Three Weeks of Drama

I think it's appropriate that I'm just now blogging about The Redhead's three weeks of drama camp that actually happened back in July.  We had signed her up for this day camp after our shy discovery towards the end of this past April.  It was from 9am until 2pm and The Redhead didn't mind giving up three weeks of her summer break.  She also didn't mind that they then would have performances of their show, Seussical the Musical, Jr.  It was a huge commitment, but she was up for the challenge.  In fact, she loved it.  Every minute of it.

I won't lie.  I didn't mind dropping her off mere minutes from our house at the Sutter Street Theater for the day while I worked on the finishing touches for her birthday party.  I also didn't mind the week of camp post party where I took some much needed time watching a movie, doing some exploring, and breathing again after drowning in party details.

However, the difficult part came with the three weekends of shows that followed the three weeks of camp.  And actually, it became four weekends.  They saw the show being so popular, they added a weekend. We had four weekends of shows, Saturday and Sunday, 1pm.  I had to apply makeup to my beautiful child's face more times than I wish to count.  I am now a professional at quick pigtails, even more so than before. We had fresh flowers in our home weekly.  And The Redhead has even more plush friends to add to her ever growing collection.  (Each performance, we either gave her a plush or a bouquet of flowers.  We do that.  It's just how we do things as parents.)

So instead of continuing our adventures exploring our lovely state, we were sitting watching every performance.  Gladly so, actually.  We had to pay to see it, and only two other sets of parents came to each performance as well.  There were over thirty kids in the shows, ages ranging from six to eighteen.  Most of these incredibly talented children have been in dozens of shows already.  Little professionals.  The theater charged for this camp/workshop, but they put on shows continuously throughout the year, and children are always encouraged to audition if they wish, at no cost.

Also, I feel comfortable sharing photos including other cast members, as everyone signed forms agreeing to publicity.

  The camps cost, and I felt the $400 we paid was fair considering the time and instruction The Redhead and her fellow costars received.  Also, we pursued this avenue for a much needed confidence boost and it seemed to give The Redhead just that.  The Redhead remembered just how much she loved the stage and performing for an audience.  She stayed in character quite wonderfully as a Who dog, and we received many compliments on her behalf.  We were quite proud.  The confidence booster was enough to know we would definitely consider something like this in the future.  In fact, we have already enrolled her in vocal coaching for this school year and we've looked into options for next summer, as we already know next summer's vacation plans will cancel out our option for doing this particular camp.  Do we plan to be in more shows any time soon?  No.  But we're glad to see our little star move away from the wall and enjoying the spotlight again.  You can't put a price on that.

We are looking forward to having weekends free again.  Oh wait.  That's right.  It's now soccer season.