As you know, Auri was cast in the Frenchtown school play of Annie. Jan and I went to 2 performances and all I can say is WOW! I was impressed! Auri acted her tail off! She was great! You could hear her singing (leading the group even!) and her body language and facial expressions were spot on (except for one area of smiling when she should have frowned during the cast A performance :) she says Aly and Aspen were making faces at her from the audience) No sign of our once shy little girl. Those of you who went to her school dance last year will be most impressed by her transition and stage presence. She was a pleasure to watch!!! Alas, we were not allowed to take video or pics...however, the school did take a video that will be avail on DVD in the library for check out (we'll make a copy for you all). They also took still pics (without a flash-for the safety of the actors) that should also be avail. They taped 2 shows-one with each cast. Auri is in both shows/both casts. I believe over-all the B cast was the best. Also of note, the Annie in B cast is our neighbor from across the street!!
Auri had a great time, made many new friends and found a passion for theatre! She is looking forward to the next production in the spring and may even join the Missoula Children's Theatre's Teen Arts Group (TAG). As many of the Frenchtown plays seem to be musicals (not suprising since the choir and band instructors ran the show), she has also requested singing lessons. She is singing well but the higher octaves are hard for her to reach with the volume necessary to reach the audience and still be in key. To that end, you better sit for this, she even went up and spoke to a lady about lessons, was referred to another lady and is following up with her!! Prior to the Annie show, you had to drag her and nearly pull teeth to get her to talk to an adult that she wasn't already friends or family with!! I practically had to beat her to get her to talk to her teachers about missing assignments!! Her new confidence is fabulous!
She is also excited that she should be starting to play the tuba again. She spoke with the band director and he is very excited to have her in band next semester and has been trying to locate a tuba (or 2) to purchase for her use. Hopefully, he will be able to locate one in the next couple of weeks.
Who knew moving to a small town would bring such big changes!! It has been so nice to watch our children bloom right before our eyes. I, for one, am glad we came :)
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