The BIG DAY

Yesterday the internet was down here so I couldn't write but we actually ran the show, almost two full times before we had to release them and the amazing thing is that they were very solid runs....However, today was going to be the true test for these Napa kids because the call time was 10:30 am and the show wasn't till 3pm, so Katie and I figured we had plenty of time to get them into costume, make-up, and do a dress rehearsal before the audience came...I have never estimated a time block so poorly in my life.

First, the dress rehearsal was rough. Kids were missing cues left and right because of a bathroom epidemic and one of our pee-wee's (5-7 yr olds) decided to lose her first tooth soon after which sent all of our monkey people screaming from the blood on her hands; not to mention the fact that I had so much to think about I couldn't even get my own lines right. At one point I give the cue line for the monkeys and I said, "Now give us the Man cub, Monkey People!" and one little 5 year old girl stops the dress rehersal and says, "You're saying your line wrong! You're supposed to say; Now give up the man cub, Monkey People!"

Next, we figured that 1 hour prior to the show would be plenty of time for make-up but then we went into the dressing rooms and discovered that we were going to have make-up 57 kids faces in a 2 foot wide hall-way. About 45 kids later I looked down at my watch and saw that we had 8 minutes until we had to get on stage but 12 kids still stood in my line...Half of me was ready to jump ship as I literally painted brown "racing stripes"on the last 12 kids (who were all supposed to be wolves). The last girl in line wondered if I had a costume too...It was right about that moment when I hit rock bottom. I now had a total of 2 minutes to put on my Baloo costume, slap on my make-up, and run upstairs to the stage. I felt legitimate tears beginning to form in my eyes as the thought of this show failing became a very real possibility...My brain was screaming at me to shut-down, my stomach was raging because I hadn't eat'n all day and I wanted nothing more than to sit on the ground and cry.

I sprinted into to dressing room, jumped into my bear suit, took my finger and threw it in brown make-up to streak my face and dashed up-stairs literally as the piano started it's overture and to make a long story short, the show rocked! Not a single line was dropped (except by me) and our little Jungle Book show was a complete success.






This is the end of our finale song


The monkey costumes are quite possible the most amazing things ever...