The Rehearsals

After the audition, came a few MONTHS of waiting. Sarah was beginning to wonder if it there was really a play or if you just 'win' the audition and it's over. I kept telling her...after thanksgiving...and Christmas, and the new year...and one more month...THEN you get to do the play. In the mean time we needed to get some new Head Shots for the program. Of coarse I put that off until the day of the first rehearsal, and we were scrambling to get it done...and it was too windy...and they sun was in their eyes! Here's what we ended up with.

Good Enough!

At the meeting before the rehearsals began we were told the procedure for dropping the kids off and picking them up and that parents would not be permitted to stay at rehearsals. This was not totally unexpected, but nonetheless uncomfortable. As a Home Schooler I'm not accustomed to leaving my kids with strangers for large chunks of time. And, well, I like to be with them and see what their doing...it's fun! I wasn't too worried about Elisabeth. She's 11 and actually has been to school for a few months before. However, I was freaking out a little anxious about leaving little Sarah.

I packed them snacks and books, and crayons and anything else I thought would keep them happy, comfortable and occupied. Then I walked them in, and hugged and kissed, and smiled, and said "Have Fun". And then drove the 30 minutes back to my house. NO I DID NOT CRY! I went home and tried to keep busy (catch up on face book, play trains with Nick) And I even cleaned the kitchen. I knew this was going to be a growing experience for the girls. Anxiously I waited, and hoped Sarah wasn't getting her feelings hurt or missing me too much . Jon stayed late at work and picked them up on his way home.

The sound of the car pulling up caught my attention, and then I heard it....SCREAMING! One loud high long screech followed by "THAT WAS AWESOME!", and then another squeal of delight. Sarah has an amazing capacity to express a wide array of emotions in an unmistakable (and loud) manner! All my fears we relieved. She had a blast...loved every minute of it...and couldn't stop talking on and on about every detail of what they had done! Elisabeth expressed in a slightly more subdued way, that she had thoroughly enjoyed herself as well. Hooray! Another Happily Ever After. =)

Astonishingly there was only a 2 week rehearsal period! Unfortunately, that means very long hours for those 2 weeks. Very often they had to eat Lunch or Dinner or BOTH at rehearsal. I asked the girls to take some pictures at rehearsal, but the were either too busy or having too much fun, they never got around to it except at lunch break.

On The Tech rehearsal days they went from 1:00 - 5:00 then a 2 hour dinner break, and then from 7:00 -10:00. Well, that was the plan anyway, but really they ended going over time and so we ran to the publix next door and grabbed a quick sandwich, or something. And then they went again until about 11:00. We are usually a 'go to bed at 9:00' kind of people. But we adjusted.

We live about 30 minutes from the Theatre. So I would drive there to drop them off, then back home for a few hours (or run errands) then drive back to feed them...then home again....then back to pick them up....then home again. That is 3 hours in the car! It's a good thing that only lasted a week!

Elisabeth had a big Symphony Chorus Performance (and extra rehearsal) in the middle of all this. She was chosen to sing a solo (that made her happy). But it made an already hectic schedule absolutely insane!

AND we were trying 3 TIMES to get Sarah's hair to turn black...or even just dark brown. That was a fiasco thanks to the lady at Sally's who was the opposite of helpful and knowledgeable.

It's darker...but not NEARLY dark enough!

It's actually quite red.

Here they are in the Theatre while it's the Red casts turn to practice.

They are in the Gold Cast.

The boys were troopers through it all. There was a lot of driving and running errands and waiting for the girls to get done. On the bright side, they got to eat out a lot...AND, the boys and I got to see Percy Jackson with some friends on it's release day. That was fun! And during all the craziness I was once again Very thankful that we home school.