Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair...

Yesterday a nice note went home in the Monday folders of all Deerfield Elementary 4th - 6th grade students explaining that the play was not going to happen this year. It said, "Important notice for all 4th through 6th grades. due to some unforeseen circumstances, the school play will be postponed this year. We hope our young performers will find other venues to share their amazing talents. We are looking forward to the play being back the following year! Thanks for you understanding. The Deerfield PTA" I actually wrote the note and just signed the PTA's name.

So about an hour after school let out we started to get all these phone calls asking "What happened!?" And since what really happened is not that exciting, I started telling people that Tom finally followed his dream and ran off to New York City! And that he's now staring in an Off, Off Broadway production of "South Pacific!" "Some enchanted evening...." "Bloody Mary is the girl for me...." "Bali Hi will find you....." "Younger than springtime...." Much more exciting!

Till the Fat Lady Sings!

You know how they say, "It ain't over till the fat lady sings?" Well, she sang! Yesterday afternoon Tom’s company laid off thirty percent of their employees and unfortunately Tom was one of them. I guess that’s not surprising since he’s a recruiter and they certainly won’t be hiring anyone for awhile!

Anyway, the present economy and this time of year are not the best circumstances to be job seeking in so Tom and I will be focusing all our energies on this situation in the next few months. I am also probably going to be looking for something part time so I don’t know what my situation will be in January-March. This uncertainty in our situation means that we won’t be able to do the play this year. I really can’t believe the timing of this all, it was totally out of the blue – don‘t companies realize that the show must go on!  In this case, unfortunately we can’t manage it.

I guess it’s better not to start the play process at all than to get half way through and then have to stop. Tom and I also had the thought that we could possibly coordinate a talent show or revue in March for the Deerfield 4-6th grades. We’ve done that before for big groups of kids and it’s been really fun. So we’ll see.

We hope that this will just have to be a hiatus and we’ll be back next year! Tom Sawyer 2010!!! So just put those pantaloons, bluegrass music, and really big haystacks on hold for awhile!!!

And as for our play blog, I guess it will be the shortest blog in history!! But very dramatic, you must admit, very dramatic!

What will all of us do with our spare time now!!!


Thanks!

Tom and Rebecca

Ta Da!

Here is the new storage unit backstage at Deerfield. The lovely Brigette Moon, our Dance Coordinator/Choreographer stands beside it to give you the size perspective. Maybe it's someone's apartment? It's a mystery! We'll have to find out more!

New Deerfield Storage Built-In

After being tipped off by the Browns that there was a new storage unit backstage at Deerfield,I went over to the school to take a look. I wish it were as cute and charming as this picture. Unfortunately it's GINORMOUS! I didn't have a tape measure with me but I would guess it's around 15 ft. x 10 ft. x 3 1/2 ft. It's located Stage Left, or the on west side of the backstage area and literally takes up the entire wall. From what I could tell, there won't be room to have groups of actors enter from that side anymore. No more 27 Emeraldettes waiting in the wings or 25 Ladies of the Court from Aladdin making an entrance from the left. Maybe one or two actors could sneak in between the new storage unit and the curtain but it will be a tight squeeze. This will really change the way we do things. We also probably won't be able to keep scenery on that side as we move it in and out during the play. I guess I'll have to go back to the drawing board and change up the entrances and exits and rethink some of the scenery. I'm just glad someone noticed it now so we can make changes. If any of you know the history of this storage unit, what it's being used for, why it was built there, etc.. I'd be curious to find out.

Here we go again!

It's year FIVE for the wildly popular Deerfield School Play! I just attended my first PTA meeting yesterday, officially kicking off the play season. I've decided we have to document this crazy experience this year, otherwise who would believe what a husband and wife directing team, a handful of expert theater parents, a swarm of gung ho parent volunteers, and 100+ 4th - 6th graders can do! This year's play is "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer." Past seasons have included Peter Pan, Aladdin and the Magic Lamp, The Wizard of OZ, and Robin Hood. I spent all last May adapting this year's classic for our particular needs (small elementary school stage and 100+ actors!) and ended up with a 39 page script. Of course it's a "kinder, gentler, kid friendly" Tom Sawyer without all the drinking, smoking, swearing, murder, voodoo, and unflattering stereotypes -- should be fun! Posters go up in the school hall next Wednesday and tryout forms go home in student folders on Monday, November 17th. Tryouts will be December 2, 3, and 4 evenings starting at 6:00 and lasting well into the night. Let the fun begin!