Theater

Seeing that we are in production for The Sound of Music it's only appropriate that I blog about theater. About 4 years ago I accompanied Alexis' class on 2 field trips to see MET2 productions. The first one was Annie and the 2nd one was Big River. I was blown away. This was a local theater group? They were incredible! The following year the Seussical flyer came home from school and Hallie begged to do it. Alexis said she wasn't interested. So I spent about 1 month lecturing Hallie about how this was a commitment and even if she didn't like it she had to finish the play because I was paying for this and when you make a commitment you stick to it. She understood. 5 minutes before we left for registration, Alexis said she wanted to do it too. WHAT??? I haven't had a month to lecture her! So in the 7 min drive I crammed in all that I had been telling Hallie for 1 month. In my mind I'm thinking "These girls have never liked anything that I've signed them up for. Soccer? Nope. Softball? Nope." So who knew how theater would go. Now for those that don't know my kids, they are extremely shy (or at least they were at this point). When I arrived to register I felt very overwhelmed. I kept thinking, "What am I doing"?? The way that MET works is that at registration parents are allowed to watch for about 10-15 min before we asked to wait outside. Well let me tell you, that 10-15 min was all that I needed. The minute the director Ali began, all of my worries fell away. I watched her interact w/ this group of kids and knew we were going to be ok. The first time I saw my kids on stage I cried. I couldn't believe my shy little girls were up there in front of this huge theatre filled w/ people performing their hearts out. It was an amazing feeling! After that, we've been hooked. Alexis and Hallie absolutely love it! I've seen so much growth in both of them and so much of their shyness melting away. I have so much appreciation for MET2. Not only that, but I've met some fabulous people there as well. It's just such a great group of people. Jon is now hooked on being on stage as well. Who knew???? Jon is Mr. Anti-Social :) I call him my little hermit. But he loves it and now wishes he had found this niche when he was younger. My hats off to all of those who can get on stage and perform. I would be extremely nauseated if I did it. As a kid I flamenco danced and I never "owned the stage". I was much too insecure. So I will gladly take my roll backstage and enjoy watching my family continue to grow in confidence. It is such a joy.