When you heeeaarr it.....

190. The kids are off to school. I dropped the oldest off for his first day of Junior High School. I survived. I expect he will as well.

I had a fine time playing the proud parent yesterday. The kids at church performed a musical yesterday afternoon. My youngest played 2 roles (Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus and the Samaritan Woman) and sang a couple of solos. As a former (and hopefully future) theater person, I could not have been more proud of her.

Let me start by saying that Eleanor and all of those that helped her pull this show together did a wonderful job. The show was great fun. The kids did a fantastic job performing. I was greatly impressed by everyone involved.

The show was your typical church production by children. Corny humor. Catchy songs. Notes that are way too high. Mumbled lines. Cardboard set pieces. Makeshift costumes. Dropped lines. Nose picking. Boys who refuse to sing. Fidgety actors. You know, the standard fare.

My little one looked forward to the show all week. She was excited about her solos. Really she’s been excited for several weeks. Last month I heard her talking in the bathtub. I muted the TV and realized she was reciting her lines from the show.

She came home from dress rehearsal on Saturday as excited as I’ve seen her. As we walked home from the church she exclaimed, “I sang in front of about 40 people today!” She said she was ready for the performance.

As 3:00 Sunday afternoon drew closer, her anxiety grew. At lunch she chattered away nervously. She became more and more quiet as the hours passed. I walked her to the church for the final rehearsal at 2:00. She was silent almost the entire walk.

I asked if she was excited.

“I guess so.”

I asked if she was nervous.

“Only because you keep talking to me about it!”

I didn’t ask about it anymore. I dropped her off with butterflies in her stomach.

We did not know what to expect from her. She gets nervous. When she gets nervous she either clams up or talks in a barely audible voice. I prayed she would not be too nervous. She’d never performed in front of a live audience.

We didn’t know what to expect from her singing voice. She has always loved to sing. She has not, however, always sung well. Misty and I used to cringe when she sang. As she got older her ability improved. We knew she sang better than in previous years, after all, she was awarded a couple of solos. But still we were nervous.

When she prepared to sing her first solo I was probably more nervous than her. As the song moved along, she picked up her microphone. When her cue came, she nailed the solo. I wouldn’t say she belted it, but she nailed it. Maybe a little hesitant, but not bad. Best of all, she stayed on key.

Her second solo was even better. This one, she belted! It wasn’t that shy, breathy voice so common in kids’ musical productions. She sang loud and proud. And it sounded great.

My true surprise came in her acting scenes. Most of the kids were pretty emotionless when delivering their lines. To give you an idea, they mad Keanu Reeves look like Sir John Gielgud. I expected no less from my girl. Again, I was surprised. She delivered her line with feeling. With inflection and expressiveness. She was acting, not just reciting lines from memory.

After that I was floating on air. My little girl, an actor. I think she's hooked on the sound of Applause.

After the show, more than one parent told us they thought Abby stole the show! Again, I could not have been more proud.

And just to close out, I do not mean any of this as a slight toward any of the other kids in the show. Everyone did a great job. Just not as great a job as mine!