Yesterday, we said our goodbyes to Buffalo, MN. This was the week of practicing patience. We had forty-three kids in the cast, and they were all very talented. They were also very talkative, which is tough to combat when it's just two adults. When we were in Wisconsin a couple of weeks ago, our sponsor told me I was quite the drill sergeant when it came to making the kids listen, she also referred to me as "the Hammer". What can I say? Just call me Thor. This week, I definitely had to bring out that hammer. Besides the challenge of having a talkative bunch, we had a couple of groups that struggled with getting choreography down pat. We also had some very mischievous kids, one of which gave me a cookie on break (something that happens quite often), after I ate it she started laughing, revealing she had licked it. These are things we've lucked out on so far, so this week was stressful.
Monday, we had our auditions after getting to our location that morning due to a storm and travel issues the night before. The kids did grea,t and we ended up with great cast. We started learning the show and they moved pretty quickly, so that helped us to get through not only the prologue and last couple of scenes, but we taught them the curtain call as well.
Tuesday, was my birthday. As each group came into work at their designated times, Joseph would have them sing to me in our warmups. Some of the kids gave me candy, cards, bandanas, and friendship bracelets. Our rehearsals went pretty quick and they all walked out knowing the show for our tech run the next day. Joseph and I went out to dinner after rehearsal to a lovely Mexican restuarant.
Wednesday, was our tech day. One of the little brothers to one of our trolls ran lights, and a lovely young lady who has been doing Prairie Fire for years, ran our sound. This same young lady was there the very first day at rehearsals and told us how she was too old to be in the shows anymore, but she loves them so much that she wanted to help out in any way possible. She explained that she would like to work for the company one day after she graduates because it has made such a positive impact on her life. She quickly became our assistant; running errands to the office, tracking down a janitor for tables, etc. She was a huge blessing to us all week, and I can't wait to see what the future has in store for her. After rehearsal, Joseph told me he had been approached by a grandmother who has been in the audience all day. She had told him how impressed she was with our ability to keep the kids under control, even telling him we should "teach parenting classes." This was a booster after yelling at the kids all day to stay quiet and stay in their seats.
Thursday, we did two full runs and even had time to really clean up problem areas. We had a few groups who were on the struggle bus, so we drilled them over and over until we ran out of time.
Friday, we started off with a dress rehearsal. Joseph and I were a little stressed out due to some tech issues before getting started. The run went fine. After their dinner break, we got them ready for their one and only show. They all did very well, and had a great time. After the show, we had dinner with one of Joseph's friends from college.
Saturday, we had the whole day to ourselves. Joseph's parents were in town, so they had some family time in the morning. After he got back, we went walking downtown and hit up some bookshops. We headed over to the lake and walked for a bit. We ended up Kayaking for an hour, which was amazing. After that we grabbed dinner, and saw the new "Minnions" movie. I'm so glad I have a partner in crime that, after a somewhat stressful week, we can unwind and have a great time together.
More to come from Geneseo, IL!