The Show Must Go On

Phoebe's show closed this weekend. We loved seeing it again on Friday night. On Saturday night I took Cooper and Sophie to the neighboring town and saw their version of Matilda Jr. I'm not sure why they chose the same show, but it was interesting to see a different interpretation. We went to support some of the kids from our children's choir that were in the play.

Shortly before both plays were set to begin I started getting texts from Phoebe. The power had gone out at her school! There had been a big wind and rain storm that day and a nearby power pole had been knocked out. The school was running on emergency power. It was enough to have lights in the theater, but not enough to run the lights and sound for the show. After delaying as long as they could in hopes that the full power would be restored, the decision was made to setup a Bluetooth speaker and have the kids perform their musical numbers without mics. Phoebe wasn't in the musical numbers (at least onstage, she sang from the wings), so that meant she wouldn't get to perform at all. The director realized this and decided to run one of Phoebe's funniest scenes in addition to the musical numbers. Phoebe realized that another actor wouldn't get any stage time and she advocated for him. That added one more scene for her as well.

It was a disappointing evening for all the kids. They were sent home after the truncated performance with the direction to check their school messages for a rescheduled show. They were already supposed to have a matinee the next day, perhaps they would also have an evening show.

By mid-morning the power was still off. The matinee was canceled and they (the actors and the audience from Saturday night) were all on standby to see if the evening show would happen. Around 4:30 the power came back on! She did her final show with lights and mics.

I picked her up that night. She kept saying, "I'm so sad. It's over. I'm so sad." That's how it feels when a show closes. They're so much fun to put together, but there's definitely a feeling of loss when it's over. Thankfully, the theatre director decided to add one more show. It's a student directed one act and Phoebe already has a part.