Tiersten the Thespian

At the first of each month, I give our Day Care a monthly schedule of when girls will be there and not, based upon our family schedule and my work schedule over all. Of course, things always change a bit, but for the most part, I do a pretty good job of planning this way and I mentally do best if I'm able to keep my life planned out about 3-4 weeks in advance. (Yes.......I can say it. "My name is Beth and I'm a control freak.")

Well........this month I missed a HUGE event. Despite the fact that this is scheduled months in advance, I totally missed it on all the school calendars. So.....I thought I had my vacation schedule planned day-by-day, doctor's appointments lined out, a ride for Tiersten to ballet for the day that we would be returning from a doctor when she needed to be there, Day Care alerted when the girls would be arriving on the bus there due to a meeting I had scheduled.....details, details, details. I was SO congratulating myself on how organized I am.

Well......Missoula Children's Theater descended upon Raymond Elementary this week and, of course, Tiersten wanted to try out for a part. I LOVE MISSOULA!! If you are not familiar with MCT, you need to google them and check them out. They have been coming to our school for about 10 years and always do a FANTASTIC job. Both of the boys have participated in years past. Missoula is the greatest answer in the world for small schools that would like to attempt to expose young children to drama, but are going to struggle with the logistics of costumes, set, staging, directing and all the other endless details. Google Missoula Children's Theater and you'll understand their mission and purpose.........They're the BEST!

So again, Tiersten wanted to try out. It was NOT on my schedule and promised to turn my carefully planned week a bit topsy-turvy. But, then again, Tiersten loves this type of thing and we felt that this would be something special just for her to really enjoy. She got a part! And was SO excited to inform me at the end of the audition that she was a chameleon. And then I told her that a chameleon is a lizard, which did NOT thrill her. She got over it......And then she got upset again when she found out that she was the shortest person in the entire play, which meant that she had to come onstage as the very last chameleon. Ah.....the challenges of being not-quite-six.

After a whirlwind week of practice, today was their first performance. Did I mention taht this is a MUSICAL and that it was cast this past MONDAY??? I honestly don't know how Missoula does it!!! Every year I watch in awe as 50 children dance and sing their way through a one-hour performance with 4 days of practice!! Its truly a FANTASTIC experience.

Tiersten's final performance is tomorrow, and then life will resume as normal on Sunday. Missoula Children's Theater will drive away with the scripts, scenery, set, costumes, make-up, and their two staff members to their next week's location, all packed into a little red truck. What a terrific experience!!! Tiersten has had a blast!