. All four grandparents showed up, and an aunt, and an older cousin, who is home now from Iraq. I came with Boy in Black, Shaggy Hair, With-a-Why, Skater Boy, and Blonde Niece. And his brother, Philosophical Boy, had a friend with him. We made a pretty good cheering section.

How big of a part did Older Neighbor Boy have? Well, he walked onto the stage twice. And he spoke one line.