All the World's a Stage

There was an afternoon last week when Topher and I were the only people at home. He decided to hold a talent show. I played the ukulele and sang a song. He performed an original composition and played his homemade banjo, then he beatboxed and danced, then he demonstrated sword fighting. It was an entertaining show.

Grease is the Word

The last four months of work culminated in performance weekend for Phoebe. She did a wonderful job in Grease! She was one of five members of the cheerleading ensemble. She also danced in several group numbers, usually highlighted in the front. And she had some funny bits as a background performer. 

She had lots of fun, but she's glad she can sleep on a regular basis again.

Due to the PG-13 nature of the show, Topher and Peter didn't attend. I took Cooper and Sophie on Thursday, opening night. Then Bryan and I saw it on Saturday night.

Great job, Phoebe!

Oh Mr. Moon

On Saturday Sophie and I, along with our fellow ukulele orchestra members, got to perform two shows with Kate Micucci. She wrote a children's book and came to our library to do a reading and ukulele performance. It was such a fun experience!

Our first show was at 10:00 at a local church. There were 100 people at this performance and 50 people at the 2:00 show at the library. Apparently there were 300 people still on the waiting list.

We got seats for these guys! A local bookstore was selling signed copies of the book, so we bought one before our first show.

Kate was delightful and gracious. We learned one of her songs, Mr. Moon, and she played that plus three others songs with us. She read her book and taught all the kids how to draw their own puppet. She answered questions from the kids in the audience, then stood in line and talked with everyone that wanted to say hi. When it was our turn, Topher showed her his favorite page from her book, so she signed it!

Kate had come a few days before to practice with the ukulele orchestra. Unfortunately, neither Sophie nor I could be there. The rehearsal was recorded so we could watch it at home and be ready. It helped a lot. 

Before we started our first show, before the audience was allowed in, Kate came over to say hello to the ukulele players. She asked the names of those that hadn't been at the practice, including Sophie. But when she got to me, she said, "Wait, I've met you before." She was in town two years ago and attended a library function where the cast of The Little Mermaid was performing. She and I had chatted briefly (I wrote about it HERE) and that was it. I was SHOCKED that she remembered talking to me. She didn't know my name, but she remembered my face. I'm impressed with her memory!

I'm not sure who took this picture, but it was sent to me by another member of the ukulele orchestra.

Phoebe attended the morning show, but then she had to dash off to rehearsal, so she didn't get to talk to Kate afterward. Kate announced that she would be at a local coffeeshop at a specific time, in case anyone else wanted to come by and say hello. So I picked Phoebe up from rehearsal after our second show and we went to a coffeeshop to say hi to Kate. They had a nice chat about Phoebe's love for theatre and Doctor Who, then we took a picture with Kate and her son.

It was a very full, very fun day!

Word

Tonight we watched Phoebe perform in her high school's annual Theatre Showcase. She sang and danced in the opening number, Grease Is the Word,  and did a great job.

Having so many busy nights can be overwhelming, but I'm so glad that we've made it part of our family culture to support each other by attending all the various performances our kids are in.

Jolly

After the choir rehearsal and the ukulele performance and the track meet and the theatre troupe performance and the three hours of babysitting, the day wasn't over. Sophie had her first ever violin recital that afternoon at a retirement home. She started taking lessons from a woman in our ward a few months ago and is already showing improvement. She and her teacher played a simple duet of Jolly Old Saint Nicholas. I loved it!

The Show Must Go On

Cooper and Phoebe were supposed to have their big high school holiday pops concert last Wednesday. Instead, we had a night at home because it was snowing and the concert was bumped to the next evening. I took this picture near the beginning of the storm.

The choir director was thankful they had a snow date! On Thursday we went and heard all fifteen musical groups the high school offers, including four rock bands. Cooper and Phoebe both sang with the Concert Choir, Cooper sang with the select SATB choir, and Phoebe sang with the select treble choir. They sounded fantastic! Two fun highlights were The First Noel by Phoebe's group (they stood spread out in the audience and sounded angelic) and Cooper wearing a Hawaiian shirt and playing the bells as a Beach Boy in Little Saint Nick (we had no idea he was going to do that).

The only bummer of the night? We were asked to put our phones away during the whole concert. The only pictures Bryan got were right before the concert started and then right after. So we have no videos to share.

One of the sweet YW leaders from our old ward (her son sings in the choirs too) brought flowers for Phoebe!

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

We had another concert tonight, this one was for our friend's Girl Scout Gold Award project. She put together a concert of student musicians to highlight the importance of music education in schools. The concert was organized youngest to oldest, so Topher joined his friend Violet for the opening number. They got stuck in a Jingle Bells loop when Topher kept singing the low note of the end of the first part of the song instead of the slightly higher ending note, but we finally got them out of it. They were both adorable.

Sophie sang The First Noel. Her audio track cut out early into the song, but she didn't falter at all. She kept her pitch and sang beautifully. I told her afterward that not all singers can maintain the key they're in without accompaniment. She was surprised by that. Phoebe overheard a few of the older musicians (meaning high schoolers) sitting behind her say that they thought Sophie was very profession for continuing to sing.

Phoebe, in a move that surprised all of us, agreed to play Silent Night on the harp. She started taking harp lessons in October and loves it. Her teacher created a stretch arrangement of Silent Night for her and Phoebe played it beautifully tonight.

We only have one more concert to go for this very busy season.

Home for the Holidays

Look whose plane landed this evening just in time to go to Sophie's winter concert.

Sophie did a great job playing the violin with the orchestra and then singing with the chorus. She even got to introduce one of the songs. She had fantastic stage presence and probably the best diction of any of the announcers.

We're really happy to have Peter home for Christmas.

Not Quite the Von Trapps, But Close

Sophie, Phoebe, Topher, and I sang "I Don't Want to Live on the Moon" at the library talent show tonight. We didn't even know about the event until last night when my friend, the children's librarian, sent out an email to the members of the Ukulele Orchestra asking for additional participants. Sophie agreed to sing and I signed her up to perform, "In My Own Little Corner." This morning I learned that only seven people were registered to participate. I texted a friend and she signed up her kids. Then I convinced the kids to sing with me and we added this song.

It made my heart so happy that they sang with me. Topher was the most enthusiastic and said, "I can't believe I get to sing on a real live stage." It wasn't exactly a proper stage, but it was pretty cool. And Cooper and Peter were good sports to come be in the audience.

I'm thankful that my friend thought to grab her phone and take this picture.

The Ukulele Makes Me Happy

Sophie and I performed in a Ukulele Orchestra concert last night. The performance included us singing a duet of I Don't Want to Live on the Moon. I love that this is something she and I can share.

A Girl and Her Bow

Sophie played in her first orchestra concert on Thursday! She's been playing the violin since the beginning of the school year and this was her first chance to perform on the instrument.

She did a great job!