Book Character Day

Today was Book Character Day at the school, and Madison was ready in her Nancy Drew costume.  She brought along a Nancy Drew book, and a magnifying glass, presumably to look for clues.

You can see her in between classes here, a rare view of her in the hallway between classes.  Daddy was on hand because he was taking dozens of photographs of kids in their book character costumes.  Today was Dr. Seuss' birthday, so there were quite a few Seuss characters out there, specifically "Things" numbering 1 to 7 or so.  Seriously, there were about twenty Things or more.  Thing 1 and Thing 2 were not just enough!

Meanwhile, Daddy was working on a new message, and some Summer Xtreme material as well.

Daddy did all the info and the layout, but not the graphic up top.  We had asked our graphics department to do this one, giving it "the general feel of Guardians of the Galaxy 2."  The first version was basically an exact copy of "Guardians of the Galaxy 2."  So we had them tone it down a bit, because it was a little too much.  But even so, you can see above how much our graphics look like that movie's graphics.  It was supposed to be "inspired by," versus "make a copy of it."  But still, it looks colorful, big and bright.

Daddy was also writing messages for May's series.  Madison had a good day at school beyond book character day.  She did say that several teachers knew who she was dressing as before she had to tell them.  Nancy Drew is someone all the girl readers should be pretty familiar with.  Tonight, we even read a few more chapters from our latest Nancy Drew book, "The Thirteenth Pearl."  We end each chapter with a mini-cliff hanger, and Madison sings out with Mommy: "Dum-dum-dum!!!!"

Mommy had been hard at work with costumes, tonight working on the Mal idea.  It's not a copy of a Mal jacket, but rather something you might see her wearing.  You can see she started out with a black leather jacket, dabbing it with purple and green paint.  She added the flourishes up top from a costume of Mal that Madison had a few years ago, and has outgrown.  The beads are the hard part, because Mommy has to poke four holes in two layers of leather for every bead that goes in.  Tedious work.

She's enjoying the process, and we've been in touch with the girl who will be wearing this costume, who is loving it as she goes along.  You can see here Mommy is starting the painting process on the back, with the typical heart-shape and insignia.

All this behind-the-scenes stuff takes place before each series, and it's a lot of set up, from writing to music to graphics and the actual stage itself, which is coming along fine right now, by the way.  Here's the jacket, a little later.

Still not quite done yet, but getting there.  I think Mal would like this jacket, actually.  And speaking of which, we saw there's a "Descendants 3" coming out in 2019.  Madison is looking forward to that. But this series is something that should keep some of the kids entertained in the meantime.  Want a sneak peek at the script?  Take an exclusive look at the first part of our "Legends" series entitled, "Be Our Guest."

KidPak Adventures:  Legends
 Be Our Guest

CUE TRACK 1:  DESCENDANTS SCORE SUITE

CUE SLIDE:  “CASTLE WALL”

NARRATOR:  “Once upon a time, there was a kingdom called Auradon, where all the storybook characters and their children lived.  There was also the Isle of the Lost, and this was where the villains and their children must stay.  The two places were kept very separate, until one day when a young King Ben of Auradon decided to show grace to four villain kids.”

CARLOS enters STAGE RIGHT with a broom and earplugs in. 

NARRATOR:  “But how will things turn out when after that, other villain kids are invited in the happy kingdom?  Find out now at KidPak Adventures:  Legends!”

CUE TRACK 2:  BE OUR GUEST (Descendants Version) (START TIME 0:19)

CARLOS hits button on mp3 player, and starts bobbing his head a bit, and then he starts dancing to it as he sweeps.  He sort of gets so caught up in it, he doesn’t initially see MAL and DIZZY enter STAGE LEFT, so he goes on for a bit there.  But then suddenly he sees them, yelps, and obviously stops his dancing.

CUE TRACK 3:  THE CHICKEN

MAL:  “Is that supposed to be a dance, or are you just waiting to use the bathroom?”

CARLOS:  (oblivious) “Oh, hey Mal!  (suddenly realizing the joke)  Hey,  not cool!  (seeing DIZZY and now excited) Wait, is that you Dizzy?”

DIZZY:  “Hello, Carlos!”

CARLOS:  “How did you get over here?”

MAL:  “Ben extended a bit more grace to some other VKs. They’re coming to Auradon.”

DIZZY:  “VKs?”

MAL:  “Villain Kids.”

DIZZY:  “Oh, that’s right!  This is incredible.  First, there was you two and Jay and Evie, and now me, and more?  I can’t believe I’m here – it’s ridiculous!”

CARLOS:  “Yes, welcome to Auradon!  I’d sing “Be Our Guest,” but …I think you’ve already heard that much.”

MAL:  “Okay so what are you doing here?”

CARLOS:  “I’ve got a job!  I’m cleaning up around the castle to make some extra money so I can… uh…”

DIZZY:  “So you can what?”

CARLOS:  “…get a new broom!  Yeah, that’s it.”

MAL:  “A new… broom?  Are you not telling us something, Carlos?”

KING enters STAGE RIGHT.

CARLOS:  “Me?  No, no, no!  (Backing up, his back to STAGE RIGHT, not seeing KING) I’m just wanting to uh… clean up our reputation a bit, you know?”

KING:  “Then you’d better start using that broom more!”

CARLOS yelps, and runs to STAGE LEFT.

MAL:  (as a greeting to KING) “Your highness.”

KING:  “Hello, Mal.”

CARLOS:  (calling out from STAGE LEFT) “Okay, so I wasn’t goofing off on the job, right?”

KING:  “Relax.  I know you’ve been working hard.  Besides, after the last go-round, it’s clear I need to be a little more welcoming to new visitors like you, Mal, and…(looking at DIZZY).”

DIZZY:  “Hi, I’m Dizzy.”

KING:  “I’ll get you a chair.”

MAL:  “King Beast, her name is Dizzy.  She’s from the Isle of the Lost.”

KING:  “Yes, I know.  Bad joke.  Dizzy, my son Ben has extended you grace, and we want you to be our guest.”

CARLOS:  “There’s that phrase again.”

DIZZY:  “If I didn’t know any better, it sounds like a bottom line.”

CUE TRACK 4:  BEAUTY & THE BEAST PROLOGUE (INSTRUMENTAL)

KING:  “It’s more than that.  It’s a way of life for me.  A long time ago on a winter’s night, an old beggar woman in a cloak showed up at my castle door and offered me a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold.  I sneered at the gift and turned the old woman away.  (pause) It didn’t go well.”

MAL:  (explaining to DIZZY) “He and all the people in that castle were welcomed into a wicked world of trouble.”

DIZZY:  “Yes, I know the story.  Fortunately, Belle showed up, and you two fell in love.”

KING:  “Well, it was either her or the teapot.  (Seeing slightly stunned faces)  Kidding?”

CARLOS:  “I wonder whatever happened to that old haggard woman?”

KING:  “Well, nothing personal here, but I’d rather not ever see her again.”

CUE TRACK 5:  DOORBELL CHIMES (end at 0:08)

MAL:  “I’ll get it!”

MAL goes to STAGE RIGHT, and greets OLD WOMAN who enters STAGE RIGHT.

CUE TRACK 6:  REMEMBERING PETTICOAT LANE

KING sees OLD WOMAN

KING:  “It’s her again!”

KING dives behind MAL, CARLOS and DIZZY

CARLOS:  “It’s not her.  Didn’t the old woman have a rose or something?”

OLD WOMAN pulls out a rose and holds it up towards CAST.

CAST screams!

OLD WOMAN:  “Oh my.  (looking around)  I’m not that ugly, am I?”

KING:  (Peeking out from behind MAL and DIZZY)  “No!  Sorry!  You look great!”

CARLOS:  “Yeah, you look enchanting!”

CAST looks angrily at CARLOS.  MAL hits CARLOS, who yelps.

OLD WOMAN:  “I just thought I’d drop by the castle for a spell.”

CAST gasps!

MAL:  “No!”

KING:  (to OLD WOMAN) “Please, you must be tired.  Have a seat!”

KING grabs a chair, and brings it to OLD WOMAN, and then runs back to CAST.

OLD WOMAN:  “Oh, you didn’t have to…”

KING:  “By all means, take it!  You can have the whole set if you want!”

OLD WOMAN:  “You’re very kind, but I just wanted to…”

KING:  “Is it hot in here?  Yes it’s hot in here.  You, Dizzy!  Get one of those fan thingies? (seeing her clueless expression)  Hurry!”

DIZZY:  “Okay, okay!”

DIZZY scampers off, not quite sure where to go.

KING:  (to OLD WOMAN) “Thirsty?”

WOMAN:  “Well, I just wanted to…”

KING:  “Carlos!  Get this woman something to drink.  Fast!”

CARLOS runs off STAGE RIGHT, bumping into DIZZY on the way back in.  She’s carrying a small electric fan.

KING drops to his knees in front of OLD WOMAN, fanning her awkwardly.

OLD WOMAN:  “Oh my.  You people sure are very kind to an old woman like me.  I have just one single red rose to give.”

KING:  “I’ll give you $5,000 for it!”

OLD WOMAN:  “$5,000 for this one flower?”

KING:  “Oh yes, you’re right.  $10,000!”

CARLOS returns from STAGE RIGHT with a drink, which he hands to OLD WOMAN.

OLD WOMAN:  “Oh no, this is too much.  All this for little old me?”

DIZZY:  “So… you’re not going to turn us into furniture?”

CARLOS:  “If you do, I do not want to be anything from the bathroom, okay?  Seriously!”

OLD WOMAN:  “I don’t know about that, young man.  But I do know this:  you people know how to treat others with love.  And yes, even you.”

OLD WOMAN hands flower to MAL, and then takes a drink.

MAL:  “You’re giving this to me?”

OLD WOMAN:  “I didn’t say I wanted to sell this flower.  I merely wanted to give it as a gift, to the future queen.”

OLD WOMAN turns to go, exiting STAGE RIGHT

KING:  “Well, crazy enchantress or not, the rules of this kingdom apply to everyone:  we treat all with kindness.  It’s the golden rule.”

OLD WOMAN:  (NEAR EXIT) “Yes, no matter who a person is, you keep showing them love.”

MAL:  (calling out to her) “Sorry about all that fuss back there.  It’s kind of embarrassing, but we actually thought you were someone else.”

OLD WOMAN:  (turning back to face them) “Who said that I wasn’t?”

OLD WOMAN exits STAGE RIGHT as CAST looks at one another with wonder.

CUE TRACK 7:  REY MEETS BB-8

KING:  “Well… we handled that pretty good, right?”

CAST murmurs affirmative.

DIZZY:  “I’m just glad when King Ben comes back, the whole place won’t be under some sort of weird curse.”

CARLOS:  “I’m just glad she didn’t turn me into a toilet.”

MAL:  (looking at flower) “She wasn’t an enchantress, Carlos.  She was just a kind old woman.  A reminder that we should treat others with love.”

KING:  “And speaking of others, and treating them well, are you ready to meet some of your old friends from the Isle of the Lost?”

DIZZY:  “More VKs?  Who else is coming here?”

KING:  “Come with me.  You’ll find out soon enough.”

KING leads others off STAGE RIGHT.

NARRATOR:  “KidPak, we’re about to meet some new faces, the children of actual villains!  Yikes!  Can we trust them to choose good?  And who are they?  If you want to find out the answer to this question, the only way to find out is to join us here next time for KidPak Adventures:  Legends!”