Best Cast Ever

A peek at some of the behind-the-scenes and after-show fun!

Delia knew going in that she was going to love this cast.  Over half of them were freshman, who she got to know while mentoring Elf last year.  This is famously a lovely, talented, enthusiastic, hilarious group of kids.  Delia loves that she got to share one year of Drama with this special bunch and feels good about the future of her beloved program in their hands.  Shrek, in fact, was played by a freshman and he was amazing!

These are the Senior Four.  All good friends of Delia-- BFF Kate playing Shrek's mom; longtime Drama buddy Dylan, absolutely killing it playing Donkey; and Bella, a girl who was new to our school last year, but who Delia immediately sought out and connected with because of Drama, brought Fiona to life with her huge personality and powerhouse voice.

They are each amazing leaders, bringing different strengths to the group and we expect our director will weep over them after the spring show. ;)

This show was a ginormous undertaking!  From the large cast to the green makeup to the elaborate costumes.  We parents were told at the beginning that it could not happen without us.  Not being a seamstress, hairdresser, or set-builder, I found my niche the way I normally do-- feeding the kids!  Long practices meant many dinners at school.  I was happy to run and get food and organize and make light suppers and hearty snacks to keep our actors fueled.  (Doing this job has the added perk of letting me get to hang out with this crew a bit too-- they are delightful and SO appreciative!)

They have such sweet prayer times!  When I feed them, I get a peek at practices as I clean up.  I know these kids are deeply bonded and it's for so much more than just sharing a stage.

The Performing Arts Center's lobby was decorated with these promo posters featuring each Fairy Tale Creature for Performance Weekend.  Here is Delia's.  Fun, huh?

Delia spent a lot of time writing each member of the cast and crew a heartfelt note calling out their strengths and encouraging them.  Such a Delia Thing to do!  

Some of the dearest friends she made (or already had) on the cast.  The Sunday after the show closed, her phone was blowing up with the 40 person group chat all sharing silly pictures, videos, and messages of love about what this experience meant to each of them.

A few of the non-cast friends who came to see it.

Long time mentor, Megan, always comes to show support!

Proud parents-- and not just of the great job Delia did performing, but of the strong leadership and character she shows her fellow, and younger, castmates throughout the whole process, something our Director shared and praised.

Mrs. M., guiding theses kids through another show they all feel super proud of, but also shepherding their souls as she points everything back to the Lord.

Something so fun that Mrs. M. had our Fairy Tale Creatures do was visit the elementary playgrounds during recess in costume and character!  Shrek is a show for kids, so they wanted to make sure kids knew they were invited!  It worked-- over half of Friday's afternoon audience was kids.  Delia said interacting with the children as the Ugly Duckling was one of her favorite parts of the experience.  She jumped rope with them at recess and signed programs after the show and explained why she was called "Ugly" when she didn't look ugly.  One little friend from church, Joelle, said she'd want to be Delia of all the people in the cast.

A fun double picture-- left taken on the first day of practice in August, right taken the day they came to strike the set and say goodbye after Performance Weekend.

Some goofy fun Delia and her fellow Duloc's cooked up backstage.  While in their creepy Conformity Costumes singing their synchronized song, they made up a "cry for help" horror story told just through whispers and terrified eyes!

A super fun cast party!

And a little taste of the silliness.  This was the day the giant dragon puppet arrived.

A sad, but accurate, testament to the closeness this cast shared this season: as soon as the show closed, a good chunk of them all got sick and spent the week at home, Delia included!  Not exactly unexpected.  Hopefully a weekend of rest and all these amazing kids will be back to 100%.

Shrek

Last weekend we enjoyed all the highs of another performance!  Shrek was Delia's 12th show.  She's had some amazing Drama experiences: getting the lead role, acting with her sister and best friends, playing iconic roles in iconic stories, and getting to sing and dance in some super catchy numbers...but this show was by far her favorite.  There was not a moment of it that she did not love and was not having an absolute blast!  It was such a FUN show, full of crazy characters and big comedy.  But, it was the cast that made this one awesome for Delia.  

  

When Shrek was announced last year, everyone assumed that veteran and senior Delia would be going for and maybe get the Fiona role.  But she never wanted it!  After playing the bride last year, Delia knew the pressure of a lead and just wanted to sing and dance in all the fun ensemble numbers for this one.  She got the perfect part, Ugly Duckling, which had a few cute lines and solos and the best costume!  Our director also gave Delia the special responsibility of being the Dance Captain-- the person who reviewed the choreography at practices and kept on eye on making sure everything looked clean and synchronized.  I think Delia did a great job!  The dancing in this show was some of the best we've seen!

Delia's costume was a legit ballet gown that someone donated and one of our talented seamstresses sewed feathers on.  She loved and felt so fun tiptoeing around in Ballet Swan/Ugly Duckling character!

Shrek has this cast of Fairy Tale Creatures that sing some of the most fun songs.  We meet them right away after they are evicted from their homes and banished to the swamp.  They sing Story of My Life about all their many woes, from being labeled a "Fashion mess because I wear a granny dress" (Big Bad Wolf) to having their hat ridiculed (Peter Pan).  

Shrek is their only hope for getting their homes back. He's big and scary and he can talk to the bad guy, Lord Farquad.

After a quick costume change, Delia is back on stage as one of the identical Duloc's singing Farquad's silly song of conformity.  Can you spot her? ;)

Lord Farquad in his rented costume with the itty bitty legs was HILARIOUS!  He performed the whole show on his knees for our amusement.  Such a great sight gag.

The middle of the show is Delia-less, but not without awesomeness!  We meet dorky, but lovable Fiona.  She is rescued from her dragon-guarded tower.  Donkey, Shrek and Fiona get to know each other as they journey back to Duloc.  When Shrek misunderstands something he overhears Fiona saying about ogres being hideous, unlovable beasts (she was talking about herself), he leaves dejected.  The Fairy Tale Creatures come back to reassure him that what makes him different makes him strong in the song Freak Flag.  In this song each character reveals their own weakness to show we all have them.  Delia has one of my favorite lines here-- "I live in constant doubt!" delivered with a huge smile and cheerleader jump.

Fiona and Shrek share a kiss, but it is her ogre form, not her princess form, that true love has turned her into.  Shrek assures her she is beautiful and the show ends with the goosebumpy song This is our Story.  My favorite "We are different, but united.  You are us and we are you" line reminding us that we all have parts that make us feel different and unlovable, but we, and those around us, are actually created exactly right.  This is a silly story with a powerful message wrapped in it.  Our director did a great job each night of explaining their attempt to tell, not the world's story of acceptance for your personal choice of sin that makes you different, but instead a story of loving who God created you to be and inviting everyone to belong. 

Our beautiful swan takes her bow, a sweeping ballet bow she was excited fit her character, as the high energy song I'm a Believer blasts.  This cast got 3 standing ovations for their 4 shows!  It was SO well performed and had a mix of both big laugh-out-loud and tear-jerking scenes.    

By Saturday night, the crowd didn't just stand, we were all dancing along too!  Since Drama has long been Delia's favorite part of school, how wonderful that she begins her exit from this stage singing and dancing her heart out with what's been her favorite cast in her favorite show!  

There was a recording made and its pretty good quality.  Let me know if you want the link to watch!