Video unavailable — originally hosted on Google Video (discontinued 2012). Blogger id
da596b6c8a4ccf74.Category: Variety Show
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Finale at night
Our act was a complete success except for the fact that I had it in my mind I would be meeting Joe at the ER with Dahlia right afterwards. All the moms had a great time doing the act even those who had their own fears and doubts.
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Dites-moi
Monti sang the song “Dites-Moi” from the musical South Pacific at the
IVE Variety Show. She sang her little heart out. In the musical this
song is sung by a couple of Polynesian children. Monti and I searched the
internet to find an appropriate costume. The dress came all the way
from Guam — we found it on ebay. I will post video when I get it. -
Dahlia’s heart
Moments before the variety show evening performance began Dahlia told
Joe her heart was “beeping” fast. I had to manage the backstage area
during the performance so Joe had to care for Dahlia. He took her out
to the car to see if she could relax and get her heart back to normal.
Relaxing wasn’t working so I would leave backstage every once in a
while to try something new to get her heart to slow down. I tried
gagging her, holding her upside down, and splashing her face with cold
water from the drinking fountain. If anyone saw me doing these things
they would have thought I was just plain abusive. Nothing was working
so I finally told Joe to start driving towards the ER. On the way over
she feel asleep in the car. The little nap did the trick! As they
pulled into the ER parking lot Dahlia woke up and she told us her
heart was OK. At first we weren’t sure that she wasn’t just saying
that because she didn’t want to go in but it truly had slowed down and
no doctor intervention was needed. Thank goodness! -
Cougar Mamas
The teachers never perform at the evening performance of the variety show Liz (dark hair in front) had the idea that the volunteers that ran the show should get their moment in the spotlight. People agreed very reluctantly. I was on board right away. Liz also came up with the name “Cougar Mamas” for our act since the cougar is the mascot for IVE. At least half of our act had no idea of the double entendre of “Cougar Mamas”. Here is a picture from our one and only practice. Liz provided lots of liquid courage and Trish, our drummer, provided lots of laughs. We all wondered at the end of the night would it be as much fun on stage without the wine.
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They will talk about this finale for years
The surprise act at the end of the Variety Show included a group of
teachers rocking out to the song “Old Time Rock N’ Roll.” To set the
stage for their act we used some fog in a can. We had tested it before
hand and used it in the opening number but this time the fire alarm
went off after spraying some backstage. The fire alarm occurred right
in the middle of three first graders dressed as angels singing so
sweetly. The kids were so efficient and calm when it came to getting
out of the school. The whole school had to evacuate and wait for the
fire department to arrive and clear us for re-entry. There were at
least 8 kids from the show outside barefoot including Monti. By the
time we got back inside the kids had to catch buses to go home so the
teachers never made it on stage. -
Nerves
Monti woke at 5:30 am the morning of the Variety Show full of nerves.
When asked what was making her so stressed we found out it wasn’t the
fact that she would be singing a solo in front of more than 300
people. Instead she was terrified she would hold up her sign the wrong
direction during a skit act she performed with her friend Morgan.
Right before she went on stage for the skit she started to tear up
regarding the issue of the dreaded sign. I quickly resolved all fears
by volunteering to walk out on stage myself carrying the sign when the
appropriate line was read. During the daytime performance I walked out
with the sign covering my face. Lots of kids in the audience were
whispering things like “That’s really her mom.” After the performance
Monti asked that I not cover my face with the sign. She wanted me to
really act mad which she said I should be very good at doing. -
Program
At last year’s variety show I decide that I could at least volunteer
to design the programs the following year. I found myself not being
able to give up on the idea of doing the programs so on top of
everything else I was doing I tackled the programs also. -
backstage
Organization was key for the prop and mic changes. A group of fifth
grade boys helped run the production from backstage. I was so
impressed with how serious they took their jobs. -
making room
The room off the stage has been used for years to store extra school
stuff. I wanted to find space in that room to use as true back stage
area. Three hours later I had the space I wanted. The first picture is
in the beginning when it was difficult to walk a few feet into the room.
