Annie Jr.

This past few months have been busy for Taylor, Abby and EmmaClaire.  They all tried out for the school musical, and all made it.  The girls were townspeople and didn't have any solos or lines.  Taylor, with the encouragement of his parents, tried out for Daddy Warbucks.  And, to his chagrin, made the part.  After realizing that it would take lots of hard work and lots of time, and realizing that he was the only boy from the whole jr. high that was involved, and realizing that it meant he couldn't be on the jr high soccer team, he decided that he wanted to back out and not be involved with the play.  He wanted to quit.

But we aren't quitters.  We're go-getters.  We are loyal.  We are finishers.

We had lots of talks about being committed, being loyal even and especially when it's not the favorite thing to do or not the favorite way to spend his time.  Even when all of his friends aren't doing it and sometimes tease him about being in "a musical".  Even when he could be on the soccer field with the jr. high team, but instead he's singing and acting with a bunch of girls.

We kept encouraging him to give it his all and be a finisher.  I kept promising him that he'd love it in the end. It was a rough road that first month of play rehearsal--lots of complaining, lots of discussion. Lots of arguing.  Lots of frustration.   But he stuck at it and gave it his all.

 

He learned all his lines, all the solos and duets, practiced, dramatized at home in front of us, and put tons of hours into it at school.  The more he gave of himself, the more confident he became with his role and the more he started enjoying it. 

He did a super fabulous job.  The school held 3 different performances, and I have to say that Taylor, i.e. Daddy Warbucks was the hit of each show. 

The evening after a super busy weekend of play performances, Taylor came into the kitchen, put his arm around me, and said, "Mom, . . . .I loved it!"

That did it for me! That's all I needed to hear.  Those 4 words made my mother heart melt and made ti all worth it. 

EmmaClaire and Abby loved it.  They were involved in one song with a large group.  And during two scenes, they walked "through the town as townspeople", (walked accross the stage).  Regardless of their minimal part in the play, they loved every minute of practice.  And they encouraged and frequently complimented Taylor, which was a huge blessing to his teenage mentality.

I'm pretty sure EmmaClaire's favorite part of the whole thing was getting make-up on prior to each performance. 

  Taylor wouldn't do stage make-up. In this picture, he's "all miked up".

I took charge of the cast party after the last performance that included 4 directors and over 90 cast menbers.  It was a crazy busy weekend.  We're proud of our kids for being involved.  Especially proud of Taylor for doing something out of his comfort zone, something that he really, really, really didn't want to do.  Proud for being loyal and committed to the end and giving his all.