The Lion King

Several weeks ago, Ellison posted auditions for her play, Lion King.  We have been looking forward to this, and the kids were eager to try out.  All the kids who auditioned got a part and the cast list was posted on Ellison's website.  Xanthe was thrilled to be cast in the dance numbers with her cousin Esmae.  Cousins Izzy, Abe and Ro were also cast and so was Ptolemy, the Scheullers, the Ramsdells and a bunch of friends.  I'm not sure what skills Ptolemy displayed in the audition, if any, but we were sure grateful to be part of the production!  Xanthe got Tizzy a part later in the summer, because she wanted to be with Ro.  I should have had her try out to begin with, but I thought she was too small.  Little did I know that Ellison has the patience of Job and a magical way with kids.  No child was too unruly or too tiny for Ellison to handle.

The kids rehearsed almost every day in July, for two hours, and they loved every second of it.  It was all going to culminate in tragedy for me, because the performance was scheduled for when we were in New York.  It was fun getting the texts all day of the performance from my Shelter group, as they all helped Sarah and Ellison with the production, but I was progressively more and more sad that I couldn't be there, as excitement reached a fever pitch at Crestwood Childrens Theater.  Then, miracle of miracles, the show was hurricaned out.  A crazy rogue storm passed through at just the crucial moment and they had to call off Lion King and reschedule for the next night, when I would be home.  I felt terrible for Ellison, to have that happen on her big night, but I was so glad there was a silver lining, at least for me.

I knew Ellison was capable, smart, creative, talented and determined, but even knowing all that, the show exceeded my expectations.  It was absolutely fantastic.  I don't know how Ellison, age 13, got those kids, some of them 3 years old, to sing and dance and act and make the whole thing come together.  It was delightful from beginning to end.

The bugs were hilarious.  They had special chairs to sit on while they waited to be carried onstage for their part, but they kept getting up and asking people when it was time for refreshments.  

Mike gave an emotional speech about how hard Ellison and her brothers worked all summer, and how proud he was of them.  He said they figured the play would be a good project to get them away from screens for a couple of hours a day.  Then it became a project that got them away from screens for 8 or 10 hours a day.  What a huge community service to work so hard and give this fun opportunity to so many kids.

My niece Izzy is on the right and did such a great job!  And that's Josh in the bird costume.  He was great!  They were all just so good!

Ptolemy as a zebra, and my little student Emersyn.  He was also a hyena dancer, and had to turn his vest inside-out when he became the other animal.  He thought that was the neatest thing ever.

Xanthe and Esmae in one of their dances.

"Want to see my vest turn inside-out?"

The makeup people were fabulous! :)

Bugs Flamenco ladybug, regular ladybug, Annie (Tizzy;s idol) and a little girl I don't know and Edyn.

Henry, the Lion King

Standing ovation.  There's Ruby and her friends, hours after Ruby got back from her summer-long trip.  Happy day!

And finally, the cookies!

My mom and dad talking to Pat Bates, my good friend Leslie's dad.

Xanthe gained so much confidence with this production.  She loved it.

I have the best friends.  Sarah worked all summer behind the scenes to support Ellison, and we all benefited from her efforts.  All that sewing and set building and having kids running all over.  Wow!

There's Leslie!

And the director of the show, Ellison.  Thank you for letting us be a part of Lion King.  It was truly magical.

Ooooooklahoma

The week before recital week was Oklahoma week.  That's two straight weeks of being at Weber State all day every day and all night every night.  It's super fun.  We all love it.  But meanwhile, laundry and everything else falls behind.  Oh well!  We all have our chores, and I throw in another load of wash every time I breeze through home, but still, we're just skimming off the top of the list of things that should be done.  Maintentance.  Just a chore and some practicing every morning and then...Oklahoma!

Oh, and art camp because why not add one more thing?  No, there was not a muppet massacre.  Ruby ran this 3 day event, and the kids all had lots of fun.

And then Araceli decided to learn Kreyol over the internet.  I don't know why it's not spelled Creole anymore.  You'll have to ask Araceli.  She got obsessed with these life-like baby dolls and wanted one.  We in the end decided to put that money ($150!!) toward helping an actual baby in Haiti.  Araceli loved that idea.  It's so cheap to pay for a year's worth of education in Haiti, and so life-changing.  Now Araceli is planning a humanitarian trip to Haiti through our friend Nancy's niece at Haitian Roots.

I should have had her try out for the play.

Fabulous wedding, Libby Fowler

My friend Jacy's beautiful quilts at the Kaysville Arts festival.

And the play.  Always the play.  Freestone complained about how much time it took and how he had to miss some ballet classes, but here he is trying to talk Henry into trying out next year.  Ha!  I knew he would love it!

He got pretty tired, though. Lol

Scott got the job of spotlight, which was fun and easy, and he got to be in the audience doing the spotlight for all 4 performances.  He also had the misfortune of doing spot for "longest day," the 12 hour rehearsal.  He didn't realize that would go down like that.  Yep.  Jana puts these shows together in 8 weeks, which is pretty incredible.  She has it down to a science.  Still, a production takes a lot of unavoidable time where you're thinking, "What the heck is going on?  Let's go!"  Jana is the most streamlined director my kids have even worked with, not that they've done a ton of plays, but I do appreciate her condensed rehearsal schedule.

My job was mics.  I love mics because I get to be backstage.

My pocket took this picture.  It's kinda what the whole week was like.

And yet Tizzy still felt like strolling through meadows, wishing for ponies with pink hair.  I think I have a bunch more pics of the production.  I'll have to check.

From Your First Cigarette to Your Last Dyin' Day

Do you ever have ideas that aren't compatible with real life?  How about ideas that morph as the execution of the idea gets closer?  And while we're using the word "execution," do you ever take a five-year-old to a musical in which three people are murdered?

I do.  I got tickets for Davis High's production of West Side Story for everyone in the family except Tziporah before I realized that, while precocious, she still isn't old enough to stay home alone.  So Scott stayed home and I went with an assortment of 7 kids.  I sat next to Ptolemy, who is generally pretty agreeable about sitting through things.  He was great this time, too, with the familiar music and the dancing.  He pored over the program, sounding out names and memorizing faces.  He enthusiastically pointed to several kids he recognized from last spring's Beauty and the Beast, including Collin, who played Riff.  At intermission, though, he proclaimed like a little prince, "I've seen enough!  Drive me home!"

I suppose it slipped my mind that the second half was full of knife-wielding, gut-wrenching tragedy.  By the end of the rumble, with Bernardo and Riff lying dead under the highway, Ptolemy was pretty forlorn.  Riff was his buddy from past plays, after all.  I think he was in denial.  When Tony got shot and was dying in Maria's arms, Ptolemy whispered loudly, "He is reeeeeeally tired!"  I have to tell you, I was starting to feel like a terrible parent.

Never in my life have I been so happy to see the characters come back from the dead for their curtain calls!  I'm pretty sure Ptolemy felt the same way.  Even if there was little redemption in West Side Story, there was redemption on the third row that night when my five-year-old saw that, indeed, no teenagers were harmed in the making of the high school musical.

Beast Week

 Beast Week has come to a glorious end.  The production was so good, we kept going back!  I was backstage on mics for two of the performances, and saw it from the audience the other two.  Life gets more intense during weeks like this, and I think we all thrive on it at the Dopp house.  It all becomes somewhat of a blur, a slightly more technicolor blur than a regular week.  At the end of it all, there's a lovely buzz of accomplishment, tiredness, fondness and relief, mixed with a letdown that it's all over.  It was a good run.  A very good run.

 Golda was the enchantress at the beginning who offers the prince a rose, then turns him into a beast when he rejects her.  She had a ballet solo, which was beautiful.  Ruby and Hayley also danced during that scene.  One of my favorite scenes of the show!

 Ruby twirling during a break in the scene.

 Two forks.

 Golda, Ruby and Lexie were also wolves in a couple of scenes.  They could not see a thing in those costumes!  It was funny to hear about all the little things that went wrong during these wolf dances, due to the wolves' blindness.  I was just glad none of them fell off the stage!

 "Be Our Guest" napkins/can can girls, Lexie and Ruby (and Golda).  Here, they're facing away from the audience so they get to make funny faces.

 I love the mic job.  I get to be backstage and see the production from both sides.  My favorite part is always right after curtain calls, when the kids come off the stage glowing with pride and happiness, just bursting with the excitement of the audience's applause.

 Golda in the Tavern Scene.

 Golda admiring Gaston.  All the leads were perfectly cast and very, very talented.  I was so impressed with every single person in the show.

 Concurrently with the run of the play was Mack Watkins' viewing and funeral.  It was a poignant time.  The funeral was wonderful, Sarah and her family pulled off a graceful, beautiful program, and it turned out to be a time of friendship and comfort.  Here I am with Tiffany, Michelle, Leslie Bates, and also Christine and Scott, who weren't in the picture, as well as Jennie, Jen, Bruce, and scores of friends and family who, despite living within blocks of each other, only truly connect at these "big moments" in life, weddings, funerals, showers...

 ...and plays.  Even if it's not a "Big" moment, these plays are the small moments that will stand out when the kids look back on their growing-up years.

This moment brought tears to my eyes.  Ari and Ellison have known each other forever.  The past two months have been a bit of a scheduling trick, with three or four play practices thrown in on top of everything else.  But at this moment, I thought, "What else are they going to be doing?  They took their raw time and turned it into something lasting and good, something they had to work hard for, which culminated in tangible results."  I am just glad they had this time to be together.

 Ptolemy went to Kiptyn's birthday party at Build-a-Bear Workshop and came home with this doggie.  His name is Carlos, and he really enjoyed the play!

 Aunt Loretta and Uncle Ken are supportive of everything we do.  It's a good reminder to me that supporting friends is important, and means a lot to them.

 One of my favorite moments of the week was Friday night.  During curtain calls, I looked over at Bruce and Marlene, and they were both absolutely beaming with pride.  I will never forget their faces, and the obvious love and joy that lit them up as they watched their four granddaughters up on the stage.  I knew what they were going to say later.  They were going to rave about how good the play was, and how beautiful their granddaughters are, and what a great job ALL the kids did.  I was right.  (And I do have a good picture of them.  I just can't get it to load right now.)  Thank you for not only coming to see us, but being so enthused about it!

 Our little fork-slash-villager.

  Freestone, the little theater rat, saw it three times.  He couldn't get enough.  I was really wishing he had made the play, he loves the environment so much.  Good thing Henry was there to keep him company for all of the performances!  In true ten-year-old boy style, they ate their programs and wrestled in the halls between performances.  Collin was even there at the matinee to join in on the Kindle fun at intermission.

 Some of my favorite kids, Ari, Free, Hen and Ellison.

 Another batch of fans, Coco and Bill.  They sure get a kick out of these things!  The Beast, Dan Harvey, is the grandson of Bill's best friend, Malcolm.  I bet Bill and Malcolm never dreamed, as young boys on the farm, that they would someday have grandchildren in the same musical!

 Sisters.  *sigh*

This beautiful girl!  We voted her villager costume the best one.  She sure lit up the stage!

Lexie had a little fouette solo in the Napkin dance, and Golda and Ruby had this leg-lift thing, where they twirled in a circle in this pose.  One night, Ruby blanked out and missed the cue for this, so she came late to the center and, well, her head got in the way of Golda's leg.  I wish I had it on video!

 In between the matinee and evening performance Saturday, Sarah ended up with Henry and Freestone at the store, buying flowers for all the girls.  Thank you, Scheullers!!

 Theater rats. :)

 Ari worked hard on this play.  To be honest, it's outside of her comfort zone to sing and act, but she came through.  I was proud of her for stretching.  And I was right about turning the corner from, "I'm never doing this again" to "I wonder what play Jana is doing next year."  In fact, a few of the kids are begging for voice lessons...