After Dinner

Some nights (in the summer) we get a show after dinner. While Anna sat next to me lost in a book Abigail did this. I love her made up little dances.

Aww Gee

I thought this was it... really I did. Till I found these few clips on my phone. I "just gotta" (as Annie would say) get them here. So Abigail can see them someday.

And I'm sorry that my blog has been Abigail heavy and Annie heavy too.  I do have another beautiful daughter and we are doing other things this summer... and a bunch of nothing too.

This is just a week and half into the production. My little Molly was still learning the lines. But oh boy I love hearing those girls belt out that song!





My Dad saying, "smile, smile!"



This one is only the third day when they still hadn't figured out the parts.  They were just teaching them the dances to see who might be who!



Just learning it...



And this is checking online the day the parts were listed.





About two weeks in...



This is the preshow that happened in the lobby as everyone else was backstage.  Super fun!







Dress Rehearsal (and oh what a fix, no peppermint sticks)



Dress Rehearsal bows



And last Friday we had a "take down the set" day and a party after.  This is the last few moments of Annie magic!  Abigail loved the choreographer!





And that's it... it's a wrap!

Annie

I know what you're thinking... how long can this go on? These Annie posts. This is the LAST. It is. But this is also the most exciting night.

You can tell just by looking at my girl!



This is Abigail and my Dad, her grandpa. I knew that after the show the stage would be filled with people taking all kinds of pictures and the set would be Warbucks Mansion so I had Abigail put on her orphan costume (even through she starts the show with the orphan pajamas) just so I could get these pictures.







Love this one. And love them together.



When the audience started filling up Abigail was really beaming. Especially when it was filled with pieces of her heart.



and this...



My Dad has always, always had the cast join hands before each performance. Wished I taped it. But I think I can remember forever since I've heard the uplifting talk for 42 years.



He tells them that this one a very special night. That "it's going to go by so fast. You'll hear the music, the curtain will go up, the show will start and then it will be over. Just like that. It goes by so fast."

He tells them to have fun. To enjoy themselves. To laugh. To give it their all. And to feel grateful.

He talks for a while them about feeling gratitude for being able to be a part of something wonderful.

And then she says it's time to close your eyes for a moment of silence. He says you can silently thank your parents. You can thank God. You can pray.

Abigail told me that she thanked God that it was all possible.



And he was right. The curtain when up



and just like that







the fun was over. And we have another wonderful memory to lock away... forever.











Abigail, you will always remember being Molly. You will forever have those songs, those lines, those dances in your heart. You will always have for the rest of our life you first musical and your time, precious time with your Grandpa.

Thursday Afternoon

I want to try to get down as many feelings as I can remember from that day.  There was busy~ness.  And exhaustion from being there late on Wednesday evening (dress rehearsal).  Scott was away Tuesday through Thursday afternoon so dishes were piled in the sink until after I got them to sleep.

But there was that feeling of anticipation, great excitement for the Thursday evening performance.

That afternoon when we got home from the day performance I tried to get Abigail to fall asleep.  I did all I could to make it possible.  An after lunch bath, jammies, shades down, Raffi, but she just couldn't sleep.  And that was fine.  I remember being eight the day of a show.

When she "woke up" we had a little party for her.  Sweet, and small, just something to mark the occasion of being in her first musical.



Anna and I went the week before to pick out a locket (the ultimate symbol of the musical Annie). Anna picked it out. Was so excited about it and for her little sister. She chose the font and what it would say on the engraving.



And Abigail was one excited eight year old about opening a present she knew was special.



Just because that box is so pretty.



She loved untying the ribbon. She loved the box in a box. She loved the tissue paper. And she loved the locket.





I have to find a sec to get a better picture of this sweet locket. It was sunny in the room. And I had the wrong lens on. And we HAD to eat, dress, and get to the show!!!

There is an A on the front. (A for Annie and A for Abigail)

On the back we decided to have it engraved Molly. Because I always want her to have her part close to her heart when she wears the locket. It was a big big big deal for her to get Molly. Not because of the lines or the singing. Without sharing too too much Abigail had a rough past year in school. We felt like her little confidence was beat down and by the end of the year she felt like she couldn't do anything right in school, wasn't smart, and was so behind she'd "never catch up". At the very end of the year I went in to school to hear her little reptile presentation and she was to timid and shy she could barely get the words out in front of the class. But then along came the summer and Molly was just what this little girl needed to find herself again.



Daddy brought home roses that afternoon.



Perfect, teeny, tiny celebration.



A quick mini dinner and some cake. We changed and we all headed off to the final performance. She was more excited than I'd ever seen her in her life. So happy that afternoon whizzing through all that had to be done. she was confident and beaming. And I was grateful. For it all.

The First Performance

It was so exciting, that first performance. Here's Abigail getting her mic on.





And after that they go on stage for a mic check.



And then the show begins.

"Annie, read me your note"





"Maybe" Out of all of the Maybe photos I took (the ones where she falls asleep on Annie's lap) this one is my favorite!



Love her sleeping behind Annie



And Hard Knock Life was the BEST! This is Abigail up on an orphans shoulders acting as Miss Hannigan. "You'll stay up til this dump shines like the top of the Crysler building"





"Yank the wiskers from her chin"



"Get to work! Strip them beds! I said... get to work!!!"

Annie

My Dad has been directing children's Musical Theatre for 42 years. Each year he produces a HUGE show that lasts most of the school year. It culminates into one amazing show. Well, actually there are six performances, I think. And each summer he directs a smaller, quick show that he can get up and going in less than four weeks.

When I was growing up I was in ALL of his summer shows. And this summer Abigail wanted to be in one of "grandpas shows". So we said, sure!

I thought she'd be scared up there and oh so quiet. I thought she'd make a cute orphan and be 'just' an orphan. But on the first three days the kids 'try out' (everyone gets to be in it... tryouts are just to see who is who for the show) my Dad sat down next to me, pointed to the stage, and said, "look at your daughter".

She had expression. She sang and danced her heart out.

And so she got the part of Molly. MOLLY!

Molly has lines! Molly wears a microphone! Molly sings solo lines in songs! Really? We were so excited to watch her over the past month grab onto the challenge and joy of becoming "molly".









Tonight is the big performance and we are over the moon to see our girl up there! MOLLY!

Annie

Last weekend Abigail was in Annie.  But this post really isn't all about Abigail.  It's about my Dad.  You see, my Dad has been directing musicals for middle school children since... before I was born.

When I was a little girl (Abigail's age) I was in many, many of them.  Someday I'll have to copy those pictures and get them here on this blog.  I have wonderful, happy memories with my Dad as the director and me singing and dancing on his stage.

When I was just five and Annie first came out on Broadway my Dad saw it and when he got home he taught me the dance to "Together At Last"  (no music was out yet then... but he secretly tape recorded the show to share it with me... that's a whole different blog post because that's quite a story)We 'performed' that song (sang and danced) on Easter when I was five in our living room.  I remember every detail.  Him, spinning me around his finger and the big finale landing on his knee!

When I married Scott and it was time to think about our Father ~ Daughter dance we knew it would have to be a Broadway show song.  We chose 'Why Do I Love You' from Showboat.  It's "our musical".  We both love Annie too but no song in Annie seemed to fit.  We certainly couldn't do "Together At Last" because really I was marrying Scott and Scott and I would be 'together at last'.  So Annie didn't fit.  Showboat is a wonderful musical.  I saw it on Broadway and a few other theatres as well.  Always with my Dad.  There is a song in Showboat when a Grandma is singing to her daughter as her daughter is growing up and leaving to be married.  Perfect.  We had the words taken out of the song and we wore mics pinned to the inside of our clothes.  We sang  and danced to that song like we were on a Broadway stage.  (this is loooooong before any youtube crazy father daughter dance videos)  It was amazing.  I'll have to get that video someday on here too.  I still can't believe I sang in front of all of those people!

Back to Annie last weekend.



You see, seeing my Dad up here welcoming the audience was wonderful for me to see.  He has been through so much over the past two months.  And I honestly never thought I would have the joy to see one of his musicals again.

We talked in the hospital about how it 'might' be possible for him to go see it in a wheelchair.  But not direct it.  Someone else would have to take it over.  I was so grateful to God that he made it through his surgery that I put seeing his shows on 'never agian' list.  And that was okay.

But God didn't just bring his through.  God healed him in a way that amazed us all.  And even after missing six crucial weeks of rehearsals he stepped back in and did it.  He created a miracle on that stage.

I can brag.  Because I can.  His middle school musicals are not your average, ordinary, when is it over school plays.  They are Broadway quality. There is attention to every detail.  He knows how to cast a show.  And he knows how to bring out the best in every child.  The scenery is so incredible that when the curtain opens the audience applause.

So when he asked Abigail to do a 'walk on' last Friday.  I said, of course!






Every night just before the performance starts he talks to them... motivates them. Shows them the real reason they are there.



And then he leads them in a prayer.



Eyes closed. One whole minute. And this is a public middle school.



He welcomes the audience.



And the show begins. 'It's a Hard Knock Life'



Here comes Abigail





I love her smile here.



... because Annie found Sandy.





'The Sun Will Come Out... Tomorrow'





Loved the swings he had the children on.



'You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile'





'The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow' with the President





Her, 'I'm going to be adopted' moment. (see the marble staircase in the background?"



'Together at Last'



And Sandy for the grand finale! I love how happy Sandy looked there.



Thanks for letting me get all that out there. Or here, I guess you'd say. I just had to get these feelings down. These words that were in my heart. Special night doesn't even begin to describe Annie.

Peter Pan was back here.

and here