Last week was a little bit hectic as the high school finished their production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Scotty and I had the chance to help out with the musical, and Nicky was part of the ensemble. We have loved being involved in the musicals these past two school years, and now that this year’s performances have ended, I just wanted to write some thoughts.
There are some things I really appreciate about our school’s musical experience. I can’t say our school is “better than” other schools (I honestly have no idea - I’ve never been involved in theatre until now, and I haven’t seen any other high schools’ performances, so I have nothing to compare), but I think rather highly of our theatre department.
Our theatre teacher is an alumina so she has history with the school. One thing she does that I love is that she is willing to work with a huge cast. There is a lot of interest and participation in the musicals at our school, and the teacher configures the cast so that 80-100 kids can be involved. It makes for a very crowded stage, but I think it’s really cool that she gives so many kids the experience and the chance to try out theatre. If not for this, I don’t know if Nicky ever would have discovered his own interest in theatre and musicals.
She also relies heavily on parental and community involvement. The number of hands that work together to pull off these shows is incredible. Parents sew costumes, build the set, sell concessions, bring meals for the cast, style hair, take promotional photos, and more. It’s actually really good for me to see this happen because I’m not of the belief that “many hands make light work” (I’m more of the “get out of the way and let me do it” type), but in this case, it’s actually true.
I had a Proud Mama experience with this year’s musical that I want to document. For the auditions, the kids had to learn and perform some choreography on the spot, but if they wanted to go for a “higher” part of the cast, they needed to learn some additional choreography at home via video. Nicky decided that he wanted to put forth the effort to learn the extra choreography. He said, “I know I’m not the greatest dancer, but I want to show the teachers that I’m willing to try.” I thought this was great and fully encouraged it.
Nicky asked Daisy to help him learn the dance, so he and Daisy stayed up late one night working through the choreography (Nicky is too big for our house, and hit his arms and head on the basement ceiling several times while practicing his dance moves). After his audition, I asked how he did, and Nicky said, “It went really well! I know I’m not The Best, but I know I did my best, so I’m happy with it.”
(Sadly, the day before was his singing audition, which had not gone well).
That weekend, the cast list was released, and Nicky found out that he would get to be one of the knights (as well as a villager and one of the attendees of the ball). He was completely shocked because the other guys that were cast as knights were guys he looks up to as “good performers,” and he didn’t see himself as their equal. All weekend he kept saying, “Wow! I can’t believe I’m a knight!” and then he would say, “I hope it wasn’t a mistake!” I assured him that is wasn’t a mistake. I said, “Your teacher knows you, and she knows what you can do, and she saw you make the effort in auditions. It wasn’t a mistake!”
Nicky didn’t have any lines or solos, but he got a lot more stage time this year than last year, and being a knight was the perfect role for him. The knights brought an element of comedy to the show, and Nicky played the part so well. His teacher knew exactly what she was doing, and I love that she was aware of Nicky’s talents, and she found a place for him to shine. I also love that Nicky got to have an experience where he went the extra mile, and it paid off.
Nicky so enjoyed being a part of Cinderella, and so did I! It’s bittersweet to see it come to an end. We’re already looking forward to next year!
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