In my effort to get "caught up" I remembered a fun night that we had at the School back in May, right before summer vacation started. It was a night that we had worked on literally all year, it was our "2nd Annual Academy Awards".
Last year, it was a fun event and it went very well for a 1.0 release (software talk...). Erica had this vision and it was good. There were awards not only for theater stuff, but the other teachers gave some recognition to other disciplines within the "arts" at the School. Things like Fine Arts, Yearbook and Choir type stuff all got recognized. But the heart of the program was two fold: the "theater" awards and the announcement of next years season. The winners of the theater awards were forever immortalized on a plaque outside the auditorium (and have a spot on the corresponding page on the website...authorized by me of course!) And next year's season...well the anticipation of that goes without saying! In addition to all this excitement, the Drama club officers for next year were announced plus all new members of the Thespian troupe were recognized. Last year, Kelly was among the very first kids to be in the troupe, so her name will forever be way up on the list. And Allie was selected as the Drama Club treasurer an honor since this was it's first year and she was the only under-classman chosen for a position.
So this year, everything was going to be the same, with a notable transition. I knew the "secret" but it was going to be announced that Mr. Jerome Trujillo was taking over for Erica. So all the drama and this announcement....oh boy! This year was special for our family since all of us
literally were instrumental in making the productions happen. And for the actual ceremony, Kelly and Allie got to show off their videos that they made documenting the "lighter" side of the three productions. They really became quite proficient with iMovie this year. I was also excited for Kelly, because she won an actual Academy Award for Best Assistant/Student Director. I knew she would be nominated, since she held that position for two of the three productions this year. But I honestly didn't think she could compete with Charlotte, who as a Senior, took over the directing reigns completely for the winter play...oh and wrote the thing (Aleece in Cyberland) too! But the student body spoke and Kelly got a trophy and her name on the plaque and, most importantly, an opportunity to shine. Allie was recognized as one of the Officers, was initiated into the the troupe and was chosen to repeat as an Officer...quite an honor. She was nominated for her work in Butterfly and Music Man, which I thought was quite nice, but she reminded me that everyone did....thus not allowing me to lob the "proud parent" vibe at her. Not that it's important at all, but the nice, nice people who run the Arts Boosters recognized Sharon, Erica and me for all of our hard work this year. It was quite nice and a chance for those two ladies to get recognized. And as if that weren't enough for me, the Drama Officers gave me a "special" Oscar as "Honorary Thespian"...the sentiment was that since you become a Thespian by accruing an amount of time in the theater, that I had more than banked enough time. It was sweet...and the standing O was totally embarassing (but a moment I shall cherish forever).
Jerome was then introduced and after a little speil on what he's all about, he announced next year's season. In the fall, they are going to do 3 separate one act plays, taking one of them to the Thespian Festival. This was an idea that we started noodling last year after seeing the quality of the productions there and how good our production of Butterfly was. It should be interesting. The winter production will be a Jr. High production (something that I totally support and that I floated out a time or two) of the Velveteen Rabbit. It will also be wrapped around the Drama Day Camp for the second year in a row. The spring musical is going to be Annie. He explained (without disclosing which one) that he was prepared to announce another choice but felt led by the Lord that morning to choose Annie. I know that his other choice was going to be Bye Bye Birdie. I'm truthfully ambivalent about the choice...I wrote him a lengthy email before the announcement analyzing all the variables in these two choices plus a third, Oliver. Some kids were subsequently upset by the choice...but Kelly and Allie are genuinely excited.
It was a fun evening, and it started amusing. Back a couple of years ago, when I was coaching the 8th grade Girls basketball team, the girls had decided to wear ties to school on game day. Allie arrived at school not wearing one and when asked she replied "my dad doesn't have any ties". Now truth be told, I do still have a couple but I haven't had to wear a tie to work in over 15
years... But Dale, who's daughter Katie was on the team heard this and decided to fix this problem. Dale is about as sharp a dresser as I know...has more suits than I have pairs of shoes probably (I have 3 pairs of shoes). So he made good at this year's awards by giving me a very nice tie. It was a funny gesture and a testimony to his making good on a promise he made a couple of years ago. What made it equally humorous was when we sat down behind some other friends of ours, Greg & Lexi. Their son, Ian, was new to the whole "drama" thing and didn't realize that this awards ceremony was a "fancy" as it was. There were a lot of girls in very nice dresses and most of the boys were decked out in ties and nice clothes. So here's Ian, in jeans and a shirt...but a shirt with a collar. I jumped up and tied my new tie around his neck...and he looked great. It was also a public chance for Erica to say goodbye to the kids and collectively we were glad she was there...even though she was very, very ready to have that little girl!
I also had a quick conversation with Jerome that I'll detail another time about my level of effort for next year's season. At that time, I was still reeling from the end of the Music Man era, so I attempted to remain non-committal without being negative, which would've been very easy for me.
Last year, it was a fun event and it went very well for a 1.0 release (software talk...). Erica had this vision and it was good. There were awards not only for theater stuff, but the other teachers gave some recognition to other disciplines within the "arts" at the School. Things like Fine Arts, Yearbook and Choir type stuff all got recognized. But the heart of the program was two fold: the "theater" awards and the announcement of next years season. The winners of the theater awards were forever immortalized on a plaque outside the auditorium (and have a spot on the corresponding page on the website...authorized by me of course!) And next year's season...well the anticipation of that goes without saying! In addition to all this excitement, the Drama club officers for next year were announced plus all new members of the Thespian troupe were recognized. Last year, Kelly was among the very first kids to be in the troupe, so her name will forever be way up on the list. And Allie was selected as the Drama Club treasurer an honor since this was it's first year and she was the only under-classman chosen for a position.
So this year, everything was going to be the same, with a notable transition. I knew the "secret" but it was going to be announced that Mr. Jerome Trujillo was taking over for Erica. So all the drama and this announcement....oh boy! This year was special for our family since all of us
literally were instrumental in making the productions happen. And for the actual ceremony, Kelly and Allie got to show off their videos that they made documenting the "lighter" side of the three productions. They really became quite proficient with iMovie this year. I was also excited for Kelly, because she won an actual Academy Award for Best Assistant/Student Director. I knew she would be nominated, since she held that position for two of the three productions this year. But I honestly didn't think she could compete with Charlotte, who as a Senior, took over the directing reigns completely for the winter play...oh and wrote the thing (Aleece in Cyberland) too! But the student body spoke and Kelly got a trophy and her name on the plaque and, most importantly, an opportunity to shine. Allie was recognized as one of the Officers, was initiated into the the troupe and was chosen to repeat as an Officer...quite an honor. She was nominated for her work in Butterfly and Music Man, which I thought was quite nice, but she reminded me that everyone did....thus not allowing me to lob the "proud parent" vibe at her. Not that it's important at all, but the nice, nice people who run the Arts Boosters recognized Sharon, Erica and me for all of our hard work this year. It was quite nice and a chance for those two ladies to get recognized. And as if that weren't enough for me, the Drama Officers gave me a "special" Oscar as "Honorary Thespian"...the sentiment was that since you become a Thespian by accruing an amount of time in the theater, that I had more than banked enough time. It was sweet...and the standing O was totally embarassing (but a moment I shall cherish forever).
Jerome was then introduced and after a little speil on what he's all about, he announced next year's season. In the fall, they are going to do 3 separate one act plays, taking one of them to the Thespian Festival. This was an idea that we started noodling last year after seeing the quality of the productions there and how good our production of Butterfly was. It should be interesting. The winter production will be a Jr. High production (something that I totally support and that I floated out a time or two) of the Velveteen Rabbit. It will also be wrapped around the Drama Day Camp for the second year in a row. The spring musical is going to be Annie. He explained (without disclosing which one) that he was prepared to announce another choice but felt led by the Lord that morning to choose Annie. I know that his other choice was going to be Bye Bye Birdie. I'm truthfully ambivalent about the choice...I wrote him a lengthy email before the announcement analyzing all the variables in these two choices plus a third, Oliver. Some kids were subsequently upset by the choice...but Kelly and Allie are genuinely excited.
It was a fun evening, and it started amusing. Back a couple of years ago, when I was coaching the 8th grade Girls basketball team, the girls had decided to wear ties to school on game day. Allie arrived at school not wearing one and when asked she replied "my dad doesn't have any ties". Now truth be told, I do still have a couple but I haven't had to wear a tie to work in over 15
years... But Dale, who's daughter Katie was on the team heard this and decided to fix this problem. Dale is about as sharp a dresser as I know...has more suits than I have pairs of shoes probably (I have 3 pairs of shoes). So he made good at this year's awards by giving me a very nice tie. It was a funny gesture and a testimony to his making good on a promise he made a couple of years ago. What made it equally humorous was when we sat down behind some other friends of ours, Greg & Lexi. Their son, Ian, was new to the whole "drama" thing and didn't realize that this awards ceremony was a "fancy" as it was. There were a lot of girls in very nice dresses and most of the boys were decked out in ties and nice clothes. So here's Ian, in jeans and a shirt...but a shirt with a collar. I jumped up and tied my new tie around his neck...and he looked great. It was also a public chance for Erica to say goodbye to the kids and collectively we were glad she was there...even though she was very, very ready to have that little girl!I also had a quick conversation with Jerome that I'll detail another time about my level of effort for next year's season. At that time, I was still reeling from the end of the Music Man era, so I attempted to remain non-committal without being negative, which would've been very easy for me.