Bummer

To everyone who is curious about how those Twelfth Night auditions went... they didn't. Because of weather and illness, they were postponed until the 21st. Which has made me very sad, a little frustrated, and even more nervous than I was before. There seems to be a curse on my auditions. ;) When I was trying out for Mrs. Paroo in The Music Man, we ran out of time and had to audition five days later.

Oh, well. C'est la vie.

Snowy Saturday

It's snowing - great big, whirling, puffy snowflakes. Not those skinny, close-together, nearly invisible pieces of ice that we usually get.

Since the end of The Music Man (*sniff*) I've had a lot of time for reading. So now I'm reading Wuthering Heights, which is the perfect book for February. Surprisingly, after all the negative things I had heard about the book, I am really liking it. I'm less than halfway through, however, so we'll see. I'm also re-reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for the first time in over three years. I still like it, but it's not worth staying up to the small hours of the morning with a flashlight anymore. (Not that I ever did that with that one... but I can't remember).

My mother made blueberry muffins this morning. Yum. :)

The Twelfth Night auditions is this afternoon! Send up a prayer for me... I'm starting to get a bit nervous.

Monsters, souls and lollipops

Dad: When I was a youngster, and I would sleep at my aunt's house, she had this big closet that faced the bed, and I always thought there was a monster in it.
4-year-old Noah: (licks his lollipop, looking mildly amused)
Dad: So I would jump out of that bed and SLAM that closet door!
Noah: But Daddy, you didn't have to be afraid! I was with you! I was 'tecting you! ('Tecting = Protecting in 4-year-old language)
Dad: You were? When I was a little boy?
Noah: Uh-huh!
Dad: Hm. Then I guess souls must just be stacked up, waiting to come down. (He goes on about souls for a little while)
Noah: Are you talking about my lollipop?

I guess the term "your soul" could mean anything to someone who doesn't know what it really is.

Leaving River City

Iowa, I don't know how to leave you
Don't know how to tell you goodbye

-- Alli Rogers, "Iowa"

I am so sad that The Music Man is over. I cried after the last show - I wasn't the only one who did.

I guess I should tell you all how it went. Pretty darn great. I had so much fun in all the shows I was in, as both an ensemble member and my Mrs. Paroo lead. I got to watch the Friday night show and it looked really great.

Favorite moments, onstage and off:

Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn and her off-key singing and Wa Tan Ye dance. She had this great Indian headdress, and she cracked everyone up.

The Sadder But Wiser Girl choreography - I really hate the lyrics, but the choreography was some of the funniest in the show.

Forgetting the money I was supposed to give to Harold in one scene. ACK! :) He kind of breezed through the part where he said "That'll be 17 dollars earnest money," so I don't think anyone noticed, but... *facepalm*

Sitting on the bleachers during 76 Trombones with Marian. In the last show, I was up there with one of the Marians, whispering comments about everything in my Irish accent. When Harold said in the Trouble Reprise, "Remember my friends what a handful of trumpet players did to the famous, fabled walls of Jericho!/Oh, billiard parlor walls come a-tumbling down" I hissed excitedly, "Marian, he reads the Bible!" "Marian" thought that was so amusing that she signed my program "Mama, he reads the Bible!"

Winthrop grinning up at me during "76," showing me his reaction to the idea of a kids' band. Awwwww. It just melted my heart - and it almost succeeded in melting Marian's, but she didn't want Winthrop around the Professor (yes, all of this was going on up there on the bleachers :P )

The Marians making up a parody of My White Knight called My Sweet Pie. It was positively brilliant, and I wish I remembered more of the lyrics! It was something like, "My sweet pie/Not a brownie or a creme brulee/Just something delicious/That I can eat when I'm feeling gray."

Crying after the last show. Oh, dear. So embarrassing, but so funny at the same time.

Praying with a group before two of the night shows.

I'm going to miss everyone so much. :(

I'm afraid I don't have any pictures - though the photographer took some amazing ones, they all cost $6!

On the plus side, the cast party is soon, and auditions for Twelfth Night are this weekend. As if I need to get right into another show asap. ;)

Oh, there's nothing halfway
About the Iowa way to treat you
When we treat you
Which we may not do at all

-- The Music Man, Iowa Stubborn