Cast, crew, orchestra

Friday night was the opening night for “The King and I” at Rosslyn Academy.   It was an amazing success!  Honestly, after dress rehearsal on Thursday, I wasn’t sure how it would end up.  Lots of things were rough.  Friday came, though, and it all came together in every way. Literally, there were no major issues in either performance!  I think we were all a bit shocked!   All of the students completely blew me away with their energy, scene changes (yikes!), great attitudes, teamwork, etc.  Their acting and singing was at its best all weekend and I stood at the back just shaking with delight and excitement!  Above is a photo of our 80 member cast, crew, and orchestra.

Shall we dance?

We have two more performances this Friday and Saturday – then strike and cast party on Saturday evening.  We’ll be posting more pictures as the week progresses – so check back again a few more times.  We’ll actually finish taking pictures on Saturday.  I can’t wait for you to see some good photos of all the costumes and sets – oh, and the “Siamese” makeup and hair!   You can see this photo of Brian and Beth, as the King and Anna, dancing in “Shall We Dance?”.  Also below is a photo of the ballet (“Small House of Uncle Thomas”).  We have an AMAZING choreographer, Betsy Kreamer, who choreographed the ballet.  The students, only one of whom (Sonia, as “Eliza”) has any dance training, all did a fabulous job.  They were so proud of themselves, as the should be – the 10 minute (ish) dance was a sight to behold!

Eliza in a rainstorm

All this is to say, I have found my “niche” doing drama at an international school – with missionary kids.  Who knew that the vision God gave me back in college would someday come to be?  And that it would be a culmination of the gifts and passions and experiences He has blessed me with over all of the 35 years of my life?  Just as usually happens with the teens I work with, I completely love these students.  I’m excited to be more involved in their lives next year, when I’ll be teaching a few classes on campus.  Andy is greatly enjoying the tech side of things too.  He’s done the Technical Design and Direction for both shows this year.  It’s fun to work together on projects again!  Our kids have been getting into it and we’re beginning to see some real interest in the arts in their lives – much more than before. Robbie doesn’t want to miss a performance and has asked if he can be on stage crew for the next show!  Sydney, of course, goes around singing all of the songs!  Next year, I’ll also be working with elementary and middle school in drama, so I’ll be able to work with our own kids, too!  I’m so thrilled about that!