We Welcome You to Munchkinland...

So we are in the middle of the school's production of The Wizard of Oz. Sarah is a munchkin and is having a ball. This week she has dress rehearsals Monday-Wednesday, and 5 performances Thursday-Saturday. Needless to say, we don't have much else going on this week besides Oz.

.

.

She has been so excited about the whole make-up thing. We practiced doing her make-up on Sunday evening so that on Monday, when I would be working until 5 and had to have her there ready to go at 6, we wouldn't just be figuring out what we were doing. I got her there on Monday evening, picked up her costume and got her completely dressed and she was absolutely bouncing off the walls with excitement. All of them were. The excitement was just all too much to take.

The make-up is pretty serious stage make-up, too. Seriously, look at those eyes. Purple and yellow. Who would have ever thought that I would actually find an eye shadow duo set with both purple and yellow in it, but I did. And she's been great about all of it. Eye liner, mascara and all. How do little girls instinctively know to be excited about make-up? I keep trying to make sure she knows that this is just for being on stage and she would not normally wear this much make-up when she's a teenager.

.

Oh, and the costumes... the COSTUMES. They are just adorable. They have these huge petticoats, though, that keep slipping down her little "non-hips". We had to cinch it up so tight that I'm afraid it's going to cut off circulation to her legs. They're going to have to wheel her off the stage come performance night. All the costuming is very good. It's a fun show to do costumes for, also. I do have to say that the Wicked Witch of the West has a great costume and is my favorite character and the one I would want to play.

.

You may or may not know that I'm a bit of a drama person myself. I have always enjoyed being in drama productions at church. In fact, one of my favorite rolls to date was for Christmas 2006 when I played a school bus driver. Max(ine) was a little bit of Larry the Cable Guy mixed with the school bus driver from Forest Gump and the character Jan from the pizza parlor in Mr. Deeds. She was a little butch and a little uncouth (spelling?) to say the least. For several weeks after that I felt like I had to really "girl it up" when at church so that people would know that wasn't how I really was (all the time, at least).

.

The fact that Sarah is enjoying being in this production just warms my dramatic soul. I love having a little bit of a kindred spirit in her. Our similarities have really been coming out over the last couple of years. She is very hard on herself and quite the perfectionist when it comes to something she is creating. She takes her time and does it right. And it has to be just right, or it's not done. Sounds like someone I know.

.

So, next time you watch Judy Garland and the Wizard of Oz, think of Sarah being a munchkin singing "Ding dong the witch is dead..." Oh, and think of Nathan singing it, too. It gets sung so much around here that he has memorized it. The 7 year old version is pretty funny, but nothing compared to the 2 1/2 year old version. I thought I had a video of it, but I don't... yet. Stay tuned!

*** As a side note, I got the video clip from Easter Sunday - the handbells - to work. Check it out. ***