The Theater Bug- It Has Quite a Bite!

Brian was upset. He came home from school crying that he had to be a flower in the upcoming production of “Mother Goose” in his Apple Pie Ridge Elementary School kindergarten class spring production. Through tears, he sobbed that he didn’t want to be a boring flower, but a blackbird who flies out of the pie. His best friend, Leslie, was going to be a blackbird, and he wanted to be one, too. He was inconsolable, and I couldn’t get him to accept any of my good reasons for him to be a flower. Finally, my persuasion not working, I took another tack. I told Brian that if he really wanted to be a blackbird, he should talk to his teacher about it.

I look back at this event as the beginning of Brian’s way of doing things. He now affectionately labels it as DIYODS. I think most people reading this blog probably recognize what this stands for, and those who know Brian are nodding their heads in agreement and laughing as they read this. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall when he had the conversation with his kindergarten teacher, as he convinced her to change his part in the play from flower to blackbird. I’ll never forget the sunbeams on his face the day of the play when he and Leslie exuberantly burst from the big blackberry pie, flapping their wings and “flying” around and around on the stage. It really was a better part than the flower would have been. All the flowers could do were stand in one spot and sway in the breeze. Of course, the applause was deafening, as Leslie’s family and ours gave the blackbirds a standing ovation and whooped and hollered for our little blackbirds. After this performance, there was no stopping Brian. He searched out parts in school plays and church pageants, and I found myself his biggest fan. He even filmed a movie after receiving his first video camera, “Shaggy Locks and the Three Bears”, starring his and Wade’s dogs, Shaggy and Dusty. He was on his way!

All of these memories surfaced this last week as Phil and I attended a production of “Willy Wonka Junior”, which was performed by a local middle school drama club. Our friend, Olivia, had a part in the play, and she invited us to come. I looked forward to going to the performance from the day she told us about it, and I was as excited about going as I used to be to seeing Brian’s plays. As I watched her on the stage, I noticed how comfortable she was in her role, and how natural and convincing she was as she brought her character to life. I knew that she, like Brian, had been bitten by the bug. After the performance, she was glowing, and for good reason. She was great! I hope that she, like Brian, will doggedly pursue her passion and seek her bliss as she experiences more opportunities to be on the stage.

And I’d like to think that I’ll be in the audience.