The Play

My little thug-angel!

After several years of arguing with Elise about practicing piano (and doing her math, and cleaning the bathroom, and not chewing her fingernails, and all the rest), she finally wore us out. After all, her "just take lessons for a couple years" had expired, and even though we knew we'd all regret it later, Elise's 20 minutes of practice were ruining our day and we all needed a break. We encouraged her to find another activity.

Predictably (because, Elise), she tried theater, an activity we'd had her pegged for ever since year 1 of Elise. She wanted to try purely acting, though--not musical theater, as she reminded us over and over. We found a class and signed her up. Possibly out of sheer relief of being free of piano practice, she thoroughly enjoyed the first class, and especially the antics of her fellow theater-class students. She was given a quite minor part in the class performance piece--scenes from Alice in Wonderland--but nevertheless was content.

Then auditions were announced for The Best Christmas Pageant Ever--a book we'd thoroughly enjoyed reading together last year. Elise, at first excited and then unsure, was fairly easily nudged into auditioning after I saw that it'd be relatively low-key, with minimal rehearsals. But she ONLY wanted to be an angel or maybe a shepherd.

To audition, however, she'd have to read from one of the main character's parts. We practiced several, and that's when she first started to get excited about the part of Gladys Herdman, the youngest terror of the Herdman family.

As did I. Not sure quite what to expect, I nevertheless got my hopes up as it seemed she may earn the part by default: many other kids were involved in the mainstage musical productions of this particular arts school, and most of our October-December weekends were still free-ish. Plus, with no microphones in a loud theater, Elise would have the natural advantage of a voice that, um, carries, to put it nicely (and has since day 1). Not to mention the fact that she was pretty much born for the role. Loud, feisty, physical, and hilarious, Gladys Herdman was the optimal role for a girl who'd finally argued us out of piano lessons, and yet could keep us smiling. I considered writing the director, also Elise's acting teacher, the following note:

Elise's backstage area.

Dear director,
Do yourself a favor and cast Elise as Gladys Herdman. You'll never have to tell her to speak up, she'll (usually) behave herself and yet retain her spunk, she won't break down and cry at your constructive feedback, she'll be all-in, she can stay up really late and be totally fine, she works well with others, and she's super fun. And she'll totally pull it off. She'll probably be the most reliable Gladys you'll ever have. Just trust me. Plus, she really, really, wants it (and so do I).
You're welcome,
Elise's mom

And she was called back! In her second round of auditions, Elise competed with three other Gladys-potentials, following which she self-assessed that she was the loudest and also the one doing the most actual acting. She also noted that the director showed open-mouthed surprise at her explosive actions (or something). Then came the wait, and the frequent refreshings of the website to see if maybe the cast list had been posted in the last 30 seconds. Not that 30 seconds? How about the next? We both really, really wanted that part for her. And for the greater good.

Of course, it could be, as the cast list said, that casting decisions had to consider age, appearance, and all the rest. I rationalized that if the director was smart, she'd begin with Elise and form the rest of the cast around her.

The list was posted just after bedtime a couple days later, but naturally I called Elise down to look with me. And soon, joyous shrieks filled my ears as she began practicing volume control (or lack thereof) for her new role. She alerted her sisters and called Grandpa, and fortunately, a few minutes into the conversation, he began to piece together what she was getting at.

Can you see the delight on
her face?

I could tell she was truly excited when she skipped part of our AHG camping trip to attend the first rehearsal, even though she'd initially been excused for it. Looking at her lines (there were 20, I counted), her role looked relatively minor, but her character certainly wasn't. By the end, Elise was stealing the show. But a lot had to happen before then....

First, she had to tell everyone the news about her role. And memorize her lines--which happened nearly instantaneously due to Elise's Extreme Enthusiasm (EEE--also an onomatopoeia  for the sound she often emits in this state), previously reserved for, roughly in order of appearance: My Little Ponies, clownfish/seahorses, dinosaurs, bears, finger-knitting, roller skates, writing, reading, mermaids, and nature/survivalism. She had to perfect her Gladys "look:" fist clenched against an open palm, eyes glaring, nose a little scrunched. Occasionally (okay, all the time, if you ask me), Elise crossed the line into "cute" territory, but no one really minded.

Her favorite lines: "Shazam! Out of the black night, with horrible vengeance, the Mighty Marvo..." and "Unto YOU a child is born!" Thanks to hours of diligent practice on those two lines, even Naomi knows them now, too! And all of Elise's inflections! She was also required to learn several Christmas carols, which we all happily helped her with.

And naturally, she had to do the work of attending rehearsals. She was glad to see that she was able to make friends with the other Gladys would-be's. She'd worried that they'd be mad at her, but fortunately they were very gracious (and made excellent angels) and the girls are all now good friends. All the kids were super nice, and Elise's "big sister" in the play took her under her wing and helped make sure she had everything she needed, and also had a good time. Five rehearsals took place before tech week, for a total of nine. She enjoyed them and barely missed the beautiful fall afternoons she was spending inside, in stark contrast to her previous obsession (nature).

At the last rehearsal, they were still finalizing costumes, props, etc.--but the kids (and adults) felt mostly ready. Mostly. Elise said she'd look for us in the audience as she performed her opening pose, along with her "brothers" and "sister." I shared my astonishment at how she could possibly look at us without smiling or laughing...but during every performance I attended, sure enough, I saw her eyes roaming the room and resting on me. And the glaring look she was supposed to be holding never wavered.

Seeing as there were nine performances, I tried to scatter around our family's attendance so that Elise would usually be able to find someone in the audience. Several friends attended as well, which filled at least one gap. Plus, about 10 seconds into the first show I realized that despite all my pre-Christmas errands, plus the eyebrow-raising cost of a ticket, I would need to see this show more than the three times I'd allotted myself. This was going to be a big deal.

And it was! The cast evolved with each performance, and by the last night, were hamming it up so much that the audience roared. Their final two performances ended in standing ovations, and more than one of us parents were a little teary-eyed at the thought of the production being over.

Elise, for her part, played her 20 lines so well--along with some well-timed facial expressions--that she claimed some of the very loudest laughs of the play. And completely unbiased, she totally stole the show. Her role was full of comedic value, from chasing the shepherds, who were all scared of her, to the barn to see baby Jesus, to wearing her Mighty Marvo cape and mask to the "dress rehearsal." Fun fact: Elise also had to run through the mall more than once in this cape and mask, which she found hilariously embarrassing, because if you exit in the wrong spot, the only way to get back to where you belong is by using a mall hallway. (The theater is in a mall.) People kept telling me how amazing she was at her role, and her director echoed this in her own unbiased way ("Elise was really great!"), with deep verity and gratitude in her eyes as though she'd actually received the note I didn't write, had considered it, had followed its advice, and was deeply appreciative of the gift she--and the entire show--had received. Darn right.

One of Elise's favorite parts of the show was getting dirty: brown makeup was smeared on her face to look like dirt and/or chocolate, and she was required to sport a Kool-Aid mouth throughout. This meant, well, drinking Kool-Aid. Apparently this took some trial and error, however, and many candies were licked, smeared, and evaluated. Some were too sticky, and others didn't produce the right color (or no color at all). Finally, Elise discovered that if she soaked her lip in Kool-Aid rather than simply chugging it, she came out with a nicely pink upper lip. This usually lasted for a day or so, even after trying to wipe it off. She was delighted. Her angel costume was also appropriately stained with Kool-Aid. Less cool: I believe they used the same pitcher of Kool-Aid through two weekends of shows, a fact I only found out right before the last performance. "Don't drink it!!!" I cautioned, and she agreed not to (but really?!?). She also got to chew gum and blow bubbles on stage--which, to Elise, is the epitome of a great role.

Another favorite was play-fighting with her "siblings," most of whom were boys. Not having grown up with boys, from early on my girls have had the belief that you can just walk up and hit them and they won't mind. I've (mostly) trained this out of them, but in the show, simply by following the general script, she re-developed this habit. Which she also enjoyed--and I think no one minded, because they were able to give it back, purely in a stage-fighting sense, and it was all in character.

Final night, next to her bio!

Dutiful to the end, Elise smiled as they sang their final carol, not because she was facing the audience, but because she wanted to remind those facing the audience to smile. She also wanted to tattle on her Herdman brother who took a cookie from a display, even after being told not to. I coached her out of tattling, even while empathizing with her disgust at rule-breaking, and she later had the satisfaction of being within earshot as someone else tattled on him.

After the show, Elise and her friends bounded around like puppies on caffeine, occasionally helping and usually not getting into anyone's way too much. We all went out for pizza after, during which Elise and her friends spilled three glasses of water and planned a playdate.

She's excited to audition for the next show, even though it's a musical, and we're all excited to see where this new pursuit carries Elise. It's been super fun to be along for the ride, and we're beyond proud of Elise as she took on a challenge, developed a new skill, and cheerfully gave it her all the whole way through.

But the best part? She never once battled us about practicing!