Community Theater

One of the first families I ever met that homeschooled was very involved in the local community theater. I never imagined I would be very good at, or much interested in being on the stage in front of a lot of people. However, I love music. I have been on the worship team at my church for six and a half years now. At first I was extremely nervous. I would literally feel my eyelids twitch, and was sure everyone could see them, my knees would turn to jello, my voice would sometimes crack. Even though my flesh was resistant, I desired to use the voice the Lord gave me to have a ministry in this way - and in obedience, I continued faithfully, until suddenly one day, I realized I was over it.

Last fall, there were auditions for the Christmas play at our local community theater - the Old Opera House for a musical called "Scrooge" - it's basically the story of A Christmas Carol with music. Everytime a musical came around I had toyed with the idea of auditioning. My kids would say, "Yeah, mom, do it with us. Come on!" I would always talk myself out of it because of the time commitment. There were many, many late nights involved. But, when I took my girls to audition for Scrooge, I was sitting in the room while everyone filled out forms, and being in a rather adventurous mood, I decided to just take a shot and see what happens. A couple days later, I got a call-back, and so did BOTH of my girls. We were so excited. We also got Kullen a part as a small boy extra. We worked on that play from late September until performances which were in mid-December. It was a great time - I know a time we'll never forget. One of the reasons this is on my mind right now is that the Christmas play this year is "Miracle on 34th Street" - and even though it isn't a musical, I would like to work on a play again. The auditions are this weekend - and so since nothing is happening with the sale of our house, I might just give it a try.
Here are some pictures of us in the play:

My big scene in the marketplace with Mr. Scrooge - that's me in the red dress - my daughter, Kendra with the purple skirt (peeking out) and white shawl to the right (my left), and the fourth girl over to the right of her, there is a girl wearing black with an orange scarf and brown bonnet - that is my daughter, Kaitlyn. Mr. Scrooge is here collecting money from all the poor shopkeepers who haven't money to pay him and terrorizing the town!

During rehearsals - I have on the gray sweatshirt and black pants in the center of this picture - and my daughter Kendra is on the right.

Here's the opening scene - a "postcard" if you will - we were frozen in order to make the beginning action scene more dramatic. It was a cool effect. Kendra is on the platform on the left (stage right) and Kaitly in in the front on the right (stage left) and I am just above her on the right platform steps.

This was a wonderful experience - and if you are able - I would HIGHLY recommend participating in community theater in your town. We had such a great time - it was a time I'll never forget! My kids also learned a lot about theater and literature and sharpened a skill that homeschoolers are often weak on - making friends and loving like Jesus loved people that are very different from you.