Brilliantly Staged

Moving the hands of the clock back and forth was a nice touch. There were multiple flashbacks and flash-forwards in the play, so this old-school entertainment time-travel mechanism worked well. Both my wife Amy and I were tickled each time one of the cast members moved the clock hands in between scenes.

This was the fall high school play that our oldest Beatrice directed and her sibling Bryce co-starred in. This one was accelerated, though. Usually, auditions and rehearsals start in late August and run until late October. But due to some scheduling conflicts with other school activities, the play had to open in early October, which was my birthday weekend.

The play is called This Murder Was Staged and is a murder-mystery comedy that was first published in 2024. Beatrice was on the high school theater committee that selected the play and then volunteered to direct, something she had never done before. Both our kids have been involved in theater for years, but this was something else to direct the play. Bryce was really stressed during auditions because they wanted a bigger role, which in turn put a lot of stress on Beatrice when it came to selecting the cast. There is a teacher theater advisor who helps with each semester's production, but these plays (in the fall) and the musicals (in the spring) are all student-run. Thankfully the cast selection worked out in the end.

So, when opening night came, we were all excited. And Beatrice, Amy, and I were all sick (not Bryce, though). The flu, covid, or a bad cold, we didn't know. We just knew we were sick.

[clock moving backward in time]

The week before opening night is called tech week when there are complete run-throughs of the play with lights, music, and more. Beatrice got sick the weekend before and it made for a miserable tech week. I had to leave on a work trip on that Tuesday of tech week and would be back midday Friday. 

She didn't miss one tech week rehearsal, though. She wasn't the only kid who got sick that week, but she was the director and needed to be there. 

On the Wednesday before, Beatrice and I had a call, and she shared something that true leaders live and breathe: "Dad, I need to be there for my team."

That was the day I started to feel sick. Amy was already feeling sick before I left on my trip. 

[clock moving forward in time]

The play's opening scene included a lot of Bryce's character and they were amazing! Yes, we're the parents and we love our kids no matter what and are proud of them no matter what. But mercy me, Bryce was so good. They were worried about not projecting loudly enough without yelling since there aren't stage mics. That wasn't an issue because Bryce (and the rest of the cast) projected loudly and clearly enough all the way through. 

Thank goodness Amy and I were hopped up on cold medicine, because the sick would've sucked the enjoyment right out of us. 

And enjoy it we did. Plus, there was a seemingly random segue to an all-Peanut's cast performing The Crucible (about the Salem witch trials) was super funny. Nicely done!

[clock moving backward in time]

I started feeling crappy on that Wednesday and then when I went to the event I was speaking at on Thursday, I definitely knew I was getting sick. I made it through the event without any outward symptoms, but your body remembers what it feels when it's sick, and those memories hit me hard that night. 

My flight back early Friday morning was on time, but I couldn't get home soon enough. That's when Amy and I loaded up on cold medicine. We also brought masks with us in case we started sneezing and/or coughing. 

We weren't going to miss this for the world. 

[clock moving forward in time]

The cold medicine kept Amy and I relaxed and focused so we could enjoy the play, a hilarious whodunnit with over-the-top characters and plot twists throughout. High school student directors don't make many friends during a production, usually being accused of favoritism, and/or being too stern, and/or worse. But Beatrice's leadership has been well-respected the entire time, something we beam proudly about. 

All the characters were delightful including our Bryce. So good! Afterwards we talked with both kids about how they thought it went and both were delighted with the performance, even though Beatrice was still pretty sick (as were we). I told Beatrice we loved it all and the moving of the clock hands backward and forward between scenes was an especially fun touch. She said it was her idea.

Of course it was. Well done. The play was brilliantly staged and we couldn't be prouder. 

Breaking Out

Our youngest Bryce first performed on stage in preschool singing Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off". They looked so sweet in a white frilly dress but was very nervous while performing. Like almost going to cry nervous, which was the same reaction they had when first trying out for a theater production. 

Three productions later, and Bryce has more confidence than ever, still primarily performing in the ensemble and taking on small roles. They have auditioned for bigger-smaller roles, so maybe now with the experience they've gotten, Bryce will land one next time. 

Because there will be a next time. Bryce has got the theater bug for sure. Right before opening night of this latest All About Theater youth musical production of Urinetown, I told Bryce good luck, which they again quickly reminded me that saying good luck is back luck, and the correct expression is "break a leg". 

"Break a leg then," I said. "Love you."

"Thank you," Bryce said. "Love you, too."

The musical was a satirical social commentary about class (rich and poor) and corruption and what happens after a 20-year drought when using the "facilities" (toilets) cost money. It was really good; these kids are amazing. Including Bryce!

Another funny musical we watched recently was a high school production The Drowsy Chaperone, a story about a middle-aged, musical theater fan who, feeling "blue", decides to play for the audience an LP of his favorite musical, the fictional 1928 show The Drowsy Chaperone. It's a fun parody of a 1920s American musical comedy. 

And lo and behold, there was our oldest Beatrice working behind the scenes as part of the stage crew. Well, it wasn't a surprise, because we already knew she was helping, and now she has the theater bug, too. She even wants to audition for the next production, whatever it is!

For the past year now, Bryce's introverted love of acting, dancing, and singing has definitely extroverted and increased exponentially. That includes theater and choir. And Beatrice is now enamored with the theater as well (she also has a lovely voice and said she wants to direct, too). We all are enamored with the theater now -- watching Wicked on Broadway during our spring break was quite the experience. We're so grateful to have done that. 

Amy and I may not break out into song and dance for you, but our kids most certainly will. However, if you ever need a drummer...

No Rotten Tomatoes Here

Bryce kept moving around during the final cast bows and her head bobbed back and forth. I thought, What is she doing? Is she still singing and dancing?

And then I thought, Ah, that's what she's doing; she's crying. Just like her dad.

Mostly tears of joy and the reality that the Beauty and the Beast All About Theater production she was in, her first true theater experience, was coming to an end after over three months of rehearsals. So many new learning experiences, new friends, and a new love: the theater. Musicals in particular. 

When both our daughters were in grade school (pre-pandemic), they were in a few after-school musical productions. While they both had fun, it was Bryce who seemed to have an affinity to acting, dancing, and singing. When it came time for the Beauty and the Beast auditions at the beginning of this year, she struggled with doing it or not. One of her good friends had already been in a couple of these shows, and Bryce became very interested in auditioning. 

And then she didn't want to do it. And then she did again. Bryce likes to be introverted a lot of the time, so something like auditioning for a musical took an inordinate amount of bravery and energy for her to pull off. Her stress ran really high prior to the first audition. We did our best to comfort her, to encourage her, and finally when the day came, she did it. 

After she tried out, she couldn't wait to go back. 

Bryce really wanted one of the main roles, the character of Chip, but in the end it was her first serious youth production, and she ended up being the hat seller and part of the many ensemble groups. She even had two lines, one in the first act and one in the second. We were so proud of her during opening night and closing night, the two nights she wanted us there. 

The time investment for Bryce was more than she'd ever experienced before, way more than even playing soccer over the years. Like her dad (me), stress builds up inside her until she's ready to blow. Fortunately her meltdowns were at a minimum, including during tech week when they rehearsed every night for nearly a week prior to opening night. 

For us, there was the financial investment for Bryce to participate, which we'll be happy to do again and again if she continues down the theater path. Plus, the parents can save money off the total investment for their kids when they volunteer to help with sets, costumes, etc., and my wife Amy volunteered a lot over the past three months. I did a little bit, in between my work and being on our local school board, including helping to haul kids back and forth to rehearsals and performances. 

With all of our investments of the past three months, especially Bryce's, the result was renewed love of acting, dancing, and singing in theater, something we believe she's always had, and always will have. There was nothing wrong with being the hat seller and part of the ensemble groups in Beauty and the Beast, her first real theater production. The entire cast of 10-17 year olds, choreography, direction, orchestra, stage help -- all the things -- were amazing! The experience is something Bryce will never forget and she will be back. Early on, she told us that they were going to throw rotten tomatoes at her for being so bad. It became an ongoing joke with our family. 

"Don't post any pictures of me, Dad," she also told me over and over again throughout the production. Being the photog of the family, that's always a tough one for me, but I always comply unless I get permission from either kid. Instead, Bryce gets a proud and goofy parent pic on the last night. That got a smile through all the bittersweet closing-night tears. No rotten tomatoes here. She was fantastic!

The Long Run

"I got this feelin' inside my bones
It goes electric, wavy when I turn it on..."

–Justin Timberlake, Can't Stop the Feeling!

The first show I missed due to work travel; I heard it was one big, fun and hot mess. A bunch of grade-school kids who practiced for weeks to perform a version of the movie Trolls, memorizing spoken lines, scene after scene, and lots of singing practice as well.

These productions are extracurricular for the kids at our school and we have to pay for each child to participate, although each child gets a part no matter what. Even multiple parts to ensure the production is fully casted. The program and production director is really good with the kids, with the patience of a saint.

And for weeks our girls practiced their roles at home, so excited to be in the Trolls production. Beatrice played Branch's grandma and a Bergen, and Bryce was a Smidge, a spider and part of the pet crocodile (of course, if you know the story and the characters).

Then came the final show, the one I could attend with the Mama (what I lovingly call my wife), along with my sister and my grown niece who's pregnant with her first child. We all couldn't wait to see it!

It was so adorable! So much stage fright, undecipherable mumbling, subdued singing, director-fed lines, punctuated by moments of immaculate comedic timing. And throughout, nothing but proud smiles and laughter coming from the audience of parents, family and friends.

These were our children bold enough to be in the play/musical in the first place, to going week after week to Monday afternoon two-hour practices, extending Mondays into a grumpy oblivion, one that our youngest struggled with every single week.

But when it came to showtime, Bryce became the over-dramatic consummate entertainer, while Beatrice performed somewhat shyly, delivering much more subdued lines, but working hard, the actor's actor, ensuring she hit her marks each time. Mostly.

Still, for us in the audience who knew the movie and the story, we struggled to follow along, which is what made it all the more memorable. The story for us was one of our children having fun (mostly) and working together with their friends and the director to go all "electric, wavy" when they turned it on.

And turn it on they did. So much fun. Now they're in a shorter production of Dr. Seuss's Oh, the Places You'll Go!, with Bryce playing the little guy with the yellow going to all the places, and with Beatrice taking on multiple lines this time, willingly, including the part about the "waiting place," a place we've all been to in life, where we grind to a halt due to uncertainty and fear, unwilling to take risks and make moves. When we realize and accept that failure is inevitable and quite important to learning life lessons, then the waiting place is only a transitory respite.

That's one of the things we're so proud about our girls, the fact that they're already learning this at a young age, something that will help them when the waiting place gravity slows them in space.

Temporarily, of course, because it's not a race. It's the long run turned on.

You can get so confused
that you'll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles cross weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place...

...NO!
That's not for you!