The King and Ari

It's official:  Araceli will be getting to know The King and I.  She has been cast as a princess in the play!  To prepare for tryouts, she had a special voice lesson with Rebecca, Golda and Ruby's teacher, and numerous run-throughs with her sisters.  She sang "Whistle a Happy Tune."  The lyrics are perfect for a scary audition:  "Whenever I feel afraid, I hold my head erect...and whistle a happy tune so no one will suspect...I'm afraid!"  When we got home, I pulled out the camera to take a picture of her with her "Number 14" sticker from the audition.  My nephew, Jackson, stepped into the picture at the last minute, solemnly saying, "Cheese."  I like the "18" on his shirt.  He's perfect for the picture!

Much to everyone's delight, Ari got a callback for the part of Princess Ying Yaowlak, the king's favorite daughter.  We looked up her lines on YouTube and Ari rehearsed them.  As so often happens in these situations, we got to the callback and one of the girls was absolutely amazing.  When she sang, all the adults in the hall looked at each other with a "Holy cow!"  expression.  When she practiced her lines, she delivered them with a British accent!  The other 4 girls who got a callback were pretty much doomed, but fortunately they had no idea they had been upstaged.  So Ari didn't get the favorite daughter part, but she is still going to be my favorite princess in the production.  Ari is a princess to her very core.  Now she has a chance to play the part officially!  Good job, Ari!