"All Over the World"- On Stage!

"All Over the World" began with a walk through the Airport, where you were able to see a map of all destinations and pictures of all star employees.  Then the Flight Leader and the 3 flight attendants, gave direction throughout the show.  (A couple of these pictures I took, and a couple of them I stole from friends like Lara, but most of them were taken by my fabulous mother!!  She was so sweet to take pictures throughout two different shows!  We really appreciated it and she did a great job!!)

  

The show began with two numbers from Aladdin, "Arabian Nights," sung by Dan, and "One Jump Ahead" starring Caleb as Aladdin and Killian as Abu (the perfect part for him and his brown curly hair.)  Caleb was quite impressive, running around while singing, and he even jumped down from the rooftops and performed many other stunts.  Aurora was a very adorable little townperson.  Riana, Sariah, Tierra, and Karina did great as townspeople also.  (3rd song in a minute)  The fourth song was "Zero to Hero" sung by an ensemble of ladies and the fifth song was "How the Other Half Lives" starring April and Brooke M.  

The 3rd song in the show was one of my personal favorites (and I'm not the least bit biased...  LOL!)  Grant and I were able to sing, "Heather on the Hill," a love song from "Brigadoon" and we even got to kiss on stage!!  It was so much fun!!  It was fun flirting with each other.  "You see, you can say nice things... when you want to" ..."It almost sounded like I was in love with you, didn't it?"  It was also amazing to receive such a great response from the audience.  After each show, people would compliment us and make comments about being glad we were married and such.  One young girl said to me, "Did you even know that boy that you kissed?"  LOL!  (I also had the chance to take a free voice lesson from a woman named Erin and learned SO much!  I have never take personal voice lessons before and she really knows what she is talking about.  She also gave me some really nice compliments, which helped me have more confidence.)

  

Next came "Trouble" with Jonathan performing wonderfully as Prof. Harold Hill and "Wells Fargo Wagon" with Cody singing the main solo really well (little boy with lisp.)  Aurora somehow picked up all the actions, on her own, and was pretty stinkin' cute up there!  (She went out each night with a different buddy and sometimes with us, which was fun because then our entire family, except Calyssa, was together on stage.) 

Then Chelsea sang "Shy" and Christie sang "Sensitivity," both from "Once Upon a Mattress," followed by Patrick singing "The Impossible Dream" from "Man of La Mancha."  They all did a great job!

The other of my favorite numbers, was Riana's song.  Right after they gave her the part, I watched/heard the song for the first time ever, on YouTube, and I cried because it is just the cutest song ever and perfect for Riana.  It is called, "I Know It's Today" from "Shrek the Musical."  It is all about Fiona and how she is waiting for her Prince to rescue her from the tower.  At first, she is a young girl (Riana's part) and sings...

"Settle in girls, it's storytime (to her dolls)
There’s a princess

In a tower
Oh my gosh, that’s just like me
Poor Rapunzel
Needs a haircut
But the witch won’t set her free
She passes time by singing
Like someone else I know
As years go by she sits and waits…
As years go by? Uh oh
A torturous existence
I don’t remember this part!
She wishes she were dead?
Skip ahead skip ahead!
But in the end Rapunzel finds a millionaire
The prince is good at climbing and braiding golden hair!
So I know, he’ll appear
Cause there are rules and there are strictures
I believe the storybooks I read by candlelight
My white knight, and his steed
Will look just like these pictures!
It won’t be long now, I guarantee!
Day number…23.
I know its today
I know its today"

Young Fiona leaves and returns as teenage Fiona, played by Bekah.  She sings about the Prince kissing her and proposing to her and ends with "And our prenupt will be binding!  About time we set the wedding date!
Day number…958."  She then leaves and returns all grown up, played by Kim, who dyed her hair for the part.  As an adult, she is now going a bit crazy and ripping parts out of the books, in hopes that her happy ending will soon be here.  My favorite line of hers was, "Though I seem a bit bipolar."  She is soon joined by her two younger selfs, and they all sing, in harmony...

"It’s me Fiona!

Now I know, he’ll appear
Cause there are rules and there are strictures
I believe the storybooks I read by candlelight
My white knight, my knight and his steed
Will look just like these pictures!
It won’t be long now, I guarantee!
YOUNG FIONA- Day number 23
TEENAGE FIONA- Day number 958
ADULT FIONA- Day number 4823
I know its today, oooo
I know its today, oooo
I know it's today!"

It was so adorable!  Riana did such a great job!  I was so proud of her!!  Each night, I was nervous for her (and myself, of course.)  But she did incredible!!  (One other cute thing- between the time that Riana was given the part, and a week or two later when she received the music, she went on YouTube and memorized her entire part.  The directors (and her parents) were quite impressed!!  She was very excited to have been given the part!)

The last song in the first act was "All Over the World."  It was a party song.  The adults and teenagers ran in and filled the audience, while the children waved flags on the stage.  We then proceeded to sing and dance as the audience batted around blown-up globes of the world.  It was a super exciting way to end the first act!!  (Sariah wanted to do something really crazy on closing night, so she wore my "Wells Fargo Wagon" hat out during this song.  Wow!  What a rebel!!)  ;)  We were all in this number and some nights, I even took Calyssa out with me.  So much fun!

The first song of the second act was "Tradition" from "Fiddler on the Roof."  Our fiddler on the roof was Amman, who did an outstanding job!!  He is seriously an incredible violinist and I loved standing backstage while he played his solo, and just closing my eyes and enjoying his amazing talent!!  Also, this was a fun song, especially because of the teenagers.  They did their parts in such a fun, teasing way.  The boys sang, "I hear they've picked a bride for me. I hope she's pretty," then smiled and looked over at the girls.  Then at the end of the girls part they sang, "Preparing me to marry whoever Papa picks?" and grumpily looked at the boys.  It was cute!  (Our directors are so great!!)  Riana, Sariah, Tierra, and Karina all stood in front of me and the women, while Aurora usually was held by Kim.  Grant was with the men, of course.

Later in the second act, the kids (including Riana, Sariah, Tierra, and Karina) helped sing, "I Just Can't Wait to be King" and "Hakuna Matata."  Grant played the part of Timon, the meerkat, and was hilarious!!  I couldn't believe the energy he had up there.  Caleb played Zazu, Kapena was Simba, Summer was Nala, and Josh was Pumba.  They all did fabulous! 

 

Before the Lion King numbers came "There's Nothing Like a Dame" sung by the men and "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" sung by JoLee, both good.  After it, was "Agony" by Jonathan and Amman, which was especially hilarious given the fact that they are both single, "And she's just out of reach..."  (Not to mention their awesome facial expressions and actions!)  After "Agony," was "Think of Me" sung by Stacey, which was really good, and then "Music of the Night" by Grant.  He was quite impressive, especially considering that he had just enough time to change out of his Timon costume and become a completely different role.  It was fun standing next to him after the show and listening to so many people that were very impressed with his voice, especially all the cute little old ladies, that were totally in love with him.  LOL!!  He really did do a fantastic job.  (I especially appreciated the nice compliments from my parents and family.)

  

The last three numbers were-- 1) the teenagers (and on closing night, my awesome friend and new idol, Cindy, in a wig- hilarious!!) dancing to Footloose.  2) Tasha singing "I Dreamed a Dream" wonderfully.  3) The closing number of the show was "One Day More" from Les Miserables.  It was such a powerful way to end the show and made me cry on closing night.  Grant sang the part of Marius.  (I have to say that I will never get used to him singing with another girl.)  PS- I think the picture above is so funny- it totally looks like Grant is about to slug Jonathan.  LOL!

We truly enjoyed being a part of yet another Broadway Review (our 3rd Multi-Stake production.)  It was a great experience for all of us.  I feel so grateful for those who sacrifice so much to make these plays possible.  (Every single person is a volunteer- the directors, all the actors, the crew, etc.)  All we have to do is pay for our gas and food costs, and we have the priceless opportunity to perform on stage, as a family, and build wonderful memories!  So awesome!!