Wistful

Last week's dress rehearsals plus all the performances--last weekend and now this week and coming weekend--have seemed so much llloooonnnnngerrrrr than any other show we've ever done!

Usually we cram the school day shows into production week, on the Thursday after the last dress rehearsal and on the Friday of Opening Night. That makes for a crowded tech week, but at least those school day shows are over with. Then you get a break between Sunday's show and the second weekend of shows.

This time, our longest break between shows is less than 48 hours! In a 14-day period, I'll have been at that theater on 11 days or evenings, for a total of 12 shows, 3 dress rehearsals.

It sounds like a big time commitment--and it is. It seems like more than usual, with this schedule, and it's been hard for me, because this is the first time in four years that I'm putting in this kind of time with only one child in the show.

With more kids involved, it feels totally worth it. Even while I'm working on other kids' makeup, I'm aware of where my three are, and when they're on stage, and how they did, and we joke in between scenes and in the car. There's a camaraderie that I have with them at the theater which doesn't occur anywhere else.

This time, I am really missing Blondechick16 and Bantam14. I miss them as soon as I pull out of the driveway, because usually, when I leave for the theater, I take the most talkative half of the kids with me, leaving the young and the quiet home with Dad. This time, B10 and I feel more like the ones leaving the party!

And Bantam10, though he has a big part as Mayor of Munchkinland, is only in one scene--and then he's done until curtain call. This may sound crazy, but I dreamed recently that we took the show on the road back to my hometown, and all our friends were coming to see Bantam10 in it. Then we ran into a time crunch, and the director made the tough decision to cut the Munchkin scene! I guess that's a picture of how precarious my investment in this show feels. No wonder it's been a long two weeks!

Blondechick16 and Bantam14 have enjoyed having Saturdays free to spend with their friends who aren't involved in theater. But we're all looking forward to the opening of the Kenosha theater group next fall, and getting back in the groove...together!

Last night, in honor of Bantam14's birthday, we took nine boys (including 3 pairs of brothers) to see B10 in The Wizard of Oz! Then they all slept over...and reminded me why we don't usually do sleepovers. (Very little sleeping occurred.) We also had a group from church, and B10's piano teacher came with her family, and I got to sit and watch the show while others filled in for me with my makeup responsibilities. (I usually do the Cowardly Lion's face, and there are soooo many double and triple-cast characters who all have quick makeup changes.) It was nice to enjoy the show with family and friends.

Nine down, three to go...!