This year the elementary school did the play "The Wizard of Oz." Josie decided that she wanted to try out and was pretty set on being the Wicked Witch of the West. When she went to try out, the person over the play laughed at that. She said Jo didn't have a wicked bone in her body. Those of you who know anything about Jo know that's true. She came home SO upset. We talked about it and Jo decided that she would be okay with anything. She thought it might be fun to be a flying monkey, or a tree that gets to throw apples. She went back to school and found out that she got the part of
Glinda the Good Witch. SO appropriate for her. She was told that she just sparkles and is so good already. SO true. When Nathan's mom was asked to guess what part Jo got, she guessed
Glinda. It just fits. She studied her lines and learned them quickly. They met every Wednesday and Friday to practice. In just 6 weeks, they were ready to perform. During that time, I learned that I was responsible for getting her costume together. How fun for me. The person in charge told me that she envisioned lots of sparkles. More fun. A few years ago, my mom made a bunch of dress ups for Jo. She made them big for her and they just happened to fit Jo now. So, we decided to try and transform one of her dresses into the
Glinda costume.
We brainstormed and came up with a pretty workable idea. Then we went shopping. We found the perfect material, ribbon and some material to make a petticoat. Jo was telling everyone in the store what it was for. It was so fun to see her so excited. She had some very specific ideas of what she wanted. She wanted the sleeves that came down to a point and had an elastic that went over her finger. She also wanted a full sparkly skirt and a sparkly bow. I decided to attach the skirt to a wide ribbon to cover the princess waistline and ended up sewing the ribbon to the dress because the dress kept shifting under the skirt. After three attempts, I was finally able to get a workable sleeve. And I just sewed the petticoat material to an existing skirt Jo had so she wouldn't get itchy from the petticoat. We made a ribbon for her hair and we were done.
Jo's teacher has been like a second mother to her this year. When she found out that Jo got the part of
Glinda, she brought a crown from home for her to use. Jo has been SO excited to wear it. She decided to leave it at school until the play so it wouldn't get ruined (would that happen in this house?) so I didn't get to see it until yesterday for the dress rehearsal. We put Jo's hair in curlers yesterday and she left them in all night and day until the play. With a little coaching from my mom, I put Jo's hair in ringlets like I used to wear when I was little. She was set.
Owen decided that he wanted to be in the play, too. Only 4
th and 5
th graders could be in the play, but he could be in the choir. They also practiced every Wednesday and Friday. A few weeks ago, Owen started singing the songs at home, too. He knew them SO well. His choir director told me that everyone else would be singing quietly and Owen would start belting it out, so everyone else would sing louder, too. He actually has a great voice. Especially for someone so young and not trained. When they started the play, I realized that they had Owen in the very front. He was about twice as tall as any of the other kids he was around. But he was singing his little heart out.
Jo was at the beginning when Dorothy first gets to Oz. She talks so quietly that they put a lapel mike on her. After that, you could hear her the best. She knew all of her lines and when she was supposed to come in. She did awesome.
After the first song, they moved Owen back and had him stand on the floor in front of the kids standing on the risers. He was about the same size as they were. I love my big boy.
I'm so proud of my kids. It was fun to see them performing and having fun. You could tell that they were proud of the job they did, too. Jo's already talking about the play next year.
Owen decided that he wanted to be in the play, too. Only 4th and 5th graders could be in the play, but he could be in the choir. They also practiced every Wednesday and Friday. A few weeks ago, Owen started singing the songs at home, too. He knew them SO well. His choir director told me that everyone else would be singing quietly and Owen would start belting it out, so everyone else would sing louder, too. He actually has a great voice. Especially for someone so young and not trained. When they started the play, I realized that they had Owen in the very front. He was about twice as tall as any of the other kids he was around. But he was singing his little heart out.
Jo was at the beginning when Dorothy first gets to Oz. She talks so quietly that they put a lapel mike on her. After that, you could hear her the best. She knew all of her lines and when she was supposed to come in. She did awesome.
"Wake up, you sleepy head. Rub your eyes. Get out of bed."
And Jo came back at the end to tell Dorothy how to use her shoes to get back to Kansas. Once again she did awesome!
You can't really see, but her dress was SPARKLY!! Many people commented on how sparkly it was under the stage lights.
And the finale. Jo was so excited because she got to be escorted out by the principal who played The Wizard of Oz. She felt so grownup.
2 comments:
Yay!! I am so glad that it was a great experience for both the kids. I wish we could have been there. Good job with the dress!
What a great memory! The songs are fun to sing and it is a great story. She looked so beautiful in her sparkly dress. (Great job on the dress) I am so glad you shared the pictures. I remember doing Cinderella when I was in the 3rd grade -- still can sing the songs. (I was one of the ugly step-sisters, eek!) And it is so fun that Owen was able to be part of it also.
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