Opening Night

Tonight is the opening night for Miracle on 34th Street. I have been enjoying it quite a bit, even last night with a stiff neck and shoulders, and what is painfully, obviously a broken nose. (It is bruised - and a sneeze yesterday almost killed me!) Opening night is the best. The cast finally gels together for better or worse, because truthfully none of us want public humiliation, and we stand before an audience simply to entertain them. My part is small, but when I am not there, I am missed and that means a lot to me.

However, as much as I am enjoying it, there are a few things that concern me. One is the lack of courtesy that adults give the children that are our castmates. This is "community theater" which means that all members of the community are invited to participate. However, over and over again, I have been confronted with situations where adults around us speak as if they were hanging out in a bar. Children don't need to hear that kind of (as my friend Tina calls it) foul-filthing, and quite honestly neither do I. These same grown-ups who are respected members of our community, work jobs dealing with the public and would never dream of using such colorful language or euphemisms in those settings, let loose here. I don't understand it! I am not making a moral judgment on these people, believe me as far as speech goes, I am not above reproach. The Bible tells us to "let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths" and I know I err here - often many times a day. And to God, there is no difference in foul speech and a foul heart from which wholesome sounding speech conceals venom, resentfulness, and the intent to gossip. As a believer, God's word is the plumb line to measure where I stand. But in our society, just from a moral standpoint, adults don't seem to respect the innocence of childhood. I guess that it shouldn't shock me the way that it does, in a sex-violence-evil saturated culture that the general public lives their lives void of beauty, joy and purity. It shouldn't - but it still does. And it makes me so desperately sad.

So, tonight, on opening night as I'm "breaking a leg", I will smile and play my part - but in my heart of hearts I will be praying that the innocence of the era of our play, 1947, will invade our hearts again.

If you would like to check out some blogs of some of the members of the cast and crew that are also Homeschoolbloggers - here is a list:
Raggedy Andy
Pilgrim Girl
Not-so-little Little Boy
Macy's Employee
Newspaper Stand Boy