"The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" pictures

Here are some pictures I took at rehearsal tonight. It is coming together! We are so excited!

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

We're getting closer! Only 2 more rehearsals until our first performance of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe! Ethan and Sam are getting excited...and so is their mom!

The show is coming together nicely. I am stepping in for the stage manager who had to have surgery. I haven't stage managed before, but I am having a good time. I hope I'm being helpful:P

We will be performing in our local opera house, a beautiful venue. Even more wonderful is the fact that we have access to more "techy" stuff like special lighting and even snow!!
The set looks magical...thanks in part to my "wonderful husband", as the director dubbed him. The director wanted real trees on stage, and I sort of :) volunteered to be responsible for the trees. Of course, my "wonderful husband" ended up cutting them down and imaginatively configured a way to get them to stand up sturdily and safely on stage. When the lights hit the bare branches, it is magic! I can't wait to see them bathed in blue light with snow falling!!!

Of course, my view will be from the side, as I will be opening the curtain on this scene.

I am very proud of my boys. I see a lot of his older sister's love of drama in Sammy (age 8). He does some of the things Lexi used to do--memorizing the entire script and know everyone else's lines (this didn't necessarily make her very popular with the rest of the cast, as she would say their lines for them if they forgot;), becoming swept away by the story and "live" it even offstage (listening to music, watching the movie, reading the book, and finding coloring pages of the story) and re-enacting parts of the play with his little sister. Sam knows his cues and his lines and delivers them with gusto!! In fact, Heidi Fagan, the director, told me that she wants a video tape of Sammy delivering one of his lines to show future drama students how to "cheat out" and deliver with volume. It is so cute...he does it perfectly!

Ethan is my "shy guy." He wasn't sure he wanted to be in the play at first, but after he attended a practice, he thought he would try it. It helped that several of his friends were also in the play. Although he looked uncomfortable at first, whereas Sammy took to it like a fish in water, Ethan has really "come out of his shell." He also knows his cues and lines and delivers them with volume. Ethan even gets to participate in the fight scene, where he is wounded by Edmund. Ethan will push himself out of his comfort zone, to face his fears and grow as a person. I love this about him! He even told me that he never expected that being in a play would be so much fun, but it is!

Theater is a great vehicle for teaching so many things. Having the experience of speaking before an audience will always be a benefit, no matter what one chooses to pursue as a career. Some of the more hidden, but important lessons are taking responsibility for knowing their cues, memorizing lines, knowing when their costume changes are, taking care of their costumes (if they are not hung up, they "disappear") and taking responsibility for their props. While there are people backstage to help, the kids have to take charge of these things themselves. I have been impressed at how all of the kids in the cast have assumed this responsibility. What a great life lesson! And how wonderful to see their self-confidence and self-esteem bloom because they are successfully accomplishing these tasks.

If you are in the area, please join us on Friday 4/30 at 7pm, or Saturday 5/1 at 1pm for a wonderful show. I'll try to post pictures later.

BTW - the poster above was drawn and painted by the resident artist and 1st/2nd grade teacher at NECA, Sara Breisch. Isn't it gorgeous?

Trying out Picasa

Here are some pictures of a recent rehearsal for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Sammy and Ethan are both very excited for their debut performances on April 30 and May 1. We are living, breathing, eating and sleeping Narnia these days. It's a lovely place to be!

You will need to click on the picture below to go to the album. There is a button in the upper left corner to see the pictures as a slideshow.

Lion Witch Wardrobe Update: I changed the settings on this album to "public". I was told it couldn't be viewed before. It should be OK now.