Wednesday 10 March 2010

A Night at the Theatre

Last night Colin was my date to the theatre. A friend of ours appeared as Maria in a local production of "The Sound of Music." In fact, this is Colin's second night out to the theatre - last January I took him to see "Goodnight Moon" and "The Runaway Bunny." James and I have such a love for live theatre, I want to make sure our boys are exposed to this art form. I wonder in a day of easy entertainment, where movies and video games are so easily accessible and where you don't even have to leave your own home, if live theatre will slowly disappear. Already it can be cost prohibitive compared to the mass produced films at the movie theatre. And of course they aren't as flashy. Bu tI love the immediacy of a live performance, of the actors on the stage with no second takes.

This production was great for Colin, because it was a shortened version of the stage play. Our local professional theatre worked in conjunction with an organization which helps people living with mental disabilities "celebrate their abilities." The music used was the movie recording (starring Julie Andrews), but all the actors wore microphones and sang right along. There were also a handful of short two-handed scenes in which the actors had learned their lines. There were a few hiccups, a few cues needed, but for the most part it was an excellent production. Colin loved that it went from song to song, and remembered many of them from the movie. I think his favourite part was the applauding - the audience clapped so enthusiastically that it was catching, and Colin would clap his heart out, and give a little yell with the rest of the audience here and there also.

I hope to keep up this little bit of culture in our family. It would be fun one day for us all to appear in a play together!

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