CALL DOROTHY BETTY!

Well in the ongoing adventures of our two little characters in the Imagination theater, last week was a big week for Lucy and David. After weeks of rehearsals they finally chose their play that they will perform in June and we received exciting news. Lucy informed us they going to perform "The Wizard of Oz!"  And, guess what? Lucy is going to play "Dorothy." No wait..."Betty." Now of course you can imagine my pride knowing that my little darling was playing the "lead" role but the sweetest part is that she chose to change her name to "Betty"--as in "I'll get you my Betty and your little dog too!"  Now, I can't wait to see their show in June!

In their Saturday class, the young actors typically do a "play of the day" each week. I think this has caused a lot of excitement with Lucy because she talks about her role and how she gets to dance, use props, and learn songs--which is all great training and groundwork for learning performance skill and comfort in the character building and acting skills.  For example, the other day we learned that one of the plays of the day was "Hansel and Gretel."  Lucy, my excited little star, let me know she played "the girl" and David was--guess what?--a "dragon"...again (he loves being a dragon). However, Lucy was quick to let me know that David was actually a good dragon and he saved them on the way home. Proud mother moment.

I believe Lucy and David are really thriving in the class. David has been really shy and his mom says this is the best class he could have taken. Yes, he's always the dragon, but the teachers are very encouraging that every good play needs a good dragon who helps people and also breathes fire.

One of the other things I love about Kids on Stage is the personal connection I get with the staff and teachers.  I emailed Lucy's teacher to say how excited I was about "Betty's" latest role. I asked about David and Lucy and their progress in class. I was very impressed to get a very long detailed email about how they were doing socially, emotionally, even physically in the class. It's a diverse age group from 4-7 and I didn't know if our little 4 year olds could cut it with the big kids.  The email I received assured me they were fitting right in and having a lot of fun. Even when they needed some breaks from the activities the teachers found a way to keep them excited and engaged the whole class.

She really took the time to make me aware of very specific details about how Lucy is excelling, as well as areas Lucy could work on and benefit from more guidance. Apparently my daughter (no new news to us) needs to work on using "kind words" when the other kids are singing louder than she is. Also, there was a rumor going around that Lucy wasn't exactly cast as Dorothy but more so informed everyone she would be playing the role and changing her name to Betty.

I asked her about the Summer Musical Theater program (just around the corner) and if it would be good for Lucy and she said it would be great for her.  The hours are 9-2 which allows them even more time for character development, plays of the days, improvisation, arts and crafts, storytime, costume dress up--all the things Lucy LOVES about this theater program.  And, of course they stress that programs like this are great in building more skills to "play well with others, listen, know when to contribute, and have a creative outlet."

Now if I only I could convince her that playing a munchkin can be just as rewarding as playing "Betty" and probably with a cuter costume--although truth be told, I am excited to see "Betty" make it to Emerald City and home again.