The Circle of Life

When I was a teen, I spent many, many hours at school participating in rehearsals for the school musicals. There were times that I arrived at the school by 5:30 a.m. and didn’t come home until after dark. They were long days, but so much fun. Nathan has followed in my footsteps and since it is school musical season for him, we haven’t seen him much for that last couple of months. Not only is he in the cast, but he’s in the stage crew as well so his hours are even longer than normal. But he’s loving it.

Nathan was very excited when they announced that “The Lion King” would be this year’s show. I may think the story is boring, but the spectacle associated with the show is super fun and Nathan was really looking forward to it. He auditioned and was called back, but when he got home from callbacks he was definitely in a funk. Apparently, he was asked to participate a bit at the beginning, but then was not called on to do anything again. Around 5:30, the teachers looked at him and said, “Why are you still here? I thought we went you home.” Needless to say, he was sure that meant he was not what they are looking for. I explained to him that being sent home early is not necessarily a bad thing. It can just mean that the casting crew already knows where they want you. It may have helped a bit, but he was pretty discouraged. Luckily for him, the drama teacher didn’t waste much time posting the final casting list and Nathan was thrilled to discover that he had been cast as Zazu! In later conversations, the teachers told Nathan that they knew from the very beginning which part was his.

Nathan dove right in, learning all his parts, building sets, creating costumes, programming lighting settings, experimenting with makeup, etc. He was seriously neck deep in pretty much every aspect of the show. And he was having the time of his life!

Last night was closing night. Even though it was a middle school production, I feel like the show was very well done. The kids all did a great job. The music was well rehearsed and well performed. The costumes were creative and appropriate. They had a variety of creative puppets. They even build an elephant! Nathan has really enjoyed himself, but now that the show is over, he’s looking forward to getting a bit more sleep…and he’s already talking about next year’s show.

(So I don’t know any of the pachyderm players, but I was so impressed with the elephant they built that I had to include a picture!)

It has been fun to see him immerse himself in a world that was mine when I was young. It brings back so many fond memories of the productions I participated in, the crazy things we did, the rush that came with performing and the euphoria that came with applause. I hope that his memories end up being as positive as mine are.