CALL ME MAMA ROSE

Well earlier this summer I enrolled my 4 year old Lucy in Kids on Stage's summer acting camp. She was 3 at the time and I had never put her in anything full day before. To my surprise she loved every minute of it and in my opinion...a "Star" was born!

OK she's great too but I'm the mom and I feel like my stage mother genes took over and I knew I'd be putting her in lots of fun classes just so I could watch her be a cute princess and take pictures to put on Facebook!

I do remember her teacher telling me on the first day of class, "Lucy is very unique. I 've never heard a child year old singing Elvis songs in the bathroom before!"  I highly recommend the summer program and I absolutely loved my "mommy free time." Lucy would come home with the most adorable stories from their "play of the day" where each child would create their own character. I was so amazed that the teachers got the kids to do this when I can barely get Lucy to eat her cereal sitting down! It brought out her creative side in a new way I hadn't seen before.

I come from a childhood where I was playing "movie star" from the time I was 3 and I suppose the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. When I heard about Kids on Stage in Santa Monica having ongoing theater classes. I got on their web site and did some research to find the perfect fit for Lucy. I was very impressed as a parent at the variety of classes and workshops offered. They have a bit of everything . They even do parties!  How cool is that? They have a place for every child from age 4 to 17. They have put on full scale productions from Peter Pan and other classics and have been doing this since 1987. Originally I heard about Kids On Stage from another mom who loved it so I felt comfortable from the start.

So I chose Imagination Theater for Lucy to partake in. It's Wednesdays at 3:30 which is perfect for those kiddos that still nap.This class is from age 4-7. Is it possible when Lucy is 7 she'll nap? I'm 38 and I'm still trying!

I knew Lucy would love this experience but I wanted to get her best friend David to take class with her. By the way , he's madly in love with my daughter. Originally David was fighting for gymnastics, but when he heard Lucy was doing "acting" he succumbed. Good man, David! Learn this lesson now and save yourself some time! Now, David can be a little bit on the sweet and shy side and we had no idea what to expect from him on the first day. The teachers over the phone were very kind and reassuring to us and said they would take extra good care of him to make him comfortable.

So the first week we all loaded in the car and Lucy and David was absolutely giddy with excitement. We came in and the staff was really friendly. What I didn't realize is that with this particular group by the end of the semester they are going to put on their very own play. Well Hallajueh to me! I've got my video camera all set! We'll invite all the top agents in Hollywood. Oh wait..that's my fantasy--not my daughter's!

Ok so we dropped them off at the theater and it was really a nice space. We went to coffee and came back in an hour and all the kids were lined up nicely waiting for us outside. David ran up to his mom and said "I want to go every day!" The teacher said David dressed up like an alligator and made really creative choices. She also said he was attentive and loved class.

I'll be writing more about the class as we get more involved in each week. From what Lucy shared so far, Imagination Theater is a place where kids really learn creative skills and stretch themselves in new directions and in the end turn all that fun into a fabulous production.

Lucy is going to class today and she literally cried and cried because nap was "taking too long!" So I'm just hoping now that Kids On Stage can come up with a day care next for my 1 year old!

To Be Continued.....

Kerri Pomarolli
Check out www.kidsonstage.com for more info.