Down with the Mouse King

 When Toby grows up he has one more of those interesting tid-bits of information to share during a get-to-know you game or during small talk with a pretty girl.  ;)  Hopefully, it won't embarrass him to say that he participated in a production of the Nutcracker when he was seven.  We saw his performance as a family last night and Toby did such a great job.

The entire cast and crew of Rachel's Ballet has been up at Oakland late every night from Wednesday to Saturday (and many other nights) to rehearse and perform the Nutcracker on Temple Hill.  Rachel is a friend from our ward at church and asked Toby back in January if he would be willing to participate because they were short on boys.  He is a brave boy, a good sport, and loves to dance, so he said of course he would.  My parents got roped into it too, because Rachel was desperate for couples to dance in the opening party scene.  At least that's what my Dad says, because there is no other way he would be caught dancing on stage.  That and my Mom committed them before telling Dad what exactly it entailed.  He's never going to live down the fancy green handkerchief he waved around the stage during the dance.  ;)

The parentals with dear Marilyn.  She worked magic with the costumes and we had fun during rehearsals.

Even though he complained all the way, I think Dad really did have fun.

This production of the Nutcracker was a free two-night engagement that Rachel wanted to provide to the community so they could bring families to see one of her childhood loves.  I also have a fond memory of seeing the Nutcracker when I was young and wanted to share that with my chillies.  The problem was always that they wouldn't enjoy it at their current young ages for the $50+ a ticket we would have to pay at the San Francisco or San Jose ballet.  I was so glad Rachel asked Toby to be in it and I was happy to help so that we could be a part of this production.  What a wonderful Christmas present right?

Toby's performance this weekend was even more commendable because he has been so sick all week.   As a parent, they asked us to volunteer backstage for one rehearsal and one performance night, so I was also up late with Toby at rehearsal making sure he didn't hack up a lung.  Poor guy.  We got into a routine of taking it easy during rehearsal, going straight to bed by 11:30 or so, sleeping in (him, not me), drinking tons of water, vitamins, eating right, afternoon nap, a dose of Tylenol to keep his lingering fever in check, then back up to Oakland to do it all over again.  He tried hard not to cough onstage, and thankfully, didn't need to worry about any sort of speaking part.  "The show must go on" was uttered a couple times when he just didn't want to do anything.  Despite feeling all-around crappy on Thursday and Friday, he soldiered on and still had a fun weekend.  Rachel told me numerous times how much her and the teachers enjoyed working with Toby because he just has a natural ability to act and good stage presence.  He was a natural leader for the other little soldiers that participated with him.  The battle scene was the cutest part More importantly, he had fun!

Toby's favorites:

Using the popguns during the party scene (to bug the girls).

Being a soldier and shooting the big canon at the naughty mice during the battle scene.

Watching the big girls dance.

A sweet lady from church asking for his autograph after the performance Saturday night (isn't that adorable?!).

Dislikes:
Having Mom put make-up on him.  He could barely stand still long enough for some dark eye shadow and liner.
Being sick and not able to run around with the other boys.

So how did the ballet fair with the rest of the family?  The Littles barely made it through the second act, but loved the first act with the party scene and the big battle between the soldiers and the Mouse King.  Sydney's favorite part was the adorable little sheep and their costumes.  After the performance she kept asking to go see our friend Maya as the sheep.  She would have taken that costume home in a heart beat.  When the gingerbread house and dancers came out I whispered to Sydney, "Look at that pretty gingerbread house!"  She quickly replied, "I want to eat it!"  Logan was a typical uninterested little boy who barely made it through with the help of a couple iTouch games.

We sat in front of friends from our ward, and we Moms joked about how we were going to expose our kids to cultured events even if it kills them.  It almost killed off Logan tonight.  He was shaking with frustration a couple times towards the end. At one point Daddy told Logan to watch the show.  Logan replied back with genuine frustration, "What am I supposed to watch?!"  Jessie liked it, but got a little frumpy because she couldn't see very well.  I'm not sure if my Man enjoyed the night or tolerated it for Toby's sake, but he did like making fun of the prince's costume.  At least he sat through the whole thing and didn't leave after the first act like some friends we know.  Yeah, you know who you are, wimp!

Toby made fast friends with all the girls, as is his way, ;) Here he is with the beautiful Snow Queen.

I was excited to finally see the whole show from the audience instead of snippets from backstage.  It didn't disappoint.  Watching the big girls stuff lambs wool between their sore toes before lacing up those tortuous toe shoes, then move so gracefully onstage was amazing.  The costumes, scenery, and Rachel's ballet students were all so impressive.  A couple times during the performance I reminded myself that this really was a free event.  All around I think it was an awesome experience for our whole family.

Toby met up with his best bud Milo after the first performance.  He was sawing logs about 15 minutes after this picture was taken.  The poor kid was so tired.  Funny story.  When Milo's big sisters found out Toby was in the Nutcracker they were both shocked that Toby's Dad let him participate in a ballet.  Apparently, my Man is too butch to have any son of his dancing on stage.  We both laugh that one son has promise as a dancer and the other wants to be a "cake maker" when he grows up.  We'll see if they change their minds to more 'manly' professions as they grow up.  I don't think we mind either way as long as they are good at what they like to do.  If this weekends performance of the Nutcracker is any indication, Toby could have a future in the performing arts.