And a Squirrel was Born

We love live theater, especially all of the wonderful children's productions at various theaters in the area. One of our favorites is the Actors Conservatory Theatre (ACT) in Lewisville. They always have great productions that kids are familiar with but what I love most is that the cast is usually all kids. What a great way for my kids to see that children can be on stage too and that the theater isn't just for adults.

Today was an exciting opportunity for Nicholas as he participated in his first theater audition ever. At home he is always acting out stories that he makes up so we are excited to see if he gets interested in being in the theater. The show he auditioned for is Willy Wonka, Jr. based on the classic novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. We checked out the ACT's website and found the list of characters they would be casting for and saw that there were several that had major lines but there were also some ensembles that would mostly just sing and dance and then there were some squirrel roles that had no lines. There was certainly something for everyone at all skill levels. But we would like him to have at least one line or a song for his first show.

Unfortunately, none of us have ever done an audition like this before and we really didn't know what to expect. We knew that he would have to perform a monologue and song but we thought they would just tell him what to do. Bu just in case they didn't, we tried to have him practice a few things on his own. He got nervous under pressure and said he couldn't think of anything to perform. What! Who is this child? So we had him practice a few easy things like singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. We did a crash course with him on how to put emotion in his words and using his hands and body to convey the feeling behind the words. He did great in practice and we were hopeful that he would get one of the ensemble roles.

We made it to the theater, registered, and found a seat in the Green Room to wait for his call. They called the children upstairs to the stage in groups of five. Nicholas was relieved that there would only be 4 other kids watching him audition instead of everyone that was waiting downstairs. He was so nervous when he got called on stage! He recited the Pledge of Allegiance and then bolted off the stage!



When Nicholas was done, Stuart leaned over to me and whispered, "And a Squirrel was born." Hee hee. Yep, he might get a role that has no lines. But that's ok too. He will have a wonderful experience and learn a lot about the theater with just this one show regardless of what role he gets. He is really excited about auditioning for Narnia in January so we look at this as just a trial run to get some experience for that audition.