Setting the Stage

Dear John,

We went by Southwestern today.  I needed to take care of some things in preparation for a field trip with my students next month.  One of those things was looking at the Fine Arts Building to see what kind of art they have displayed and to make sure it is 3rd grade appropriate.  (It was.)

On our way through the Fine Arts Building, though, we saw something magical happening.  A group of people were "making a play."  (They were creating the set.)

You and your sister insisted on watching them.  We asked permission and then you sat, entranced, as a man cut foam boards to look like cement molding and a woman sponge painted faux bricks to give them depth.

That your six year old sister had the attention span for this was not surprising to me; that you did was.  In fact, we eventually left because she was bored... not because of you.

You asked about the tools and the ladders.  You wanted to know about the buildings and the props.  Why did they have a trash can?  (It was part of the street scene.)  Why was that door in the air?  (They would probably add stairs later.)

Then the man (I think he was the professor) showed you the most amazing thing ever... the building the woman was painting moved and you could see the inside!  (It was a flower shop... a little flower shop... full of horrors, I'm afraid.)

On our way out, another woman came out and the man told us she was in the show.  I recognized her as the actress who played Mouse in A Year with Frog and Toad which we saw in the fall.  So I prompted you, saying, "Can you tell her what you know?"

To which you replied, as is now our family joke, with the line from that show, "Toad looks funny in a bathing suit!"

The actress laughed!

You beamed.

I wonder if you will like the theater even more as you get older.  I noticed with The Nutcracker that you were even more enthralled by it than your sister.  I think it could be a fun outlet for your busy mind and intense emotions.

Think about it.

Love,
Mom