Little Actress??

Kaitlin did decide to audition for Beauty & the Beast after all on Sunday night. Actually, she was quite excited about it once she talked to her teacher (of course, mom encouraging her wasn't good enough...proof of the power of a great teacher...thanks, Mrs. Moser) and got over her initial hesitation.

So, we went. I filled out the form. We waited. Finally, the director was ready to go and called all the children 10 and under up to the stage. As usual, Kaitlin was the smallest child and, as usual, it didn't seem to phase her one bit.

First, they did some stretching and wiggling in a circle (to get their dramatic juices flowing, I suppose).

Then they all sat in a row and waited for their name to be called. For the 10 and under children, all they were required to do was sing a song...any song they wanted. Kaitlin had decided early on that she wanted to sing Father Abraham which was the song she had performed with her preschool class at their graduation back in May.

She waited very patiently...

and waited some more... Many of the children did a wonderful job! Beautiful little voices sang Jingle Bells, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, and Go Tell it on a Mountain. However, there were many that were not so confident. She watched as children much older than her took their turn and froze right there on stage...she watched as other children were too scared to stand up at center stage by themselves and had to have a friend (or sibling) go with them (two girls wouldn't even let go of each others hands)...she watched as some sang, but no one in the audience would have known because no one beyond the third row could hear them...she watched as children sang a whole five words and then totally forgot their song.

The whole time, I was getting more and more anxious as to what Kaitlin would do when her name was called...

and then it was...and she was AWESOME! Of course, I'm not at all biased, but I was just so proud of her. She stood right up, marched to center stage and started singing loud and clear! I was over half way back in the theatre and had no trouble hearing her. They did cut her off after about the fourth verse, but I wasn't surprised by that...the song does go on forever...which you will see if you go back and watch the video in the post from her graduation.

And the audience cheered...I think she probably got the second loudest round of applause for her whole age group! I could just see the little smile on her face as she went back to her place!

Now, none of these younger kids will get big parts...most will just be townspeople and part of the chorus and stuff, but still, it's a big deal for a 5-year-old whose never auditioned for a play before.

As we were leaving the theatre, she said, "Mom, I will be sad if I don't get picked for the play."

And now we have to wait...the names are to be posted on the theatre door by Friday. Please keep your fingers crossed or say a prayer or whatever you'd like to do for her. We'd both greatly appreciate it...