The theater bug bit Kendra some time ago---in fourth grade, I believe. Last year she played the lead in our school musical, and was a bit sad to learn that theater is not an elective offered to sixth graders at her middle school. We started thinking about other avenues for Kendra to pursue this (very big) interest, and a local community theater called The Artisan came to mind. They are a wonderful, family-owned and family-friendly theater that we've been attending as patrons since we moved here. They have cute children's productions and "main stage" shows that are out of this world. So we looked into it, and Kendra auditioned for the Christmas children's musical
A Snow White Christmas. She earned the part of one of the dwarves/elves--Giggle Toes.
It was a big time commitment---rehearsals were usually three nights per week for 2-3 hours. I did a lot of paper grading! :-) When we arrived to the first rehearsal I was pleased to see the "seasoned" kids welcome Kendra into their fold quickly, and the moms were equally nice. As the time went on, I started to get a little worried---things seemed disorganized, the rehearsals seemed barely-controlled chaos, and the hours spent in rehearsal seemed to bear little fruit. Kids weren't learning their parts and only idle threats were given. Once, I sat in on a rehearsal and my teacher skin was crawling---I literally had to leave because the management of the kids was so poor. Kendra was frustrated, I was frustrated. We were both worried that her first experience at this place we LOVED was going to be a total waste of time and a complete embarrassment to Kendra---many of our friends had promised to come watch her perform. So, I wrote the managing director and owner an email expressing our concerns. Thankfully, both had seen similar issues and jumped in to help the newbie director get some semblance of control. Our confidence in the theater was restored. The shows were rough at the start, but eventually they came together. Kendra enjoyed herself once things got fixed, and she plans to audition for another show in the next weeks.
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| First show with flowers from our friends, the Aigners. |
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| The merry band of elves! |
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| On stage |
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| At the mall performance |
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