Oklahoma!

So my Beloved Sis has been rehearsing for weeks to be Aunt Eller in the musical Oklahoma! at her local community theatre, along with her friend I know as Pesh (Laurey).  It was a no-brainer that I’d go — but I wasn’t sure if the monsters would make it.  They *wanted* to go, but I had to be realistic. 

After all, Oklahoma is my least favorite musical of all time. 

It goes back to high school when Mr. Adams (music teacher) would let us watch a musical in class the week after regional contest.  It usually took several days for us to get all the way through a musical, and I remember that one whole day’s viewing ended up being that dream sequence where Laurey imagines the shoot out between Jud and Curly.  I hated finding out that whole day was a dream!  Argh!  I felt cheated.

However, that all changed watching Molly and the rest of the cast.  But I have to admit, the FUNNIEST aspect was watching the girls, especially Middle Monster.  I about died laughing at her when the lights came up for intermission.  Her eyes lit up and she said, “Is it over?!?”  Honestly, she wasn’t sure whether she wanted to be disappointed or glad when I told her no, it was only halfway.  She loved it — she was just getting tired of sitting.

All of them were terrified of Jud, despite Molly’s assurances after the show that he was really a big teddy bear.  My Dad was there too and we kept snickering at all the little lines that went right over the kids’ head.  Ado Annie and Ali Hakim had us rolling in the aisles.  Sooo funny — their personalities were perfect and they were able to ad-lib through the little mess ups that make live theatre so much fun.  (Like when Ali accidentally broke a bottle of bath salts as he was reviewing Will Parker’s bag of gifts he’d blown his $50 on.)

Plus we had a nice dinner and strawberry shortcake for dessert, followed by a nice visit at McDonald’s (the only place we could quickly find open at 11 PM) for ice cream, coffee, and dinner for Sis.  We didn’t make it home until after 1 AM but it was so worth it.

It was a night the kids will never forget.  Well done, Sis and Pesh!