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I've been too busy to mention it, but Summer is here!--with her girls and my parents. She got to come to Opening Night of Godspell and to the cast party afterward, thanks to my parents watching her girls and Bantam3 tonight. (When did he become Bantam3, you ask? Tonight, or today, or however you want to call this after-midnight hour. But his birthday won't be observed till Sunday, when we

Watching two dress rehearsals for Godspell piqued my curiosity about its history. It's hard to believe a musical this full of Scripture has been so long-running and perpetually popular! And hasn't it been rather controversial too? Here's what I found out. The script was written by John-Michael Tebelak, a Carnegie-Mellon University student who had considered becoming an Episcopal priest before

In our first non-story, no miscarriage so far. Some Braxton-Hicks-like false alarms, but that's it. Thanks for your prayers as we continue to await God's perfect timing. A time may come for medical intervention--but that time will not electively be scheduled for the next two weeks, which are packed with Godspell dress rehearsals and performances, family visitors, a painter at my house, and

In the scene where Jesus asks the schoolchildren to help him tell the parable of the good Samaritan, Bantam8 and his buddy are the "rocky soil." They elbow their way to the front of the stage, holding their arms out like weight lifters and kissing their biceps, before delivering their line--"Rock solid, baby!"--and executing a chest slam. They were practicing this scene when I happened to look

The cast list is up, and it's good news and bad news all around: Rejoicing that all three of our kids got in; sadness over friends who didn't make it. Disappointment that Blondechick isn't a Disciple; excitement that she made it into one of the dance ensembles. Satisfaction at knowing that Bantam12 gets to be one of the robbers who waylay the Good Samaritan; uncertainty about whether Bantam8,

I am at Panera, where they have great coffee, my favorite bagels and free wireless. I'm supposed to work on the family Christmas letter, but all I can do, it seems, is pray for Blondechick15 and Bantam8, who were both called back for speaking parts in Godspell! Auditions were last night. There were a record number of kids auditioning--147--for 90 parts, which meant 57 kids--over 1/3 of those

For a little light Sunday reading, may I recommend my daughter Blondechick14's recent post about a funny incident that happened during one of the performances of Charlotte's Web? One of the joys of live theater, in my opinion, is actors having to dealing with the unexpected in front of an audience. The audience itself has to make a decision: Do we laugh? Pretend we didn't notice? In this

Well, Charlotte's Web is over. What a mixed bag of feelings I have! Pride of accomplishment, joy in seeing kids performing their hearts out for God's glory, sadness that it's all over, nostalgia for this unrepeatable cast--and relief that life can go back to normal for awhile now. It really was a great show--the best Charlotte's Web our Chicago-area executive director said he's ever seen, and

I promise that soon I will return to writing scintillating posts on topics other than children's theater and the musical Charlotte's Web. I promise. But today I'm busy doing makeup for the two final shows and attending a late-night cast party. And tomorrow I'm going to church and the Strike Party/recognition bash. So I give you a couple of Charlotte's Web links for the weekend. Just so you

Bantam12 has a few lines as Henry Fussy, Fern's boyfriend. Here he has just asked Fern if she's going to the county fair. In this shot, his mother asks Fern if she had anything to do with the word in the spider's web. Here he and Fern have just come back to Wilbur's pen after riding the Ferris wheel together; Fern is showing Wilbur and her brother Avery the teddy bear he won for her. Most

Wilbur: "I think you're beautiful!" Charlotte: "Well, I am pretty. There's no denying that. Almost all spiders are rather nice-looking. I'm not as flashy as some, but I'll do." Here is the lovely Charlotte in her barn in the first act. This is at a dress rehearsal; we got her some darker lipstick after this. She's wearing false eyelashes, metallic, glittery eyeshadow, and glitter on her

We got some great stills from our high-definition video recording of a Charlotte's Web dress rehearsal. And since you go frame-by-frame to make your selections, we noticed things that otherwise went by rather quickly... That's Bantam8. The one with the quirks, like the ability to create battle scenes between two rocks--and going without clothes, year-round. (Well, he wears shorts.)

What a looooonnnnng week we've had! In the past nine days, the kids have had five rehearsals and seven performances of the musical Charlotte's Web. I've been there too, doing makeup. (Thank you, dear husband and dear friend Heather, for watching my little ones!!) Bantam16 has been able to do backstage for every show, since he's homeschooled this year. It's been an exhausting week, but so

I love Saturday mornings. My dear, calm husband stays home with our oldest and two youngest, while the three middle children and I frantically gather scripts, ticket orders, my laptop and makeup folder, treats for Big/Lil' Bro/Sis, encouragement notes for others in the cast, costume pieces, etc., etc., and pile into the car to head for theater rehearsal. Our conversation in the car is always

Rehearsals for Charlotte's Web are in full swing. Opening Night is only 3 weeks away! My kids have all their lines and songs memorized, but as Makeup Committee Chair, I've got so much to think about.... The most urgent item on my agenda was a photo shoot for the program cover. I needed a pig makeup design and quick! I googled and found nothing. (I'll use all the magic words: Theater stage

The phone rang at 7 a.m. this morning, an hour before I was planning to get up. The caller ID was no help; could it be a realtor wanting to show our house later in the morning? "Hello, this is [young friend of Blondechick's]. Is she there?" "She's still asleep." (Said without hiding the fact that I too had been asleep moments earlier.) "Oh, I'm sorry! So haven't you guys looked at the cast

And now for a change from book reviews... On her blog, Drama Ditz, my daughter just posted the YouTube video of herself doing a commercial for the TV special a family friend is producing. Our middle four children will be in it, as well as a number of family friends. I doubt it will be widely aired outside the Chicago area, but you can all get a taste from the commercial. So, go watch a little

Earlier this summer, I signed up for Jennifer's Read Together Challenge. The idea is to read the same book as your child and post about what you both thought or learned from it. (My earlier entry, our thoughts on The Egypt Game, is here.) Sunday is the last day, so I just realized I'd better write a couple quick book reviews! I read Karen Kingsbury's Firstborn series--Fame, Forgiven, Found,

It's been a strange day. The show is over, the houseguests are gone--and I'm feeling at loose ends. I had not let myself THINK beyond the last day of the show, except to assume that as soon as it ended, we'd have to start packing in earnest, preparing for a move. Now that isn't happening--yet--so what to DO with myself? First, we put the house back together after the chaos of the weekend. Then

Well, I hope you're not all totally bored with Narnia pictures, but I saved a few more shots for this, the final weekend. Last night was our last performance as an entire family--Papa Rooster and Blondechick14 are DONE. "Now I can forget all those lines and all those lyrics!" Papa R. said with satisfaction this morning. The rest of us have two more shows--tonight and tomorrow afternoon. Then

And this is our son Edmund fighting our son the Dwarf in the final battle. The brothers choreographed a complicated fight which really looks great! It ends with Edmund stabbing the Dwarf and turning his back on him to look for another opponent--but the Dwarf recovers and stabs the unsuspecting Edmund in the back. Edmund falls to the ground and the Dwarf rushes offstage,

And (squirming with embarrassment) here's the picture you've all been waiting for. Just to prove I was really in the show with my family, here's me as Mrs. Macready in the first scene at Marbleton Manor. See the hat on the stage? Edmund knocks it off Lucy's head in a little tiff, which the Professor tries gently to stop, but I end decisively with a loud "STOP!" The Professor exits in search

White Witch: "Then we must kill this human creature now, and put an end to the Prophecy of the Four Thrones. ...He should be killed on the Stone Table. That is the proper place. But in this emergency, we'll do it here, now and quickly." (Okay, I know it's just acting, but it still gets me right here, when they're talking so matter-of-factly about killing--my son! That's my

Two more weekends of shows left! Here's a dear friend of ours as Father Christmas. That's his daughter just to his left (our right), in the white blouse and tan cap, playing Lucy, and my daughter, playing Susan, is to his right (our left). In between him and "Susan" is our family friend Bethany as Mrs. Beaver (in brown with a red apron). Mrs. Beaver: But I thought the Witch

Bear him as a fallen hero, With solemn honor and dignity, But bear him to a greening meadow, Let Spring itself be his eulogy. For spring means rebirth, Though each flower dies, The seeds fall to earth, Take root, and rise, So lay him in a field of flowers-- And flowers will bloom where he lies. This lovely duet was another high point for me. Blondechick practiced diligently to get the