The Best Christmas Present Ever
I just got done directing my first children's musical at church. I have helped with them in the past, and I have directed the children's choir on Christmas and Easter for a few years, but I have never done an entire musical. Honestly, when the idea came up in August, I wasn't sure that we could pull it off. We were going to need several Junior High students for the big speaking parts, and I just wasn't sure they would be interested. But, when we had our first meeting, a big group of JH kids came, and I was so excited. We had already decided to do the musical "The Best Christmas Present Ever" and it was like it was written for our group. Everyone who wanted a speaking part and/or solo got one with no people/parts left over. It was perfect. We practiced drama and music every Wednesday from September until now, and we practiced music every Sunday morning. We had 6 rehearsal aside from all of that, so it was a lot of work! The kids were so great. They had their lines memorized early on, and as all musicals go, it really came together in the last week. Of course, there were imperfections here and there, but that's what makes it cute. During the first performance, one boy yelled "Stephanie?" when the stage was completely silent. I motioned for him to come off stage. He had to go to the bathroom. I can just imagine if he would have yelled "I have to go pee!" Our shepherds were played by twin boys, and they started fighting on stage during the Finale of the first performance. That was definitely a highlight. Then, during the last two songs of the last performance, another little boy was restless from being on stage all day and started singing high pitched opera over everyone. The audience was roaring laughing. I was trying to maintain composure while conducting but was also laughing myself. There were many touching parts of the programs. One of the little girls memorized and recited the Christmas story during the program. She had it down word for word and spoke it so eloquently. I had to keep my game face on or I would have had tears streaming down my face. It was beautiful. Several of the soloists were awesome too. I was impressed and proud. We had a lot of fun!
I just got done directing my first children's musical at church. I have helped with them in the past, and I have directed the children's choir on Christmas and Easter for a few years, but I have never done an entire musical. Honestly, when the idea came up in August, I wasn't sure that we could pull it off. We were going to need several Junior High students for the big speaking parts, and I just wasn't sure they would be interested. But, when we had our first meeting, a big group of JH kids came, and I was so excited. We had already decided to do the musical "The Best Christmas Present Ever" and it was like it was written for our group. Everyone who wanted a speaking part and/or solo got one with no people/parts left over. It was perfect. We practiced drama and music every Wednesday from September until now, and we practiced music every Sunday morning. We had 6 rehearsal aside from all of that, so it was a lot of work! The kids were so great. They had their lines memorized early on, and as all musicals go, it really came together in the last week. Of course, there were imperfections here and there, but that's what makes it cute. During the first performance, one boy yelled "Stephanie?" when the stage was completely silent. I motioned for him to come off stage. He had to go to the bathroom. I can just imagine if he would have yelled "I have to go pee!" Our shepherds were played by twin boys, and they started fighting on stage during the Finale of the first performance. That was definitely a highlight. Then, during the last two songs of the last performance, another little boy was restless from being on stage all day and started singing high pitched opera over everyone. The audience was roaring laughing. I was trying to maintain composure while conducting but was also laughing myself. There were many touching parts of the programs. One of the little girls memorized and recited the Christmas story during the program. She had it down word for word and spoke it so eloquently. I had to keep my game face on or I would have had tears streaming down my face. It was beautiful. Several of the soloists were awesome too. I was impressed and proud. We had a lot of fun!
1 comment:
I heard about it. I can't wait to see more pictures! I heard that Al was a little restless, doing things that little boys do... picking his nose, hitting his brother, moving around, etc! Great job director!
Sam
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