Thwacked!

 At back to school clear back last August, I saw Cathy Keller, the music teacher, at school and she mentioned that she was thinking about doing musical with the choir kids this year.  I promptly said I would love to help her.  So a few months later she sent me some plays that we could choose from.  All were simplified musicals for the 4th-8th grade range.  We both had Thwacked as our first choice -- a Chicken Little story (but with frogs) with a bit of Beauty and the Beast all mashed up into one story.

We held auditions in February and got a great turnout.  Since I was helping to direct, I got special permission for Trevor to be in the cast as a townsperson, even though he was only in 2nd grade.  Morgan was cast as Tinker, a tailor who comes across a frog that claims that the sky is falling.  She even had a few lines of solo singing parts. 

We rehearsed every week and the kids really seemed to enjoy the process of learning the songs, choreography, and (eventually) their lines.  It was fun being around the students and to dust off my old choir teacher hat.  What a great group of kids!  I also absolutely loved working closely with Cathy and Stacy, another mom who had volunteered as well.  I'm not sure if we had more fun or the kids. :)

The week of the performance was quite stressful with many of the kids still having trouble with their lines. Also the school has only a makeshift stage and so the set and sound were a bit of a challenge.  But so many teachers and parents pulled together to help get it ready.

The night of the performance everyone really came together!  The kids made it the best time they had ever done it.  I was so proud of all of their effort!  I was especially proud of Morgan who did such a great job on her part.  I was backstage running the curtain and helping with lines, so I didn't get any pictures of the musical.  A little too much on my plate to think about pictures.  Luckily Ken snapped a few pictures and videos with his cell phone.  I also snagged some from my friend Kris.  Her son Zach is one of Morgan's BFFs and they had a blast doing the play together.

It was a great experience and both all the kids can't wait to do another play!

After the play with Cathy, Morgan, Trevor and Zach.

Morgan and Zach

Solving the mystery of the falling sky.

Final Bow