Faith's Last Play

Perhaps the biggest happening of the summer was the Bluffdale Arts production of Newsies.  Cannon, Peter, George, and Faith were all a part of the fun.  Cannon was Davey, Peter was Les, George was ensemble and Faith was the main tumbler of the ensemble  

I have SO many pictures that I'm feeling slightly overwhelmed at the thought of trying to capture the experience in one post.  But I'll just jump right in with Faith's experience. 

GEORGE IN NEWSIES

George and his ballet buddy, Leland.  It was fun this summer to go see Leland and his family in Matlida in Lehi and then they came to see our family in Newsies.  

 FAITH IN NEWSIES

Let me start off this portion of Faith's newsies saga by saying, she didn't want to do the play to begin with.  Live theater is most definitely not her cup of tea.  But in a conversation with the directors they mentioned they needed a tumbler.  And I said, "Hey!  I know a good tumbler!" And then I played the mom card used all my "mom capital" and said, "This is a one-time thing and wouldn't it be so memorable to have this experience with your brothers, and share you talents, and the directors said you could just be in the numbers you want, etc.  Perhaps I should be beyond that kind of begging/coercion, but there you have it.  She agreed and although she protested at times, I sensed that actually she was bordering on enjoying the experience.  

At one of the dress rehearsals, Ben and Bethany went and took some pics and filmed a bit.  Ben just so happened to catch the unfortunate moment when tragedy struck.

It happened right at the end when she landing the tumbling pass.  Look at Faith's face right when she lands in her spot --The moment

Impressive tumbling, eh? It would have been spectacular in the show.

Instead, Bethany took her to the emergency room where they x-rayed it and said it was sprained.  I guess that's good?  So, sadness, no Newsies for Faith.  Believe it or not, she was pretty bummed.  

But WAIT! If you know Faith, you know it will take more than a sprained ankle to keep her down.  This was on Tuesday night before the show opened on Thursday night.

It was right about this point she had decided the show must go on, and she must go on--in the show!

Oh, good heavens, Faith!

So Wednesday she slept a lot and iced it all day. She couldn't put any weight on it.  

All day on Thursday she rested, took a whole lot of pain medication,  and then she got up, wrapped her ankle up tight, and hobbled off to the theater.  What would she do?  What could she do?  

Well, I'll tell you-- she went on stage ---and confirmed yet again that she is made of different stuff than me-- and she did a one-legged round-off, double back handspring.  ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME???  She ended up as one of the Manhattan Newsies that are on stage the most.  So she limped her way through the choreography of "Carrying the Banner" and tapped danced in "King of New York".  

As I type, I can hear you thinking, "Oh, the sprain must not have been that bad, if she could still go on and do those things".    I assure you, it was that bad.  And yet, it was about to get a whole lot worse.

After totally and completely overdoing it Thursday night, Faith woke up Friday morning in BAD shape.  Crippled as she was, she rested and iced it all day and literally crawled around the house on all fours if she needed something.  

On one of these ventures off her bed she crawled to the kitchen for some food.  When she finished eating she got off the stairs to crawl back to her bed.  

Most unfortunately, earlier in the day I had swatted a yellow jacket (or some kind of bee/hornet thing) that had gotten into the house.  I was in the middle of a piano lesson and I hadn't taken the time to find and dispose of the little carcass.  And, as bad luck would have it, the stinger was still in tact and the dead insect stung the top of Faith's second toe of her good foot as she crawled across the kitchen floor.  Which foot wasn't actually doing very well because she over used it to take any pressure off her sprained ankle the night before.  

Ah man, a bee sting.  Bummer!  And painful! Wow-- talk about adding insult to injury.  

But WAIT!  It gets worse.  It immediately started to swell up.  

So there we are icing both ankles-- the strained one and the sprained one, but a swelling, painful bee sting to boot.

Now with two bum ankles, we super wrapped both ankles both ankles, because, of course, the show must go on and she must go on with it. Notice her right foot continued to swell.

By the end of the show...

How did she even get her feet into tap shoes?  The girl has extremely wide platypus feet to begin with.

I mean, this is ludicrous!

Friends came to support.

Family came to support.

Saturday morning came.  Not good.  We encouraged her to gracefully bow out of the show.  NO.

I said to the director, please tell her it would be better for her to not go on stage-- her wrapped ankles and injuries might be distracting to the audience.  Bless the directors heart, she responded, "She's worked so hard, I'm not going to take this away from her."

NOOO!  I beg of you to take this away from her.  She WILL NOT cry uncle.  She is not capable of quitting.  She has a will of iron and deplores any sign of weakness.  

Somehow, miserable though she was, she made it through two shows on Saturday.  

Sunday morning, unable to walk, she stayed home from church. When she finally awoke she texted me pictures of her bee stung, swollen foot.  WARNING:  It's rather graphic

So hot and swollen and oozing pus 

What the heck???

Mind you, the left ankle is badly sprained one. It is already quite swollen itself.

So gross!

That evening I took her to the Instacare to make sure she wasn't going to lose the foot.  Just a bad allergic reaction.  They gave her some steroid pills and sent her on her merry way.

Not surprisingly, neither foot/ankle was any better by Monday night for the final show.  She did sit out a couple of numbers back stage --a fine concession-- (name that movie----- too late! Pride and Prejudice spoken by Mr. Bingley when Mr. Darcy acknowledges that Jane is attractive)   So Faith did concede a couple of numbers, and then spent the rest of the summer healing from the trauma of Newsies. 

To this day, she refuses to speak about the experience.  I mean, you can see that pain in her eyes.

Faith is right behind Peter

I think it's safe to say we won't be seeing Faith on the stage anytime soon.  Probably never.  Clearly, the world has lost a theatrical gem.  

Seize the Day!

Um... well... it was only the greatest weekend of my life!!!!  A little hyperbole never hurt anyone.

Bethany and Cannon were a part of the cast of Bluffdale Arts production of Newsies.  Easily the best Bluffdale production I've ever seen-- and I have been very impressed in the past.  I LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT IT!

This will likely be Bethany's last play for a while since she is headed up to BYU-Idaho next month.  She picked a good one to go out on--- she knocked it out of the park!  She is beautiful on stage and the singing and dancing was right up her happy alley.  She never shines so bright as when she gets to sing and dance.  She played the part of "Finch".  She had a several lines and some singing solos, so that was fun for her and us.  I LOVE watching her perform and only one thing could draw me away from watching her magnetic personality on stage.  

And that was...

Cannon.  

He played the part of "Les" and ARE YOU KIDDING ME???  I mean, who am I?  I'm only the boy's mother-- what do I know?  But he KILLED it!  Great timing with his lines.  Great singing.  GREAT DANCING!!! 

I was in a very happy place this weekend.

I had not attended any of the dress rehearsals, so while I had heard very good things about the show, I was blown away.  So clean, so polished.  Such great choreography and use of an incredible set. In this picture Cannon is front and center in the blue pants and Bethany is just to the left behind him.  This scene was from "Once and For All".

At this moment, when Bethany and Cannon were tapping in "King of New York" I was concerned my mother heart would burst wide open.  Was I proud of them?  You better believe it, but mostly I just couldn't stand how much I enjoyed watching them both doing something they had worked so hard at and were so good at and loved so much.  That is about as good as it gets.

Usually when I play ends I have thoroughly enjoyed it, but am glad to have it be done and ready to get things back to normal.  Not so this time.  We seized the day and I want to do the day over again!

Chris and Marjorie and family came on Thursday.  

A few of the Young family came opening night.

Some Cannon cousins on Friday.

Schramm Fam friends on Friday.

My favorite trio of friends-- Enoch was great in the play.

The kid who played "Crutchie" is the most adorable and talented young man I have ever seen!  I just wanted to take him home and be his mom because he completely convinced me that he is an orphan with a crippled leg.  

This one is similar to an earlier picture, but I can't get enough.

This is curtain call.

If only I could bottle the feeling of this weekend and just take little sips of the joy whenever I felt like it.  This weekend it was like drinking joy and satisfaction from a garden hose.  I could not take it all in.

Bethany with a few of the "Brooklyn Newsies".

As with any group of teenagers, there is always going to be some drama-- likely more drama when you are with a lot of drama kids-- but this was a fantastically great group of kids who had the time of their lives this summer.

Sadly Cannon was anxious to get out of his costume and hot flannel shirt, so he wasn't in these final pics.

Be forewarned, when the professional pictures from the show come out, I will do another post sharing my favorites.  I am not done yet.  Oh, no.  I am not done yet.  These will have to do for now.

So many people sacrifice so much time and talent and work to make these shows happen.   It is not unappreciated.  These experiences have and will continue to shape the lives of many in our family.  We are so grateful.

I have a fever for more Newsies.  I hear Herriman is producing it next summer...

Sharing Time

Sometimes my mind gets too full of thoughts-- not particularly good or bad, happy or sad-- rather my mind just starts racing and my thinking feels jumbled and somewhat out of control.  For several years I have found that writing about my thoughts is very helpful.  So here they are in no particular order and not of any particular importance--- my thoughts as of late.  Not so much complaints, rather just voicing my thoughts so I don't have to continually try to sort through them.

1.  Confession:  I'm not really enjoying summer.  There.  I said it.  Who doesn't love summer?  ME! It is my own doing-- I (we) made choices about where we were going to focus our energies this summer and lots of people in this house are doing really cool stuff and working really hard and growing and learning.  Good things are happening, but we are sacrificing a lot of connected family time.  The summer calendar is full of morning and night swim practices, all-day long ballet workshops, parades, Newsie rehearsals, piano lessons, girls' camp, Trek, EFY, teenager work schedules, and such.  SO MUCH DRIVING.  I love watching this kind of personal development in so many family members and to me the sacrifice is worth it.  But, I freely admit that I can't wait for the school year to begin in mid-August so we can all be home for a few hours together most days.  I probably look forward to the school year like a public school family looks forward to the summer!  Last summer we hiked like crazy together and I miss having big windows of time when we could make that happen.   

2.  Confession:  I am missing my big kids something fierce. I'm kind of used to Clark being gone-- I adore talking to him each Monday morning.  He is having great experiences and growing in the gospel and our conversations are uplifting and fun and he comes home in December, which will be here in no time.  But I am not used to Bethany being gone so much and I am definitely not used to Elinor being gone all the live-long day of the entire freaking summer.  Blah.

Bethany works at the pool teaching swim lessons and life-guarding.  She is 18 and her has work hours are what they should be.  She works hard and a lot.  But she is also a lead newsie in the upcoming production of Newsies. (Which, by the way, will be AWESOME and you really must come see it).  She has a lot of rehearsals and she has volunteered loads of hours in helping to build the set.  She has a hopping social life-- fun dates, great friends, lots of parties and late night outings.  All good things and I am genuinely happy to see her enjoying life so much.  

I miss her.  Blah.

Elinor's situation is WORSE!  She is at swim or water polo practice at 5 or 6 every morning for 2 or 3 hours.  Then she heads off to work as a nanny for my brother's kids for five hours everyday.  Then she heads back to the gym for more swim practice or weights classes.  When she does get home she eats and sleeps and texts.  So yeah.  Part of me is so proud of her hard work and dedication.  Part of me wants to scream, "Enough already!"  All that is not including water polo camp, EFY, Trek, and a BYU swim camp in August.  Okay, seriously-- ENOUGH!! Elinor-- come home to me!!!!

Even Faith, at the tender age of 13, swims morning and night (at least 4 hours a day) and will spend about three weeks total away at camps this summer.

Cannon has a total of six week of ballet workshop that goes from 9 am to 2 pm each day.  George is doing six weeks of 2:30-5:00.  Cannon spends his evenings at Newsies rehearsals with Bethany.  And don't forget Cub Scout day camps for both Cannon and George. 

So what all this explanation is leading to is that I am low-key offended that my quite delightful and pleasant mostly-grown (and not-so-grown children) are gone a lot and I am left home with adorable and charming-- but quite needy little ones.  So boo-hoo.  If you read this and are disgusted, thinking horrible thoughts about my choices or feel that I am bragging or whatever-- feel free to stop reading.  I understand that our family is so blessed to have so many wonderful opportunities.  If I could go back in time a few months and make different choices about our time this summer, I don't think I'd change anything.  I am not complaining-- just processing.  There is a big difference.  

I thoroughly enjoy the littles, but let me tell you, taking care of littles when you have lots of big ones around to help is WAY BETTER.  Not just the helping hands and hearts, but the conversation and joking and laughter really eases the challenges of the meeting all the little needs.  So with the big kids gone so much, I am rather lonelier than I am accustomed to being.  It's like going back in time to when all the kids were little.  Without the regular interaction with older kids, I have found myself needing to reach out and talk with friends.  Which I suppose is a very good thing to nurture those relationships.  

3.  Here's a good thing about this summer:  Reading.  Lots of reading.  Lots of audio books and podcasts as well.  Here is a list of a few things I've been enjoying:  Where the Crawdads Sing, Silent Souls Weeping, The Power of Vulnerability, The Storyteller's Secret, Living the Parables, Better Than Happy (Jody Moore), The Read Aloud Revival.  

4.  I have been a nail biter for my entire life.  A bad, nasty nail biter.  A "hide-my-hands-and-hope-no-one-will-notice-my-beastly-mangled-fingers" kind of compulsive nail biter.  But MIRACULOUSLY I have found help.  My dear friend, Candice, does beautiful gel nails on me every two weeks or so and I love it more than I thought I would (or perhaps should:).  I know it's nothing of eternal significance, but having pretty nails is a simple pleasure in life that I never expected to discover, but am so glad I did.

On a sort of related note, every now and then I'll hear someone make a snarky comment about women who wear fake eyelashes and have their nails done.  For the record, in my opinion, there are way bigger fish to fry in this world.  If someone enjoys dolling up with fake eyelashes and fancy nails-- well... as Faith would say, "You do you!"  

5.  I sort of really like Brene Brown.  And she sort of annoys the heck out of me.  And yet, I keep coming back for more.  Can anyone relate?

6.  Morning walking-- and sometimes an additional evening walk is one of the chief joys of my life.  Occasionally I take Peter and Greta with me.  Sometimes I keep up with Peter's endless chatter and stream of consciousness and I respond frequently and quickly.  And, truth be told, sometimes I put in my ear buds and completely ignore the children and just walk.  Mind you, this does nothing to stem the flow of chatter, but sometimes it makes for a more pleasant walk.  

7.  Abe and I are re-watching Downton Abby.  It is quite lovely.  My favorite part of the show?  The small sounds effects of the footsteps on the gravel or the hallway, doors opening and closing, whisks in a mixing bowl, clothes rustling.  Well, that and the beautiful accents.

8.  Abe planted marigolds in planter barrels by the front door for me for Mother's Day.  I love them, but they don't seem to be flourishing.  And I can't figure out if it's because we are watering them too much or too little.  I cannot overemphasize my lack of gardening expertise.  Should my family's need for survival depend on my green thumb, things will likely not go well for us.  

9.  Its late.  I really must stop drinking Diet Coke late at night.

10.  And on that note, teenager/young adults need to stop coming home so late.  #momonthewarpath

The Show Might Go On

Last Friday night Bethany, Cannon, and George auditioned for Herriman Arts Council's summer production of Newsies.  Cannon and Bethany did Newsies with Bluffdale last summer, but I guess they just didn't get their fill of it!  I know I sure didn't get enough of it!  I loved it so much!

Bethany auditioned for the part of Katherine, Cannon for Crutchie, and George for Les. These audition process was quite lengthy-- at least compared to what we're used to with Bluffdale.  They sang a prepared piece on Friday night and they all made call backs, which were Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings.  

They spent the time in between learning the dances.  

I love watching George tap.  I won't keep you in suspense.  George didn't get the part of "Les" but he did get cast as a Newsie-- Which is no small thing because it's our understanding this was quite a large and competitive audition.  I was so proud of him.

Cannon didn't get the part of "Crutchie" (which he was really too young for), but he DID get the part of "Les", which he didn't even audition for since we thought he was too old and tall for.  So Cannon will be Les for two summers in a row.  It's a pretty big part and he is excited!

Bethany didn't get Kathrine, but she was cast as a named lead newsie, so she is thrilled.  She will also be one of the Bowery Beauties.  

And here they are all together and it makes me very happy:)

Rehearsals are about three weeks out--- IF THE SHOW HAPPENS AT ALL:(  I'll keep you posted.