Drama Queen

E, my 11 year old daughter is taking drama again. It's her third year and last week we got to see her in the first play of this year. It was a Halloween/Monster themed play and she played Vampira. As usual she did an awesome job. I am always amazed at how secure she seems up on stage. I could have never been in drama as I was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy too shy, pathologically shy. E, thankfully, doesn't have that problem. Where I was shy, awkward and unpopular (unless you're counting being popular because you were universally hated and picked on), she is outgoing, confident and popular. Of course she has her insecurities about herself but she doesn't let them get in her way.

One of the cast members who was supposed to play the "Bride" was ill on the night of the performance and another drama student took her place. For the first 10 minutes or so the replacement Bride did well, only having to look at the script occasionally. Then she slipped up and missed a line. At that point the other players on stage whispered and pointed at her to encourage her to speak the line. The Bride started the line and well, she must have gotten really nervous because she proceeded to pass right out on stage. And she didn't crumble lightly to the ground, she literally fell straight backwards hitting the floor with a pretty loud thump. Yikes! I scooted to the edge of my seat, ready to run on stage if needed. Fortunately one of the drama coaches is also an RN so she got there immediately and the school nurse followed a few seconds later.The Bride was okay but unable to finish the play. Because the kids wanted to go on with the play, another former drama student took on the role of the Bride.

After the play was over, several of E's friends, other actors that were back stage when the Bride fainted, rushed over to me and told me that they thought it was E who collapsed. They told me they started "crying" and "freaking out" they were so upset. Then they found out it was the Bride and they "stopped crying". Apparently The Bride is not as universally liked as much as E. In fact I've heard some of the girls in the past complain that she is somewhat mean at times and definitely not trustworthy.

E as Vampira

Attitude?

Poor Bride.

Boston Fancier than NYC?

Aside from being stranded in the middle of nowhere for over two and a half hours, the trip to Boston was fun...

I'll start from the beginning. On Saturday, E and I went to Boston with E's drama club to see How the Grinch Stole Christmas the Musical. We arrived on time to the grade school, 8:30AM, for bus pick up. We were immediately informed that the bus was running late because the roads were slippery where he was coming from. Okay, no big deal, E and I got into a friends van to hang out and wait.We waited and waited and waited, finally after an hour the bus showed up.
We all gasped as the 200 year old bus driver stepped out of the bus and limped into the grade school to take a ten minute pee trip.
The ride to Boston was pretty uneventful, a little snow fell in through the roof vents, but it wasn't' over my seat, so whatever. There was boring scenery and stomach lurching winding roads,but I don't get carsick, so whatever. We arrived about 10 minutes before the show was to start. Before the bus stopped to let us out, Mr. Bossy,not his real name, one of the drama coaches took a hold of the microphone so he could start bossing, I mean telling us what to do. He told everyone that they had to leave all of their electronic devices including cell phones on the bus or shut them off. Fine, I shut mine off, but I would have a real problem leaving it in the bus, say if for some crazy reason, the bus took off without me and I ended up stuck without a phone. Next he told us to go to the bathroom on the bus because we weren't' going to have time to go in the theater before the show starts. Yeah, right. Last, he told everyone they had to leave their coats on the bus because we were just getting out and crossing the street to the theatre. I told E she could leave hers on if she wanted, I am just rebellious like that. However, E is not rebellious, and she left her coat on the bus. I didn't' care about my coat as I avoid wearing one as much as possible. It was only 20 degrees Fahrenheit outside. We piled out of the bus, half the people wearing coats, and made it into the theatre without anyone dying of hypothermia.
Of course when we got into the theatre, half of us snuck off to the restrooms! E pleaded with me not to go because we were "not supposed to!" Heh heh. When we got into the bathroom we met up with many other rebellious chaperone's including Mr. Bossy's companion. Poor guy, even she didn't listen to him.

While we were meandering about the theater, I noticed that there were small alcoves here and there with private parties going on. I also noticed that many people were dressed up. I thought of the matinee we went to last year with the drama club in NYC. Almost everyone there was wearing jeans. Not so much in Boston.There were also cash bars located at every level, E seriously begged me not to get a drink, so I didn't. A choice I regret.

Our seats were about a quarter of a mile away in the last rows of the Balcony and I forgot my binoculars. As for the show, it was great. I am a huge Dr. Seuss fan, and even painted a Dr. Seuss fence on my living room wall, and tell everyone I went to the same high school as him. Of course not at the same time. The costumes were fun and the songs fabulous.

After the show, several of us stood in line so we could purchase $35 T shirts. The T's in NYC were $20. Yes, I am insane, but felt pressure, I know, crazy, I really don't want to talk about it.

We got back on the bus and proceeded to go back to Vermont. Well, we made it over the border from NH to VT, through Woodstock VT, about an hour away from our destination, when the bus pull over at a gas station."Why are we stopping?" we all asked. After a while Mr. Bossy got on the horn and told us that the bus driver just noticed we were low on gas and he wasn't comfortable going further without getting more. Okay, we are at a gas station,no big, right? WRONG! There was no diesel fuel at this station. And to make things more scary, apparently this bus had no emergency road side assistant plan, huh? Being that I was toward the back of the bus, I couldn't hear exactly what was going on but I heard a rumor that the State police were called, the town police where we were headed were phoned and supposedly the town we were stuck in Bridgewater was not going to help us. Great. I don't know what finally happened but after about a half an hour we were told that gas was on the way. Yay! But the gas didn't arrive for another two hours!!! In the meantime people were getting ornery. At one point I was scared that I, I mean, WE were going to go all "Lord of the Flies" set the bus on fire and throw the driver into traffic. Thankfully, I had Xanax with me, which I took, and it helped me realize sending smoke signals would probably be fruitless out here with all the wood stoves around and all. Mr. Bossy did yell at some of the moms because they were really acting over the top angry. I was angry because they didn't give us frequent updates and also because I was just getting into the movie A Sharks Tale, when the bus stopped. The most I did to rebel, was stand up and volunteer to take some of the carsick kids off the bus for fresh air. Another bossy man tried to stop me and asked that we all go out in groups. I said no thank you, I was going out now, it was too hot in the bus, and I was not waiting for a turn to go outside. "You can't keep us from leaving the bus" I said loudly, well quietly anyways. I know the bosses just had every ones safety in mind, but I had to get the fuck out of there, if just for a minute. It was zero out.
Finally the gas arrived we headed out, and well, wouldn't you know, the toilet wouldn't flush. What a piece of crap this bus was. The driver couldn't even figure out how to turn the lights on and off properly. The aisle lights would go on for no reason then off then all the overhead lights would go on. What a dumbass.
Last I heard, from one of the over the top angry moms, was that we were getting a refund for the bus cost. That's good news at least.

$35 T-shirt, which I bought one for T also. I know, I don't want to talk about it.

I've Been Invited to the Oscars

E acted in her second play for the grade school drama club last week. They put on a slightly condensed version of The Wizard of OZ. I was very impressed with the whole production. Everything from the stage set and costumes to the individual performances was spectacular. It was easy to tell that the drama club had been working very hard at practices, which, by the way, were held at 6:30AM on Tuesdays and Thursdays, a full hour and forty-five minutes before school starts. The drama coaches were very strict when it came to attendance. If you missed more than two practices, your part went to someone else. These kids, about 30 in total, had to be extremely dedicated.
E took on 3 different parts. First she was the person who introduced the play and gave a little history on the original Wizard of OZ. Next she was the lead Lullaby League girl, singing and dancing and handing a flower to Dorothy. Last she was the lead Monkey, Nicko, who, along with another monkey, kidnaps Dorothy and drags her to the castle. As Nicko she was also the one who accidentally lets Toto escape from the basket. She was a perfect monkey, swaying back and forth like they do in the movie.
The main character parts went to the 7TH and 8TH graders, who all did an amazing job singing and remembering their lines.

After the show I asked if I could be her date when she is nominated for an Oscar, and subsequent winning, she said yes! Hus is the one who has been getting up early and actually taking her to her practices, so he probably should be her date, but he doesn't care about stuff like that. Heh heh, lucky me! I did sit in my car for over an hour during the after show cast party. I didn't mind and spent the time reading then watching part of a movie.

Notice I didn't say I was invited to The Tonys. I have to, perhaps embarrassingly, admit I am not a huge Broadway fan. There, I said it.

I Did It, Drama Queen and Bad Mama

I Did It!
I finally ordered Satellite Internet service. It will be delivered and hooked up October 6Th. It was $100 cheaper than what I was quoted when I first inquired and $10 cheaper per month. Wow, I should have played the lottery yesterday too. So look out all you in blogger land, Mama will be visiting more often as I hope it will not take me 10 minutes for each blog. Maybe I will even put a video on my blog. I will also, I mean my kids will also be able to play with their Webkinz now.

Drama Queen
My daughter joined drama for the first time this year. She is in fourth grade and hasn't shown much interest until now. She missed the first class, which by the way are held from 6:30AM-8:00AM Tuesdays and Thursdays, because of my failure to take her to sign up, therefore not knowing when the first class was. Well, she didn't get a part when they were handed out on the second class. She was really upset, called me at work crying and distraught like the world was going to end. I offered my condolences and told her to not give up, if she wanted a part she should show her dedication by showing up each class and get involved somehow with the production. And I also told her that surely someone will drop out when they discover they can't handle showing up for school at 6:30. Sure enough a couple classes later, 2 kids dropped out, 1 of which had a part and the teacher gave it to E! She again called me at work and was so excited, I was sure she must have gotten the lead. Not the lead but a part none the less. She has one line "That's a wrap!" . I am very excited for her. What is also exciting for E is that the play will be performed at a real Theatre, as opposed to the school gym. The teacher promised parts for everyone in the next play to be held at the end of the year in the gym. I am proud of her for sticking to it.

Bad Mama
My husband came home unexpectedly from work one morning because he forgot some tools. I apparently was asleep in the bedroom and didn't hear him come inside the house. T was awake and up out of bed, which I knew because he wakes me when he gets up and keeps waking me about every 5 minutes if I fall back asleep. He says "I don't see you walking". Anyways my hus came in and gave T breakfast and then left. When I called him that afternoon he told me what he did and he accused me of leaving T all alone. I did work the night before and didn't get to bed until 2AM. It takes me all I have to get out of bed sometimes, so on the days my hus takes E to drama on his way to work I usually sleep until T wakes me. Well, I felt guilty, what kind of mother leaves their 4 year old unattended (in the next room) while they sleep? So after I hung up with my hus I thought about it for a few minutes and called him back and turned things around. "What if I had a stroke or heart attack and was just lying in bed unconscious or I was dead and you left me there all day?" My hus said "Oh yeah, I didn't think of that" and I said, "what about you falling asleep on the couch while the kids are awake, a bomb could go off and it wouldn't wake you" and he said "I don't sleep on the couch" HA!