Every now and then we are blessed with an unexpectedly
wonderful experience.
Our time with Whippoorwill Theatre's production of
Midsummer Night's Dream was one of those!
It started with my random web search to find an acting class
or camp for the girls. They had been expressing an interest
in theater so I was just looking to see what was out there.
I found Whippoorwill Theatre. It is a community theater
through the West Des Moines Parks and Rec.
As it happens, they were just registering for their late winter
performance. I decided to give it a try.
We signed up for the play, and the 2 hours/day 3 days/week
practice schedule. It was a daunting undertaking, considering that
the girls were still doing swim team, piano and gymnastics at the
same time.
Not to mention, it was completely out of our comfort zone!
We didn't know anyone participating, anything about the theatre
or anything about the program.
We showed up the first night, expecting it to be with a few kids with
as limited acting experience as us.
Well, our first night was not exactly what we expected, to say the least!
Our first impression was.... not great!
It appeared that 'everyone already knew each other'.
They were quite a spirited bunch, and they had all performed in the past!
The worst part: at the end of the first night, anyone who wanted to
was encouraged to stand up in front of the group and sing
their audition song! Out loud! In front of the group!
As if that wasn't scary enough, these girls were good!!
Needless to say, we went home that night and both girls announced
in the car that they did NOT want to do this.
I have to admit, I was feeling the same way!
It was overwhelming and uncomfortable, as our many new things.
We agreed to pray about it.
We all prayed. We prayed for God's guidance on whether we
should continue and for his strength if we decided to go back.
I prayed for an open mind and to not put my fears and
insecurities on my kids.
When the sun came up the next day, I had to 2 refreshed,
faithful kids ready to go back and give it a try.
We have not regretted that decision once since that day!!
So began auditions and then 7 weeks of practice.
7 weeks of insane busy-ness and amazing fun!
The girls went straight from swimming or piano several
days a week. They ate dinner in the car 2 days a week.
I spent hours upon hours at the theatre surfing the web,
facebooking or just enjoying the chaos that is play practice.
Avery was even invited to join the production as a "little fairy"
so she attended many of the practices too.
In-between the hours of practice some pretty incredible things happened:
We discovered Claire could sing. I mean really sing.
We discovered Ella has a natural presence on stage.
We confirmed that Avery is a drama nut, as we always expected.
We uncovered and developed some pretty amazing character traits in our girls;
courage, confidence, talent, patience, discipline, leadership, and hard-work.
We learned the ins and outs of play production.
We met some really incredible people.
We developed a passion for theater and costume and song.
We identified our own audition songs!
We had a ton of fun and can't wait to do it all over again!
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| Avery, aka the purple little fairy |
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| Ella and the other fairies |
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| Avery and the other little fairies |
A professional photographer came to the dress rehearsal
to take some cast shots. It was very cool to see the girls transformed
into character through hair and makeup.
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| Ella, aka Mustardseed |
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| The cast of Midsummer Night's Dream |
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| Claire, aka Quince |
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| Claire and the mechanicals |
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| Our beautiful actors on opening night! |
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| There was plenty of fun and fooling around too! |
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| Lots of time spent back stage, waiting and practicing~ |
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| We had some great souvenirs, including; a poster, memory book, tshirts, and bags |
I am so grateful for the many great experiences my kiddos get to have.
We are lucky to live in an area full of opportunity.
We are very blessed and grateful to have such supportive friends and family
(many came to watch the girls in their stage debut!).
