Friday night. Opening night of Annie Get your Gun. The girls and I have been rehearsing for two months, and it’s finally performance time. Even though energy is low and we are exhausted from our long week of 7 hour rehearsals each night, excitement and enthusiasm are high. The show went very well. Yes, there were some slip ups, and it still ran long, but overall, it went quite well.
A few of the ladies were saying that they were going to meet at Chili’s after the show. Come with us, they said. But it’s not just me, it’s me and my kids. How do I work that? After the show, the girls were asking if they could go to iceberg and get a shake, or to snowasis and get a snowie. “How would you like to go to Chili’s and get some dinner?” I asked them. “OK,” they said. I figured since the rest of the family was camping and wouldn’t care how late we were, and we had two shows to do the next day, and this might be the only night we could go out with some of the cast, we would go.
I am hoping to create memories.
10:45 or so, we are seated at Chili’s. The girls are already starting to look very tired. Maybe this was a mistake. Jenna lays her head down on the table while waiting for her food. The rest of the cast (well, the 40 of us who came) are joking and laughing. We look a sight in our stage makeup and fancy hair from the show, but we don’t care. We are just having a good time, celebrating the show and the fact that we made it through the week and opening night. When our food finally came, the girls perked up a bit. We ate, laughed, and I think they had a good time. There were only a few kids there, and I think they felt special to be included in the grown up group.
11:30 my check came. I grabbed it and jumped up. We’re outta here, folks. Driving home, Natalie managed to stay awake, but Jenna fell asleep and was leaning against me in Ryan’s little truck. But she was full, and I hope she was happy.
I hope this whole experience has been good for them. It’s been some very long hours and I know it’s been boring for them a lot of the time. I know it’s been boring for me a lot of the time. But the experience of being in a play is like no other. And to be in a play with your sister and your mom is, I hope, an extra special thing for them. Will they LOVE theater and try out for every play that they can from now on? I don’t know. But will they remember the summer they were in Annie get your Gun? You can bet on it.
The best thing we can do for our kids is create memories. This will be a delightful one.
I’m so glad the play is going well — you are a super fun mom and your kids will look back and remember all the fantastic times you had together.
What kind of mom takes her kids out to dinner at 11pm? A super cool one 😀