Thursday, February 04, 2010

Three of a Kind

Taylor gleefully participated in the 3rd grade music program tonight at Linton Elementary school!

Titled "Three of a Kind", the show was billed thusly: a story of threesomes that come together to help solve the case of Missing Baby Bear. Fairy tale triads like the three pigs, the three little kittens (who lost their mittens), three men in a tub and the three billy goats gruff sleuth out exactly where Baby Bear could have gone!

Taylor tried out for several parts in the play, including Billy Goat #1, Goldilocks and Blind Mouse #2. She was incredibly miffed about not being given the chance to try out for one of the three musketeers roles. How to explain that one? I tried to say that it would be somewhat like a boy trying out for the Goldilocks role. Which, fortunately for me, changed the subject to why she didn't get the Goldilocks role. Once again, what to say? I decided to go for the truth, which is this: it's a tough spot to land when you've got a classmate with bright blond to-her-waist hair. Taylor decided to publish a self-made book named Brownielocks, about her own fabulous brown hair, then got over it and cheerfully accepted the role of Blind Mouse #2.

All I can say is that she makes a pretty cute sightless rodent. :)


Pre-show dress rehearsal. Cute!

Taylor practiced for weeks before the show. She memorized her lines, plus the words to all of the 8 songs in the show and practiced her delivery style so the crowd would laugh at her funny lines. Her partners in crime (Blind Mouse #1 and #3) even practiced with her during recess time at school. After weeks of practice, tonight finally came. The Big Night!

Of course it was awesome. Because in spite of the weeks of practice, the things that really make memories still happened. Kids forgot their lines, then proudly delivered them with a little help from Mrs.Conover, their music teacher. Kids talked way too loudly in the microphone. Props were dropped. Kids sang off-key and out of time with the music. One kid even fell off the risers in the back! All those things that parents get misty-eyed over, a little choked up about, clap too loudly and too long over, smile ear-to-ear with pride about, happened. And I got to be one of those parents. One of the ones clapping and smiling and getting a little (okay, a lot) misty-eyed. It was great.


Here's Taylor flawlessly executing the role of Blind Mouse #2!

Taylor was pretty excited about how her role as Blind Mouse #2 turned out. In her words: "I didn't get the exciting part, or the pretty girl part. I got the smart part!" Which really means that, in the end, it's the sightless rodent trio that solved the mystery of Missing Baby Bear. To her, that was quite all right. :)

After the show, all the kids returned to their home rooms at the school to change out of their costumes and get hugs and congratulations from their teacher. John managed to capture a picture of The Three Blind Mice.


Goofy girls after the show!

After thanking her teachers and talking to classmates, Taylor was ready to go home for the night. On the walk home, we congratulated other kids we met, telling everyone how good the show was and what a great job they did. I heard Taylor talking to one kid about how things went, and she summed it all up pretty well. She said, "Yeah, that sure was a lot of work! But still, we don't get to have fun like that every day!"

Kristin