Tonight we had auditions for the Christmas production, and there were a lot of them. We had over seventy separate auditions, and as you can imagine, this took some time. Right there in the middle of it all, Madison was out in the lobby nervously waiting just like everyone else. At one point, she was called in, just as others would be all night, and that's the moment where she had to say her name, and of course read some lines from the play.
Earlier, Daddy was out there coaching everyone in the lobby, reminding everyone of the three "P's" that we were talking about in our "Acting Up" classes: Posture, Pronunciation, and Projection. We were practicing out there before the audition, and Daddy was doing his best to calm people down a bit.
It's such a strange thing auditioning people for a play that you've written. First of all, we have a director who is not in KidPak, Mrs. Jeneen, who is able to look at things a bit more objectively. Pastor Lance and she were doing the judging. But it's Daddy's script, and so as writer, there's a preconceived idea or two I have about certain characters, including what they look like and how they act. That being said, it's a unique experience to see people trying out for a role that you've written. Frequently, they take things into a different direction than you expect, and there are many times where that is not a bad thing at all. One of the most fun things about auditions are the people that step up out of nowhere and surprise you. There was a girl that auditioned for the part of a villainous character, one who was last and followed up some super charismatic performances. She just nailed it with a balance of facial expressions, subtlety, hand gestures and this out-of-nowhere performance that was surprising to all of us. I love that. I was coaching her earlier, and giving her an idea of the the character and the lines, and she just knocked it out of the park. Unfortunately, Daddy did well with his lines too - I was merely reading to help others out on stage, and once again, it came down to the fact that I was so good at a particular character that it was decided that I'm in it too. Yep. I'm going to be on stage again. Most people would rejoice at this, but the older I get, the more nervous I seem to get about this, and the more I'd just rather be behind the scenes. But I'll do it if needed. I'd just rather let someone else have that spotlight.
So that was surprising, but the even greater surprise is this: Madison's audition. Let's just say I had a preconceived idea of what she could be, and my expectations were on one level. Again, I'm not the judge, and this is a good reason not to be a judge: imagine deciding if your kid is worthy or not to be in a huge production. So nervously, I sat the side to watch. I was more nervous about her audition than I was about me doing anything else. I had Mommy watching on the computer too, so she could watch also.
What was surprising to me was her reading for another character, a more bitter character, a more mature character. She did really well with that on Saturday, and tonight as well. In fact, she was surrounded by others who were reading well also. They projected, they pronounced, and they had posture. They were so good, the director and Pastor Lance were immediately challenged by it. What about all the other good performances beforehand? Madison did well, but so did her friends.
And of course, Daddy and Mommy are really proud of her. It takes nerves to get up in front of people, especially with the spotlight on you. You can't see the director - all you can see is the spotlight, and you hear this voice telling you to read, or introduce yourself, or other unexpected things. Madison did not read any of Daddy's script beforehand - there was no time for that. She had no advantage over the others in that regard. She did really well though, as did many others. It was a longer night, and we've got some tough choices to make about casting in the coming days.
She had Live to Give earlier today, and of course school before that. Math is moving along with another quiz coming up. Madison was studying for that. She's also preparing to give a presentation in science on biomes. They're still reading "Refuge," and Madison outside of that is reading "Lost Stars," a Star Wars book that she is really enjoying a lot. I heard her talking to Calvin tonight, who was also auditioning, and she was explaining the entire story to him. She loves this book, and is nearly finished. She wants another Star Wars book next, so we'll have to look into the library and see what else there is she can read.
We got to bed tonight a little later, so we didn't read much. But we did pray for Ba-Ba and Nana again. They're having a tougher go of it this week. It's the fourth week of chemotherapy and radiation, and Mommy knows what all of this is like. It's difficult, but he's fighting and we know he can win this. Mommy has a suitcase ready if she needs to get down there in a hurry.
The other grandparents were here today, working in the yard before the rains come. They planted some new plants, and were clearing things out a lot. Sadly, we were so busy that we didn't get to talk much. But they have done so much for us - it's been a lot of effort, over and over again all throughout these last few months, frequently stopping by to spend hours and hours working in our yard, making it look as amazing as it does today. It's such a blessing that we can't repay or adequately express our thanks enough.
It's been a tough season in some ways, but we've been blessed in many more ways.
Earlier, Daddy was out there coaching everyone in the lobby, reminding everyone of the three "P's" that we were talking about in our "Acting Up" classes: Posture, Pronunciation, and Projection. We were practicing out there before the audition, and Daddy was doing his best to calm people down a bit.
It's such a strange thing auditioning people for a play that you've written. First of all, we have a director who is not in KidPak, Mrs. Jeneen, who is able to look at things a bit more objectively. Pastor Lance and she were doing the judging. But it's Daddy's script, and so as writer, there's a preconceived idea or two I have about certain characters, including what they look like and how they act. That being said, it's a unique experience to see people trying out for a role that you've written. Frequently, they take things into a different direction than you expect, and there are many times where that is not a bad thing at all. One of the most fun things about auditions are the people that step up out of nowhere and surprise you. There was a girl that auditioned for the part of a villainous character, one who was last and followed up some super charismatic performances. She just nailed it with a balance of facial expressions, subtlety, hand gestures and this out-of-nowhere performance that was surprising to all of us. I love that. I was coaching her earlier, and giving her an idea of the the character and the lines, and she just knocked it out of the park. Unfortunately, Daddy did well with his lines too - I was merely reading to help others out on stage, and once again, it came down to the fact that I was so good at a particular character that it was decided that I'm in it too. Yep. I'm going to be on stage again. Most people would rejoice at this, but the older I get, the more nervous I seem to get about this, and the more I'd just rather be behind the scenes. But I'll do it if needed. I'd just rather let someone else have that spotlight.
So that was surprising, but the even greater surprise is this: Madison's audition. Let's just say I had a preconceived idea of what she could be, and my expectations were on one level. Again, I'm not the judge, and this is a good reason not to be a judge: imagine deciding if your kid is worthy or not to be in a huge production. So nervously, I sat the side to watch. I was more nervous about her audition than I was about me doing anything else. I had Mommy watching on the computer too, so she could watch also.
What was surprising to me was her reading for another character, a more bitter character, a more mature character. She did really well with that on Saturday, and tonight as well. In fact, she was surrounded by others who were reading well also. They projected, they pronounced, and they had posture. They were so good, the director and Pastor Lance were immediately challenged by it. What about all the other good performances beforehand? Madison did well, but so did her friends.
And of course, Daddy and Mommy are really proud of her. It takes nerves to get up in front of people, especially with the spotlight on you. You can't see the director - all you can see is the spotlight, and you hear this voice telling you to read, or introduce yourself, or other unexpected things. Madison did not read any of Daddy's script beforehand - there was no time for that. She had no advantage over the others in that regard. She did really well though, as did many others. It was a longer night, and we've got some tough choices to make about casting in the coming days.
She had Live to Give earlier today, and of course school before that. Math is moving along with another quiz coming up. Madison was studying for that. She's also preparing to give a presentation in science on biomes. They're still reading "Refuge," and Madison outside of that is reading "Lost Stars," a Star Wars book that she is really enjoying a lot. I heard her talking to Calvin tonight, who was also auditioning, and she was explaining the entire story to him. She loves this book, and is nearly finished. She wants another Star Wars book next, so we'll have to look into the library and see what else there is she can read.
We got to bed tonight a little later, so we didn't read much. But we did pray for Ba-Ba and Nana again. They're having a tougher go of it this week. It's the fourth week of chemotherapy and radiation, and Mommy knows what all of this is like. It's difficult, but he's fighting and we know he can win this. Mommy has a suitcase ready if she needs to get down there in a hurry.
The other grandparents were here today, working in the yard before the rains come. They planted some new plants, and were clearing things out a lot. Sadly, we were so busy that we didn't get to talk much. But they have done so much for us - it's been a lot of effort, over and over again all throughout these last few months, frequently stopping by to spend hours and hours working in our yard, making it look as amazing as it does today. It's such a blessing that we can't repay or adequately express our thanks enough.
It's been a tough season in some ways, but we've been blessed in many more ways.
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