The Wiz

For this play, Bela and Saili joined Gabe. It was so much work, but a lot of fun, and great memories and bonding for us. Andy was right there with us, involved in many aspects (and also took most of the pictures and videos here).

Bela, at 4.5, was the youngest cast member, and had 2 roles: Munchkin and Poppy. She worked hard to keep up with the older kids and did a pretty decent job. However, because she was so much younger (though just as tall as some others), her mannerisms gave away her tender age. This was actually nice because people thought she was the cutest thing ever. I got a lot of comments about the cutest poppy and munchkin.

Gabe had a big featured dancer role as part of the Yellow Brick Road. He was on stage a lot, and surprised us with a skill we didn't know he was strong at -- dancing. He was the only boy in that group, and it was an honor to be selected. (Though he wasn't thrilled about wearing yellow tights.) He was also a monkey (you'll see the hairy chest), and had a solo during Brand New Day. He lost his voice for a couple of days and thus was not able to sing his solo every day, including the day the DVD was taped. That was a bummer for him, but he recovered his voice for the last show enough to sing (but not as well as he can). He showed a lot of growth and maturity during this show, and we are very proud of his progress.

Saili had three roles: Addaperle's Girl (think Supremes with Diana Ross), which was fun because she got to be in the same number as the Munchkins (and Bela); Kalidah Queen (an evil creature), which was fun because she got ride on guys' shoulders, screech, and be adored by her Kalidah tribe; and a Winkie (slave to the Wicked Witch), which was fun because she got to be in a number with Gabe, and because the Brand New Day song was the one song that turned her on to musical theatre back in the college days, and she's always wanted to perform it. Upon hearing this story, the director moved Saili up downstage center for the end of the song. The length of the production was a crazy time in our household, and Saili also lost her voice right after the last show. She's been told this is like having a baby -- you swear you will never do it again right afterwards, but you end up forgetting the bad stuff, remembering all the great stuff, and wanting to do it again. We'll see.

Below you will see many pictures and videos. The grandparents have been asking to see both, so I tried to show all of our good moments. It may be too much for the general population, so I'll add descriptions of the videos so you can pick what you want to see.

And, if after all of the pictures and videos below, you still want more, we have some more Behind the Scenes pictures.

Videos:

Pictures: