Drama, drama, drama

As anyone with (or has had) children - especially teens - knows, there can be a lot of drama going on in their world. It is amazing the energy, creativity and persistence that comes forth from these bundles of joy! And since I have a few teens, there is a lot of this drama flowing at my house.

But there is a bonus to all of this excitement. Just like Alex before them, Lauren and Brenden have a real flair for the dramatic, and have put it to good use. Recently, they participated in the musical "Once Upon a Mattress" at Churchill High School. It was terrific!

This was Lauren's last performance at Churchill. She has previously performed in many theater productions at CHS including Shakespeare One Act Plays, "Our Town", "Sound of Music", and "Fiddler on the Roof". It is so cool to see her grow in this art, to put a little more of herself into each character she portrays. Lauren made her stage debut depicting Wendy in "Peter Pan" when she was in elementary school. We could see even then that she was a natural in the dramatic arts. She stole the show!

In this last musical, Lauren did not play a lady, but a knight. She wore a funny little hat (won't mention what Lauren called it) to hide her hair, baggy tunics, and heavy eyebrow and side burn makeup to mask her beauty. If I hadn't known the part she was playing, I would have had a hard time picking her out! At the curtain call, she came to take her bow while pulling off her hat. The audience was amazed - It was like she had performed a magic trick! And she had. She convinced the audience that she was a knight for this small amount of time, and when the trick was revealed, they knew they had been taken in. What an amazing starlet!

This was Brenden's first performance at Churchill as a high school student. (He actually had a small part in the CHS production of "Our Town" before he was a student there.) It was very exciting to see him on the stage again! Brenden was also born with the flair for the sensational, and is no stranger to the theater, as he has performed in many plays and musicals throughout his life. He participated in the Plymouth and Dearborn community theater groups, in such productions as "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and "Peter Pan". He got his start in elementary school also, characterizing Aladin, and most memorably Daddy Warbucks, although "his Annie" was taller than he was. He really did have the fans after he adopted the adorable orphan and showing her NYC!

Brenden had two parts in "Once Upon a Mattress", the Quizmaster and the butler. He had some comical lines as the Quizmaster that really got the laughs, and a singing line in a song with
Princess Fred. A great start for his first gig on the high school stage. And he made an awesome video of the whole adventure (posted on his facebook). I am sure that Brenden will be involved in many more of these events, because, as he said, "This was the best experience of my life!"

I remember the talent shows at Hayes, the Christmas Eve Manger events, the hours of planning the biggest productions on Earth and setting up stages for masterful works of art. And I don't have to think back too far to recall the common teenage drama that fills our home now. I try to imagine that they are perfecting their God given talents when we endure the scenes of tragedy and delight in the young adult life. We are priveleged to be a part of the hours of training and the dedication that is put forth for the individual to become the artist. It is a long process, but eventually the prize is won, and the training may one day become complete.

And, when I see them on the stage, while the audience laughs and gasps and delights in the actors' talents, I feel sad for the onlookers who only see this part of my children. They miss out on the best part - The real part.