Annie!

The last two years Nadia participated in a one week (half-day) theatre camp in Williamsport. Both years she was in the non-musical camp for K/1st graders. I picked the non-musical camp for her both times because she gets practice singing elsewhere, and I wanted her to have more experience with public speaking and acting. Last summer she said she wanted to do it again this year, and I have been exploring various options. The first three choices seemed to be the Community Theatre League in Williamsport again (closest and cheapest option), one in Bloomsburg, or one near Lock Haven. I had been leaning toward the third one, although it's the farthest away, because they will be putting on a production of Winnie the Pooh at the end of the camp on Friday night and again on Saturday morning. That camp is for kids ages 6-9 (Nadia will be 7 at that point). It costs $50 more than the one she has done the last two years, but the final production will be far more substantial.  I recently learned of a fourth option.

I am registering Nadia for The Kids' Theatre Experience as they will be putting on Annie this summer! It is for kids entering K-3rd grade, and Nadia will be in 2nd grade next year. Ian is old enough, but he isn't interested. I don't give him a choice as to whether or not he'll participate in the choir at church, but this was up to him. It costs $100. The auditions are in April for the solos and speaking parts. Nadia wants to audition. We don't have any schedule conflicts with the rehearsals in June and July. Most of the rehearsals are on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings from 9-11am. I thought there might be a conflict the week she is scheduled to go to summer camp, but she isn't supposed to arrive until 2pm on Wednesday (and the camp ends on Saturday morning). The only schedule conflict at the moment is the date of the pizza party and read thru (May 8). We will be in Florida on that date, but I think she can make all the rehearsals. It might mean that she won't be able to do the horseback riding camp though. I don't know the dates for that yet. For those grandparents who will want to attend Annie, the performance is scheduled for July 10. We were playing our Annie cd this morning. I hope that Nadia has fun and learns a lot through this experience! I actually directed a production of Annie when I was a principal. I should pull out the VHS tape and show it to the kids. Now of course the kids who were in that production are now married, college graduates, have kids themselves, etc.

I actually am still contemplating the theatre camp that lasts for one week in August and concludes with a production of Winnie the Pooh. If money weren't tight, I would definitely sign her up. This is one of those tough decisions for me. We shall see. I found out yesterday that the kids' choir at church is putting on a musical in May, but we will be in Florida so after they sing in church in April, I'll have them take a break from the choir until it resumes in September. I said something to the choir director that I thought it was much better with a live accompaniment, and she agreed and said she's going to see if that is possible for when they sing in March. That would be awesome, especially as Nadia has a short solo in that song. I am planning on having Ian and Nadia participate again in the summer musical on Wednesday nights at the Alliance church in our town starting after we return from Florida. Those performances are usually in the middle of August. In 2016 Oliver will be old enough to join in as well!