Broadway Review: Huge Sacrifice= Very Rewarding

We had the opportunity to be in another play (last summer, we were in "Savior of the World" as a family, this spring and summer 2010.  It was a huge sacrifice, taking almost every Saturday morning and many Thursday nights between May and July (then toward the end even more than that.)  At first, it wasn't exactly what we were expecting and I was feeling a bit frustrated.  It seemed that there were a lot of solos and small groups and not very many big group songs, which would be fun to do as a family.  However, it turned out to be wonderful and we all had a lot of fun!  It was fun getting to know new people, new songs, and having this wonderful memory as a family. 1) Our awesome directors, Patrick and JoLee directing us at practice, 2&3) The kids playing in the green room, during the show, 4) Silly Aimee, 5&6) Aurora singing her heart out (everyone got a kick out of Aurora and her little personality), 7) Nina and her new friend, Mary, (Karina and Aurora loved being carried around by the teenagers.  Even some of the little kids would try to carry Aurora around.)  PS- A few of the pictures throughout this post were taken by other people, like my friend, Lara.

  

The show was a Broadway Review, a bunch of different songs from different shows.  It began with "New York, New York," sung by Bob, an older gentleman from our ward.  He retrieved his sparkly silver jacket from the trunk (which was used throughout the play to tie everything together) and sang beautifully!  Next came two songs from Charlie Brown/Snoopy: "My New Philosophy" (which Aurora stills sings to this day, "A 'D?' A 'D.'  Why are you telling me?" with her arms out, "That's my new philosophy!") and "Suppertime" sung by Caleb.  He was absolutely hilarious!!  He ran around the entire stage, dressed as Snoopy, doing a fabulous job acting and singing!  Our girls loved seeing Caleb dressed as Snoopy, especially Aurora, "Caleb a doggy, Mama!  Heeheehee!"  Next came the songs from Joseph, "Canaan Days," a humorous song sung by the men, including Grant (from off stage, since he had to be Joseph later.)  Then, the Elvis song, "Pharoah's Dream," which we were all in, and "I Close my Eyes" featuring Grant as Joseph and all the kids (even Aurora.)  Aurora actually had a lot of fun being in the play but wasn't too keen on taking pictures.  (Also a picture of Riana and Sariah helping me get ready.)  

Next, I had to run and very quickly change into my Nun costume and run in for the Processional/Alleluia and then "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?"  I had the pleasure of being Sister Catherine, with some speaking/singing lines/solos.  (Being in high school plays pretty much destroyed my confidence in acting, so I was extremely grateful for this opportunity and it really helped restore my faith in my acting abilites.)  It was a really fun group of ladies and my biggest problem was keeping the smile off my face, which I was teased about by the directors.  There were also quite a few jokes about me being a pregnant nun!  LOL!  Following the Nun parts, they had the song, "A Few of My Favorite Things."  (I love Grant for sneaking into the audience and snapping these pictures for me.)

Next came "It's a Hard Knock Life," featuring Riana, Sariah, Tierra, and Karina.  Sariah was excited to get to hold up the blanket during "cotton blankets, 'stead of wool!"  All the girls did an excellent job up there, singing and dancing their little hearts out!!  It was a very cute number!  (They didn't have an "Annie" but I thought Riana would've been the perfect one- 10 year old redhead.)  It was followed by "Little Girls," in which the girls got to stick out their tongues and be silly!  Later in the 1st act, the teenagers sang and danced to, "The Nicest Kids in Town."  The rest of us sang from the wings of the stage.  (I love Aimee's face in the 3rd picture!  Hilarious!)
 

  

The first act ended with "Dancing Queen," which all the women/girls sang, while standing throughout the audience.  I love that my girls learned that song (Aurora ran around singing it for months, "You can dance, you can jive... see that girl, watch that scene, the dancing queen!")  I loved that my girls were brave and tried to get our friends and family to come dance with them (look closely at the 1st picture).  Super cute!

The second act included such songs as, "Loathing" and "For Good" sung by a friend in our ward, Lara, and also Chelsea (amazing together!), "Consider Yourself" starring Logan and all the young boys (Logan did awesome and really carried that number!  He was fun to watch!), a spelling bee song (which my girls all knew practically the whole song even though they weren't in it), and two numbers from Les Miserables-- "Castle on a Cloud," and then "Bring Him Home," sung by Grant.  He did an incredible job!!  (I'm not the least bit biased!  ;)  It was fun to stand by him at the end of the show and listen to all the sweet little old ladies, who fell in love with him.  LOL!!  He made a lot of people cry, with the passionate way he sang.)

The finale was "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," which we all learned how to spell, through learning the song.  (Aurora also loved this song and still sings it sometimes.)  We were all in this song (this was Grant's quick costume change song.)  Riana had her 5 seconds of fame when she proudly did a cartwheel, in the front, and Sariah was also chosen to do a somersault (only 4 girls were chosen, so they were really happy to have that small part.)  Also, the girls were sad because after the first two shows some people received flowers and candy from their families and friends.  So the next night, their sweet Daddy brought them all some flowers and candy to surprise them!  It made them really happy!  Another night, a sweet girl, Bethany, from our ward, brought our family flowers.  So sweet! 

After 7 shows, 26 costumes just for our family (23 of which I had to help with in the girl's dressing room, plus different shoes and many other pieces, for almost all of the costumes), and many, many practices, we were all pretty exhausted.  (I couldn't have made it without Brooke and her cousin, Hannah, who were always helping me, even if I said I didn't need it.  Also their siblings helped with our kids too, they are all incredible!)  On closing night, Aurora slept through half the show and I had to bribe her with a lolipop (which Shirley gave me) to wake up for the closing number.  Also, after the closing show, we broke down the set and cleaned up the church, and then a bunch of us went out to ice cream, just before midnight.  We had a lot of fun in this play and are glad we stuck it through!  PS- My Mom sewed the costume for Jane from Mary Poppins, so we had Riana try it on, before we gave it to "Jane."