Concert Time

Kennedy's Christmas concert was postponed in December due to a winter storm. It was rescheduled for the first week in January. On a Thursday evening, we loaded up the family and drove over to the middle school. It was a night of many firsts. For starters, Kennedy wore my dress and my boots. She will soon pass me in shoe size. She looked so grown up and beautiful. She wore her hair in a low french braid across the back of her head. She was stunning.


The next big news was that it was an enjoyable concert. Kennedy plays flute in the band and sings in the choir. Lincoln and I were both quite pleasantly surprised with the quality of the music.


It was a nice evening and left me looking forward to future concerts. They will only continue to get better.

Kennedy The Maiden...

Kennedy had her theatrical debut last weekend as a maiden in the play Aladdin and His Magical Lamp. Although she was terribly disappointed she didn't have a speaking part (other than a group line), she ended up having a lot of fun. I was very impressed with what Prairie Fire Children's Theater pulls off when they do these residencies. In only a week, they were able to prepare elementary age students to perform a 1 1/2 hour play including a couple songs and quite a lot of dialogue. The two actors from PFCT participated, one played the Evil Magician and the other was the Genie of the Lamp, helping along the kids and leading them to their lines when the students forgot what to say next. They all did a great job and I'm thrilled that Kennedy got to be part of this experience.
The Leads; The Sultan, the tiger, the Vizier, Aladdin, Princess Serena, Harmonia


Kennedy and the rest of the maidens (Serena's ladies in waiting):



Merchants:


Slaves of the Lamp:


Vagabonds:



A terrible picture of the cast:



(No flash photography was allowed during the show so these pictures are all from the photo op they gave us afterward. Not ideal.)

Kennedy's Debut

This week Kennedy is participating in her first drama production. I am so excited for her! Each year a local drama group comes to the elementary school to help the kids put on a show. (For 5th grade, Kennedy attend the other elementary school in our district, so this is the first time she's had the opportunity to participate.) This year's show is Aladdin. (I think the kids were all a little surprised that the story is a leeeetle bit different from the Disney version.) It's a pretty interesting approach. The Prairie Fire Children's Theater group comes, they meet on Monday to do try-outs and assign parts and begin practice, they practice Tues, Wed, Thurs, have dress rehearsal on Fri followed by opening night on Friday night and a second show on Saturday afternoon. It's pretty intense. They stay after school, have a snack, practice for 2 hours, have a light dinner, and then practice for two more hours. Kennedy was pretty disappointed in the part she got, "just" a chorus part, but I'm really excited for her. I keep trying to tell her how much fun it will be to perform for an audience, regardless of what part she's playing. It's such a rush. So I hope I will be able to get some pictures. Flash photography is not allowed and our videocamera is broken, so we shall see.