High School Musical!
Whew–it’s over!
As most of you probably remember, my two younger daughters were performing in a musical at the local high school this weekend. The middle one is in 10th grade, the youngest only in 5th (they needed one little girl for the play and asked her to do it.)
Anyway, I have to say, they were both fantastic! Yes, that’s the mother in me speaking, but it’s also the musical-lover. They nailed every word in every bit of dialogue, and every note in every song. Neither exhibited a moment of stage fright, they were confident and entertaining and I loved every single minute of it.
I was a bit disappointed that they didn’t have bigger audiences for their performances, but another local school was doing Cats with a cast of thousands, a local adult company was doing Nunsense this weekend, and it was 80 degrees and glorious outside.
Still, they had decent audiences and everyone who saw them appreciated the talent, guts and hard work all these kids had put into it.
Believe me, I welled up watching my girls up there, but I had almost as much fun standing out in the lobby afterward, eavesdropping on conversations such as:
“Oh, my gosh, could you believe that little girl? Could she really just be in elementary school? What a voice!”
and
“That Kelly girl’s voice was just unbelievable! I never imagined a high school girl could sound that powerful!”
and
“Are they really sisters?”
It was such fun watching them come out and get their kudos and congratulations. The little one, especially, was fussed over because she looked so pretty and sweet up there. (Little do they know…this is the bloodthirsty cannibal/puberty-video/future coroner I’ve talked about so many times on here!)
After the show Saturday night, we hosted the cast party at our place. There were about two dozen fun, loud, energetic, loud, hungry, LOUD teenagers there. They devoured everything that wasn’t nailed down (we hauled out the chocolate fountain.) About 15 of them crammed into the hot tub (which was down 10″ of water afterward!) Then at around 11pm they discovered the karaoke machine and all bets were off! We had to pry those microphones out of their hands and push them out the door at one a.m.
Though there was a matinee performance on Sunday, which we also attended, for me Saturday night’s party was just the cap-off of the entire experience. Because moving here, with a 15 year old who had never had to change schools in her life, seemed like such a heartless thing to do last summer. I hated to do it to her, throw her into a new high school where she knew absolutely no one. And things could have gone very badly–she could have rebelled, met the wrong group of kids, acted out against us, hated us forever.
She hasn’t. Instead, she has just thrived. Saturday night, she was surrounded by tons of new friends who all seem to adore her and my husband and I both truly felt we’d done the right thing. This was the third cast party we’ve had here since the school year started–because the kids keep asking if they can come back! (They’re even doing their end of year drama banquet here next month.)
You know, some kids are athletes and some are brilliant scholastically and some want to be on the debate club and some want to take pictures for the yearbook. All my girls have ever wanted to do was be on stage. Singing, acting, performing. Which makes weekends like this so very special. Maybe they don’t pack in the crowds like the football team or the band, but those kids all performed their hearts out and I was proud to support them.
Proud enough to share.
I don’t usually post pics of my kids and don’t give much personal info about them. (I’m sure you understand!) But I thought I’d post this video of part of their performance.
In this scene, the 15 year old is actually playing the 11 year old’s mother (hence the frumpy dress…for most of the rest of the show, the older one’s in a stunning red velvet, sequined gown–the show is about beauty pageant contestants!) The song is about how mothers push their daughters, and in the 2nd half of it, the little girl and her “older” self (in the red dress) join in to interact with their overbearing mother. (FYI: You can’t really see who’s singing…the 11 year old is the one who comes in 2nd, the one in the red comes in last.)
The song is incredibly difficult–the director & musical director both said it was the hardest number in the show. The harmonies are intense, and there are places where the three of them are singing entirely different melodies. They overlap on occasion, the timing has to be perfect…and 1/3 of this act relies on an 11 year old who’s never done a play before!
Like I said…I am one proud mama today!
Hope you enjoy!
I wasn’t able to play the video (dang dialup!) but what a wonderful story! I think for your girls to have such passion at their ages is amazing, and I know it will carry them far. And I’m so glad your daughter has adjusted to the move. That’s a great trait to have for when she’s older, too.
Thanx for sharing Leslie.
Comment by Stacy ~ — April 23, 2007 @ 6:39 am
YOWZA!!!! That was amazing!!! Your pride must be overflowing!
Comment by Lara — April 23, 2007 @ 7:35 am
How fabulous, Les! You have every right to be the proud momma!
Comment by Rhonda Nelson — April 23, 2007 @ 7:51 am
Saw this last night…sniff. I’m so proud of them! Kills me that I couldn’t be there. Wonder if they’ll do an encore performance acapella when I come up to visit?
Comment by Julie Leto — April 23, 2007 @ 8:17 am
You have every right to be proud Leslie, your girls were awesome!!! Hope they both enjoy their time in theatre. My brother is still acting to this day and he got started in elementary school too. He is even able to take time off from his “real” job to perform in 2 plays for the summer in Creede.
Comment by Liza — April 23, 2007 @ 8:45 am
Wow Leslie I would be so proud too. That’s wonderful!
Comment by Michelle — April 23, 2007 @ 9:01 am
Leslie, you should be proud! They are gorgeous and talented young ladies!
Comment by Carly — April 23, 2007 @ 9:05 am
Wow (we need a clapping hand icon)! You should be proud and I think the reason you enjoyed eavesdropping so much is because those compliments were absolutely, 100% genuine. They weren’t saying it to the mother, who expects to hear certain things, they were saying what they felt in their hearts and that is so wonderful to hear!
As for her adjustment to the move…she has wonderful parents who made it easier. I’ve popped on to Bruce’s Myspace page and read his “about me” and you two are very, very neat people. I moved my freshman year to a new high school where I didn’t know anyone and it was difficult to adjust. But my mom encouraged me to join band and once I did, met a few people, everything turned around.
You two are obviously outgoing (ie. the parties for the kids), lots of fun and carefree (ie. ice sledding), and very supportive of your kids. I’m not at all surprised they’ve adjusted to the move and I will be even less surprised if, in 10 years, we’re reading about them being on Broadway in this blog!
Congrats to the girls and to you and Bruce for raising such wonderful girls (we don’t hear much about the oldest but I’m sure she’s just as special).
Comment by Jodie — April 23, 2007 @ 9:17 am
Comment by katie — April 23, 2007 @ 9:29 am
Wow! Great Job Kelly Girls:!:
Your girls are amazing and since each child is a reflection of her (or his) parents; you and your dh are amazing as well.
It is so great you have opened your home to all their friends….a nice safe place in this world.
Congratulations!!!!!and have a great day!
Comment by Debbie — April 23, 2007 @ 10:04 am
Congratulations to your family–what an amazing weekend for you! You SHOULD be proud
Hooray!
Comment by Fedora — April 23, 2007 @ 10:07 am
Ohh, thanks everyone! I appreciate you letting me do some sharing!
Jodie–how fun that you checked out Bruce’s MySpace! I’ll be sure to let him know. And actually, our oldest daughter flew up from Florida this weekend (one week before finals!) so she could see her sisters perform. She’s a genuine sweetheart and I can’t wait to have her home full-time in 2 weeks!
Comment by Leslie — April 23, 2007 @ 10:08 am
Loved it. What a proud momma moment!
Comment by Jill — April 23, 2007 @ 10:17 am
Wow! I’m sure they don’t really appreciate the sacrifice that was on her part, but when they get to college they certainly will. My oldest is getting ready for finals too and couldn’t go to Ohio with us over Easter break to see his grandparents. Of course, if he’d really worked at it all semester he probably wouldn’t be in the desperate state he’s in now.
Comment by Jodie — April 23, 2007 @ 10:18 am
With such talent and beauty (and no stage fright!) I’m betting we see them on Broadway in the future!
Comment by Janelle — April 23, 2007 @ 10:39 am
Leslie,
You have a right to be one proud mama! I only have one question. Have you picked out your dress for the Tonys? Great job Kelly girls!
Comment by Carol R — April 23, 2007 @ 10:46 am
Wow and only 11 and 15. You have good reason to be proud.
My grand is 11 and just went to the state spelling bee to represent her
school district. She’sin 7th grade and beat out lots of older kids too.
For school vacation she took a csi course at the local
college. Boy oh boy, do they grow up fast.
You have every right to be proud they did a great job Mom!
Comment by jeannie — April 23, 2007 @ 11:26 am
Way to go Kelly girls!! Mom and Dad have every right to be proud (as do the girls) Keep Bragging….
Comment by Barbara-Jo — April 23, 2007 @ 11:37 am
Leslie, Your girls were terrific ~ what beautiful voices! Thanks for sharing.
Comment by Robin — April 23, 2007 @ 11:37 am
Comment by BadBarb — April 23, 2007 @ 11:41 am
Leslie, you have every reason to be proud! They did a wonderful job!
Comment by Susan — April 23, 2007 @ 12:06 pm
Terrific!!! You have every right to be proud of your daughters.
Comment by Shari C — April 23, 2007 @ 12:08 pm
Anyone mind if a proud daddy pops in for a minute? I emailed the video to everyone in my office a few minutes ago and dropped by here to read the comments. I just wanted to echo Leslie’s sentiment about how terrific they both were and how incredibly proud I am of our girls (all three of them, our oldest is an absolute sweetheart and every bit as talented). I was rocked by the hard work they put into the show and by their poise and professionalism on stage. I have to admit I was a little nervous about the 11 year old with this being her first play and having to deal with a difficult musical piece but there was obviously no need to worry. I also discovered something about the 15 year old that I hadn’t realized before. I’ve always known that she’s beautiful and looks just like her mommy but this weekend it dawned on me that she also inherited her mother’s singing voice. I closed my eyes and was taken back to when Leslie & I were doing theater together. It was uncanny.
Thank you all very much for the kind words, a parent never tires of hearing good things about their kids. Jody thanks for the compliment and the MySpace visit. That page was originally set up by my kids as a means to stay in touch while we were living apart last year. I have to keep reminding myself that they’re not the only ones looking at it anymore.
Comment by Bruce — April 23, 2007 @ 1:18 pm
Hi Bruce - I didn’t go past the “about me” information, but I had to go read it because we hear so much about you here. And you surprised me with the Kahlil Gibran quote so I wanted to see what you had to say there. I originally got mine so that I could spy on my kids but now am using it a little differently.
I have to disagree with you on one thing though. There ain’t nothin’ - and I mean nothin’ - as great as a double stuff Oreo.
(Except maybe Krispie Kreme hot donuts.)
Comment by Jodie — April 23, 2007 @ 1:36 pm
I have dial up so couldn’t hear them. But that’s great. You guys should be proud of them.
Comment by Stacy S — April 23, 2007 @ 1:45 pm
Mmmm…Krispie Kreme….Jodie, you foul temptress!
Comment by Leslie — April 23, 2007 @ 2:09 pm
Jody I learned very quickly the utility of using Myspace for spying, er…um…checking on the internet safety of my children. I’m not sure what my kids were thinking when they set me up. And I won’t deny you your double stuff, I’m just a traditionalist regarding foods from my childhood. My whole family groans in unison when this subject comes up.
Krispie Kreme. When that sign lights up in the window it’s like a Pavlovian experiment.
Comment by Bruce — April 23, 2007 @ 3:17 pm
Krispy Kremes are ok, but they’ve got nothing on Shipleys in Greenville, MS.
Comment by Debbie — April 23, 2007 @ 6:51 pm
Way to go Kelly Girls!!!
I loved the video and wow…what voices 
Leslie - you have every right to be the proud momma. Drama is such a great thing for them to be in. The confidence alone that it teaches is great. I love the cast parties too. When I worked at Wharton High School in Tampa I was in 2 shows a year. I had to audition just like the rest of them and once we started reheresal I was no longer an adult and them high school students we were all just cast. I loved it and miss it so much. I totally get the no stage fright thing. There is nothing like opening night waiting to go on or closing night when it’s sad that it’s over.
Having the cast parties at your house is so cool. It’s something that they will never forget, any of them.
Too bad you’re not close to us in Florida. There would have been quite a few extra people there if you were.
Comment by Vicki — April 23, 2007 @ 7:09 pm
Leslie & Bruce, You have a right to be proud; they have lovely voices, & it must have been wonderful to watch them perform so well.
Hurrah, hurrah for the Kelly girls!
Patricia A.
Comment by Patricia — April 23, 2007 @ 7:16 pm
They sang beautifully. I’d be a proud momma too.
Comment by danette — April 23, 2007 @ 7:41 pm
That was fantastic, Leslie! So glad to hear your daughters are doing so well after the move.
Comment by Heather Harper — April 23, 2007 @ 8:32 pm
:thumbsup2::thumbsup2: Two Thumbs Up for the Kelly Girls! & :thumbsup2::thumbsup2: For their parents, I hope your girls realize how cool their parents are! And :thumbsup2: for your oldest daughter who made the trip home to support her sisters, that is what family is all about!
Thanks for reminding us that this is what is important in life
Comment by Tina Martinesi — April 23, 2007 @ 8:34 pm
What wonderful talents your girls have. Congratulations to you and your girls.
Comment by Patty L. — April 23, 2007 @ 8:48 pm
Thanks again everyone! Being new in town, it’s hard to not have anybody to brag too…SO glad I can brag to my P.M. BUDDIES…who are ALWAYS there!!!
Comment by Leslie — April 23, 2007 @ 11:17 pm
was the musical smile? or is there another beauty pagent one out there that i dont know of?
sounds like a great time!
Comment by Cail — April 24, 2007 @ 2:46 pm
[...] if you were around here this time last year, you probably heard all about how all of my girls are just like me…complete Broadway babies who [...]
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