I'm on a Newsies kick at the moment. Last February, I was reminded about how I love musicals, and this past weekend, I was given another boost to my system.
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| Sorry, no video, this is just a screen grab - but it wasn't that interesting, anyway. |
Kate's drama teacher has always taken the kids to the Junior Theater Festival, and this year I was asked to chaperone. I DREADED it. I knew it would be a long 2 days, at a conference center, trying to corral 39 pre-teens who were full of adrenaline and Broadway Jr. enthusiasm, and it WAS long.
However.
It reminded me of when I was that age (and a bit older), when all I ever listened to was musical theater soundtracks over and over, and although I knew I wouldn't ever make it to Broad WAY (as one of the speakers this weekend kept saying), I loved being part of the chorus in the small-town shows I did. I loved being backstage. I loved Friday night rehearsals. I made my first best friends in those shows, and we had inside jokes and we weren't afraid to express ourselves, and that was HUGE for me, who was pretty shy as a very young girl. We were loud and full of laughter and didn't care what anyone thought. AND we knew how to sing and dance, and deliver a line (well, the ones who had lines did). ;)
The weekend was exhausting, as I predicted, but my girl was happy. Her troupe didn't win any awards, and gosh, were there some excellent performances from other groups. Ours, very amateur (but so sweet). Still, Kate said several times how much fun she was having. I don't know if she's been bitten by the Theater Bug (harrrr, a cliche I very much dislike), but I'm so happy she's trying it out, and I was so happy to be there to experience the fun alongside her. (And pay for her merch, of course.)
Anyway, I got on here to say that I'm now working hard to fill in the gaps in my knowledge -- this week it has been Newsies (LOVE) and Wicked (meh) in my Apple music library. On deck: Book of Mormon, Waitress, Rent, Matilda, Dear Evan Hansen, Children of Eden, and probably Tuck Everlasting (because I can see our school doing that one if it ever appears as a Junior edition).
This weekend I'll be backstage chaperoning again during Kate's 2 performances of Aladdin, Jr., singing along and clapping wildly for the next generation of musical theater kids.
2 comments:
Can totally relate!!
Newsies is a big time favorite around here. We saw the touring show in 2014 and have been singing along ever since.
Something Rotten has also been a favorite. Sophie, my mom and I saw it in NYC in 2016, and I took Peter to see it on tour in 2017.
I've been unable to get some songs from Be More Chill (More than Survive, Michael in the Bathroom, Loser Geek or Whatever) out of my head for MONTHS now. Haven't seen it, though, maybe by the time it tours I will think that it is appropriate for Peter.
We saw Beetlejuice in NYC in November and have been enjoying that cast album.
Dear Evan Hansen music is really good. Into the Woods is another favorite.
I was into but was not very good at this stuff in high school - chorus of 3 shows, backstage for 1). Sophie is doing the musical at school this year (Curtains, she is in the company), and I'm so happy for her.
So fun!! Haven't heard of Be More Chill or Curtains - see, I have a lot of catching up to do!
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